Evelyn Burnine v. Victor Michael Dauterive

This appeal involves an award of retroactive child support. When the child was an infant, the mother lied and told the father that the child had died. Subsequently, custody of the child was transferred back and forth numerous times between the mother and the maternal grandmother. The father’s paternity was established when the child was thirteen, and after establishing a relationship with the child, the father sought to be named primary residential parent. The grandmother then petitioned for retroactive child support. Father was named primary residential parent, but the juvenile court ordered the father to pay approximately $40,000 in retroactive child support to the grandmother, finding a certain statute that provides for deviations in retroactive child support to be inapplicable to this situation. We reverse the court’s decision and vacate its award of retroactive child support, and remand for further proceedings.