Zheng v. Xia

Syllabus

The defendant, whose marriage to the plaintiff previously had been dissolved, appealed from the trial court's judgment denying her postjudgment motion for modification of child support, in which she sought a court order requir- ing the plaintiff to pay 100 percent of their minor child's private school tuition fees and costs. She claimed, inter alia, that the court erred in not finding the existence of a substantial change in circumstances warranting a modification. Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's motion for modification, as the court's finding of no substantial change in circum- stance was not clearly erroneous, the defendant having failed to provide the court with evidence demonstrating that circumstances had changed since a previous court order denying her request for the plaintiff to contribute toward the cost of private school education for their child. The defendant's claim that the trial court failed to give proper weight to the parties' shared history of prioritizing elite, tuition based education was unavailing, as it was not the province of this court to reweigh the evidence before the trial court or to substitute its judgment in the matter. The defendant's claims that the trial court improperly failed to find the plaintiff in violation of his obligation to meet with a parenting coordinator to resolve disputes regarding educational matters and that the court failed to consider the regular school field trip costs for the child were also unavail- ing, as a motion for modification was not the proper procedural vehicle for the defendant to bring these claims. Argued September 8, 2025—officially released January 20, 2026