## Facts

- Mr. Hunt and Mrs. Hunt’s marriage was dissolved by a judgment entered in April 2000.
- The dissolution judgment required Mr. Hunt to pay $392 per month in child support for the parties’ two children, a son and a daughter.
- In July 2002, the parties’ son died at nine years old.
- After their son’s death, the parties reached an oral agreement that Mr. Hunt would pay $200 per month in child support.
- Mr. Hunt did not seek or obtain a court order modifying the dissolution judgment’s child-support provision.
- Mr. Hunt paid $200 per month consistent with the oral agreement rather than the $392 ordered in the judgment.
- After the parties’ daughter turned 18, Mrs. Hunt filed a claim for child-support arrears based on the difference between the ordered amount and the amount paid.
- Mr. Hunt sought relief from the arrearage claim, arguing the oral agreement (and the change in circumstances) should prevent collection of arrears.
- The trial court denied Mr. Hunt’s request for relief and allowed enforcement of the arrears.
- Mr. Hunt appealed pro se to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether an oral agreement between divorced parents to reduce court-ordered child support changes the obligor’s legal obligation when no court-ordered modification was obtained.
2. Whether the obligor may be relieved from accrued arrears based on the parties’ oral agreement and subsequent circumstances when the support judgment was never formally modified.

## Decision

- The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed.
- The $392 monthly child-support obligation set in the dissolution judgment remained in effect unless and until modified by court order.
- The parents’ oral agreement to accept/pay $200 per month did not modify the judgment and did not stop arrears from accruing.
- Because no modification was obtained, the arrearage based on the unmodified order was enforceable.

## Legal Principles

- A child-support obligation established by judgment remains enforceable at the ordered amount until a court enters a modification.
- Parents’ private agreements, standing alone, do not amend a dissolution judgment or change the amount legally due under a support order.
- Arrears accrue when an obligor pays less than the amount required by an unmodified child-support judgment, even if the parties informally agreed to a reduction.
- Relief from arrears generally requires compliance with the statutory modification process; without a timely motion and order, a court will not treat an informal agreement as a substitute for a modification.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed enforcement of child-support arrears because Mr. Hunt never obtained a court-ordered modification of the dissolution judgment; the parties’ oral agreement to reduce payments after their son’s death did not change the legal support obligation, so the unpaid difference continued to accrue and could be collected as arrears.


Hunt v. Hunt, 242 P.3d 682 (2010)