Lightel v. Myers (2000)

Lighted 791 So.2d at 958-59 (discussing Binns v. Maddox, 57 Ala.App. 230, 327 So.2d 726 (1976), and Self v. Self, 685 So.2d 732 (Ala.Civ.App.1996)).

Super. 29, 37 (App. Div. 2004), quoting from Lightel v. Myers, 791 So. 2d 955, 959 (Ala. Ct. Civ.

App. 1993) (holding that postminority support for an adult disabled child "can be ordered regardless of the age of the disabled child at the time of the divorce and that the amount of that support is determined after giving consideration to the child's needs, the child's income through [some forms of] Social Security or other similar sources, and the parent's ability to respond to the child's needs"); Lightel v. Myers , 791 So.2d at 958 ("Should the [adult disabled] children…

These benefits reflect a determination by Congress that the government should assist certain persons with disabilities in meeting their increased costs of living.” Id.- see also Lightel v. Myers, 791 So. 2d 955, 960 (Ala. Civ.

“In order to determine whether a[ ] disabled adult child is entitled to postmi-nority support, the ‘trial court must (1) determine that the adult child is not capable of earning an income sufficient to provide for his or her reasonable living expenses and (2) that the adult child’s mental or physical disability is the cause of his or her inability to earn that income.’ ” Lightel v. Myers, 791 So.2d 955, 958 (Ala.Civ.App.2000).

Ct. App. Div. 2004). 9 Id. at 191 . 10 See Davis v. Office of Child Support Enforcement, 20 S.W.3d 273, 277 (Ark. 2000). 11 See 42 U.S.C. § 405 (2000); see also Angela F. Epps, To Pay or Not To Pay, That Is the Question: Should SSI Recipients Be Exempt from Child Support Obligations?, 34 Rutgers L.J. 63 , 64 (2002). 12 42 U.S.C. § 405 . 13 See 20 C.F.R. § 404.315 (a). 14 See Lightel v. Myers, 791 So. 2d 955, 959 (Ala. Civ.

SSD "payments are for the purpose of replacing income lost because of the employee's inability to work upon becoming disabled." Lightel v. Myers, 791 So. 2d 955, 959 (Ala.Civ.App. 2001).

See Lightel v. Myers, 791 So.2d 955 (Ala.Civ.App.2000)(recognizing that a trial court must determine that an adult child is not capable of earning an income sufficient to provide for his or her reasonable living expenses before it can award postminority child support on the basis of a disability).

Thus, SSI benefits are not an independent financial resource that would allow a circuit court to decrease a parent’s child- support obligation.15 The circuit court therefore erred in relying on it to reduce father’s duty to support his disabled adult child. 15 Though the statutory frameworks establishing child support guidelines and allowing deviations vary widely, we note that many other state courts have similarly found that “a noncustodial parent is not entitled to a chil…

See Wellborn v. Wellborn, 100 So.3d 1122, 1128 (Ala.Civ.App.2012) (reversing a child-support determination when the trial court had failed to consider all sources of income and remanding the matter to the trial court to redetermine child support by including those sources of income); Bushnell v. Bushnell, 713 So.2d 962, 966 (Ala.Civ.App.1997) (reversing the judgment and remanding the cause for the trial court to recalculate child support by including all sources of income in…

See Lightel v. Myers, 791 So.2d 955, 960 (Ala.Civ.App.2000); In re Marriage of Benson, 495 NW.2d 777, 782 (Iowa Ct.App.1992); In re Marriage of Emerson, 18 Kan.