## Facts

- Russell Warner (father) and Melissa Warner (mother) divorced in 2012 in the Saline County Circuit Court; Melissa had custody of their daughter, S.W.
- S.W. turned 18 in February 2017 while still in high school.
- During S.W.’s junior year of high school, she became ill with neurocardiogenic syncope, a fainting disorder that caused her to faint or nearly faint multiple times a day.
- The condition led S.W. to miss a significant amount of school, prevented her from driving, and made her dependent on Melissa for daily care.
- On August 21, 2017, Melissa filed a motion to modify child support and to compel disclosure of income information, requesting that Russell’s child-support obligation continue beyond S.W.’s nineteenth birthday due to S.W.’s medical condition.
- At the hearing, a member of S.W.’s medical team described the condition as debilitating.
- Russell did not offer evidence disputing that S.W. became disabled while in high school and before reaching the age of majority or that she remained disabled at the time of the hearing.
- Russell’s position was that he had no duty to pay child support once S.W. reached 19.
- The circuit court granted Melissa’s motion and ordered continued child support beyond the statutory termination age.
- Russell appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the circuit court properly ordered child support to continue beyond the age of majority (including beyond age 19) based on a finding that S.W. was disabled at the time she reached majority and remained unable to support herself.

## Decision

- The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed.
- The court held there was sufficient evidence to support the circuit court’s finding that S.W. became disabled while still a minor and continued to be disabled at the time of the hearing.
- Applying de novo review while reversing factual findings only if clearly erroneous, the court concluded the extension order was supported by the record.

## Legal Principles

- Under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-14-237(a)(1), an obligor’s duty to pay child support generally terminates by operation of law when the child reaches 18, unless the child is still attending high school; if still in high school, termination occurs upon graduation or at the end of the school year after the child reaches 19, whichever occurs first, unless a court order specifically extends support.
- Arkansas law allows a court to continue child support for an adult child who is disabled and unable to support herself, so long as the disability existed at or before the child reached the age of majority.
- The custodial parent seeking continued support bears the burden of proving that support should continue.
- Appellate review of child-support orders is de novo on the record, but findings of fact are not reversed unless clearly erroneous; appellate courts defer to the circuit court’s credibility determinations and weighing of testimony.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed the order requiring Russell to continue paying child support beyond S.W.’s nineteenth birthday because the evidence showed S.W.’s neurocardiogenic syncope began while she was still in high school, left her unable to function independently, and continued through the hearing, and Russell offered no contrary evidence to show she was not disabled at majority.


Warner v. Warner, 572 S.W.3d 6 (2019)