JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered a Monroe County judge to take another look at a child support case.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports (https://bit.ly/KxTux2) that the Supreme Court this past week overturned rulings by a Monroe judge and the state Court of Appeals.
Court records show a 2005 divorce settlement gave custody of both of Donald Brewer’s sons to his ex-wife Penny Mathis Holliday and $1,185 per month in child support.
Soon after, the older child moved in with his father and Brewer asked for modification of the custody agreement. They negotiated outside of court to reduce the child support payment to $600 per month until the youngest child was emancipated. Both parties signed a memorandum of agreement.
The agreement was never presented to Chancellor Talmage Littlejohn and, though the agreed and reduced payment had been made for several years, Littlejohn held Brewer in contempt of court for violating the original child support order when he learned of the reduced payments.
Littlejohn ordered a back support payment of $34,515 from Brewer and granted Holliday $3,500 in attorney’s fees.
The state Appeals Court upheld the ruling for back payment and awarded Holliday an additional $1,750 in attorney’s fees.
The Supreme Court ruled the case be reheard in chancery court with the consideration that one of the two children lived in Brewer’s custody and under his direct support for almost the entire period of dispute.
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, https://djournal.com
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