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In re Ramsey County6/25/2002
On appeal from the denial of his motion to reduce his support obligation, appellant-father, who is totally disabled and lives with his parents, alleges (a) payments by his parents for his expenses should not be imputed to him as income; (b) his current net monthly income is below the poverty line, making child-care cost reimbursement presumptively unreasonable; and (c) equity requires that his support obligation be adjusted to be commensurate with his disability benefits. Because we agree that the magistrate erred in including as income to appellant the value of expenses met by his parents, and because without inclusion of that value in appellant's income, his child support obligation would be less than his minor child receives as derivative disability benefits, and because payment of child-care costs would be unreasonable, we reverse.
FACTS
In 1999, respondent Ramsey County, on behalf of respondent Gabrielle J. Hruska, filed a paternity action against appellant Ryan M. Carey. After a hearing, the district court adjudicated Carey the father of respondent's child and, pursuant to the parties' agreement, entered an order establishing a $300 monthly child support obligation beginning January 1, 2000.
Carey was subsequently adjudicated totally disabled by the Social Security Administration and began receiving disability benefits. At present his sole income is $633 per month in disability benefits. While Carey's application to be adjudicated as disabled was pending, his parents heeded advice of various mental health advocates and created a supplemental needs trust (the trust) for him.
In August 2000, Carey moved to modify his child support obligation. Prior to the hearing, Carey indicated on the court's information request form that his expenses were being paid by the trust. Janet Carey, Carey's mother, who has power of attorney for Carey, represented that Carey's monthly expenses were at least $3,000.
After a hearing, the magistrate, in an October 24, 2000 order, found that Carey had an imputed monthly income of $3,000 from the trust and $611 in disability benefits. Although the monthly guideline-determined support obligation for an income of $3,611 was $902.75, the magistrate did not modify the support obligation because no motion to increase support was pending. The magistrate granted Carey an adjustment, reducing his required payments by $107.50, to reflect the amount of dependent benefits paid to the minor child from social security . The district court affirmed the magistrate's order and Carey did not appeal.
In April 2001, Carey again moved to modify his child support obligation. At the hearing on that motion, Janet Carey testified that Carey's monthly expenses had decreased significantly since October 2000, because Carey was no longer able to live independently and had moved into his parents' home. The record reflects that the only funds that have been deposited into the trust since January 1, 2001, are Carey's disabililty benefits. Janet Carey testified that Carey's expenses averaged $667 per month and that his disability payments were $633. She also testified that the monthly expenses for running her household, in which she, her husband, and Carey resided, were at least $2,700.
The magistrate imputed $900 per month of in-kind income to Carey during 2001, which was one-third of the Carey household's monthly expenses. Subtracting out-of-pocket medical expenses of $411.79 from the imputed income and disability payments, the magistrate determined that Carey's average net monthly income was at least $1,121.21, that guideline support would be at least $280.30, and that Carey had failed to establish a substantial chang
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