Summary
In Riley, the trial court ordered the former husband to pay only 1/4 of the presumptive guideline support amount upon finding that after his "other financial obligations" were considered, the former husband could afford to pay no more than the amount awarded.
Summary of this case from Reynolds v. ReynoldsOpinion
No. 92-2793.
September 30, 1993.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Okaloosa County, Ben Gordon, J.
Marcia K. Lippincott, Orlando, for appellant.
No appearance for appellee.
Karen Riley appeals an order establishing Daniel Parker's child support obligation at $55.00 a month. The trial court's statement that "although child support guidelines yield a child support amount of $207.13 per month, that after taking the defendant's other financial obligations into consideration, he can only afford to pay $55.00 per month for the child in this case" is insufficient as a matter of law. § 61.30(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (1991). We vacate the order and remand this case for the trial court to either order the guidelines amount or make legally sufficient findings as to why the child in this case should only receive a small fraction of the support contemplated by Florida's child support guidelines. Department of Health Rehabilitative Services v. Bush, 614 So.2d 32 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993).
SMITH, KAHN and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur.