Freddo v. Freddo (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-035-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 12‑P‑692 Appeals Court MARY ELLEN FREDDO vs. STEPHEN M. FREDDO. No. 12‑P‑692. Hampden. January 4, 2013. ‑ February 26, 2013. Present: Fecteau, Hanlon, & Sullivan, JJ. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Divorce and Separation, Modification of judgment, Child support, Foreign judgment, Jurisdiction. Jurisdiction, Modification of divorce judgment, Child support, Probate Court. Probate Court, Jurisdiction, Divorce. Parent and Child, Child support. Civil action commenced in the Hampden Division of the Probate and Family Court Department on December 6, 2007. A complaint for modification of judgment, filed on August 23, 2001, was heard by David G. Sacks, J., on a motion for summary judgment. Dana Alan Curhan for Stephen M. Freddo. FECTEAU, J. Stephen M. Freddo (father) appeals from a summary judgment entered against him in connection with his complaint for modification seeking the termination of his child support obligation on the ground that the parties’ children had reached the age of majority under Florida law.[1] Applying the jurisdictional mandates of G. L. c. 209D, § 6-613 (§ 6-613), a judge of the Probate and Family Court assumed authority, as matter of law, to modify the duration of the father’s support obligation articulated in the foreign judgment and to provide continued support under the “posteighteen” provisions of G. L. c. 208, § 28. As we conclude that duration is a nonmodifiable aspect of the child support order here at issue, we reverse the judgment. The father and Mary Ellen Freddo (mother) were married on July 4, 1981. The marriage produced four children; as here relevant, the two youngest were born on August 3, 1990, and September 8, 1992. The parties were divorced on January 12, 1995, by a “Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage” (Florida judgment) entered by the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Florida, Family Law Division (Florida Circuit Court). The Florida judgment included a provision for child support, which was to terminate entirely, inter alia, “upon the minor children reaching the age of majority.” On January 31, 1997, a judge of the Florida Circuit Court modified the Florida judgment, increasing the amount of the father’s child support obligation. Since January 31, 1997, however, the Florida judgment has not been modified by any court, despite the extensive litigation between the parties. It is undisputed that the mother, the […]