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Keywords

settlementtrialdivorce
plaintiffdefendant

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Adam v. Adam, 624 A.2d 1093

Facts

The parties were married in 1968 and divorced in 1978, with a property settlement agreement that required the husband to contribute to the children's education and pay child support. The wife moved the children to a private school and later sought to enforce the husband's obligations after he failed to pay child support since 1989. The Family Court found the husband in contempt for not fulfilling his financial obligations, despite his claims of inability to pay due to reduced income after retirement from the Navy.

The plaintiff and defendant were married in 1968. Two children were born of that marriage, Elizabeth in 1969 and Sarah in 1971.

Issue

Whether the wife's delay in seeking enforcement of child support constituted laches, and whether the Family Court had the authority to compel the husband to pay educational expenses beyond the children's high school graduation.

The defendant first argues that plaintiff's action should have been barred by the doctrine of laches.

Rule

The court held that laches requires not only delay but also a showing of prejudice to the other party, and that a trial court can consider a party's earning potential when determining support obligations.

Laches is an equitable defense that involves not only delay but also a party's detrimental reliance on the status quo.

Analysis

The court found that the wife's eleven-year delay in seeking enforcement was excusable, as she had been financially constrained and the husband had not shown prejudice from the delay. The court also determined that the husband had the ability to contribute to educational expenses based on his earning potential, despite his claims of reduced income. The court emphasized that the property settlement agreement allowed for judicial determination of financial contributions, and thus the husband's obligations were enforceable.

The court also found that plaintiff's decision to remove Elizabeth and Sarah from public school and to place them in the Windsor School was not unreasonable in the circumstances at the time.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the Family Court's order for the husband to pay child support and educational expenses incurred up to the children's high school graduation, but quashed any obligations extending beyond that due to statutory limitations.

Therefore, the order to the defendant to pay one-half of the educational costs of his children is valid only for those costs that were incurred through ninety days after their high school graduations or their eighteenth birthdays, whichever came later.

Who won?

The divorced wife prevailed in the case because the court found that the husband had not fulfilled his financial obligations and that his claims of inability to pay were unconvincing.

The Family Court found defendant to be in contempt and ordered him to pay back child support totaling $16,775 and to pay one half of the dental expenses amounting to $1,701.50.

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