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Johnson v. Louis12/18/2002
On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Mother who was never married to father of her seventeen-year-old child appeals from judgment denying application for a post-secondary educational subsidy for the child from his father. The court of appeals reversed and directed that a subsidy be required from the father. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED; DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
Debbie Johnson, the mother of Jared Johnson, appealed from a denial of her request to modify the child support obligation of Jared's father, Michael Louis, to include a post-secondary educational subsidy for Jared. Debbie and Michael had never married. The court of appeals, although acknowledging that Jared, who would soon be eighteen, had no statutory or common-law right to continued child support after attaining that age, concluded that a refusal to grant him a post-secondary educational subsidy would amount to a denial of equal protection of the law. As a result, it reversed the district court's judgment and ordered that a subsidy be exacted from Michael. After reviewing the record and considering the arguments presented, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment of the district court.
Debbie gave birth to Jared on November 3, 1982. In February of 1984 the child support recovery unit, acting on behalf of Debbie, sought and obtained a finding of paternity and a support order against Michael pursuant to Iowa Code section 252A.3(2) (1983). On June 12, 1991, the amount of support to be provided Jared by Michael was substantially increased as a result of Debbie's application to modify the 1984 order. On November 14, 1994, the district court, acting on Debbie's application, again increased the amount of child support required from Michael based on a finding that the support provided in the 1991 order was more than ten percent below that which was required under the child support guidelines.
The November 1994 order that increased Michael's child-support obligation also acted favorably on his request for court-prescribed visitation with Jared. Prior to that order, Michael had enjoyed very little visitation. Between November 1994 and October 1995, Michael's visits with Jared were sporadic and, when they occurred, of short duration. On the latter date, Debbie moved with Jared from Ames, Iowa (where Michael resided), to Salt Lake City, Utah, and Michael's visits with Jared ceased entirely except for a few brief telephone conversations. In May 2000 Debbie petitioned for a modification of the support order to include a post-secondary educational subsidy. The district court denied that request on February 6, 2001. Other facts that are of significance in deciding the appeal will be discussed in connection with our consideration of the legal issues presented.
I. Common-Law and Statutory Requirements for Parental Support of Children
We first consider the extent of common-law or statutory requirements for parental support of children.
A. Common Law
At common law a parent's obligation to support his or her child ends when the latter becomes of age, unless the child is physically or mentally unable to care for itself. Davis v. Davis, 246 Iowa 262, 266, 67 N.W.2d 566, 568 (1954); Addy v. Addy, 240 Iowa 255, 258, 36 N.W.2d 352, 354 (1949); Blachley v. Laba, 63 Iowa 22, 23-24, 18 N.W. 658, 658 (1884). At common law, the time one became of age was twenty-one. 42 Am. Jur. 2d Infants § 5, at 16 (2000). In Iowa this age was lowered by statute to nineteen in 1972. 1972 Iowa Acts ch. 1027, § 49. The following year it was lowered to eighteen. 1973 Iowa Acts ch. 140, § 49. It has remained at this age ever since, except as altered
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