Johnson v. Louis

654 N.W.2d 886 (2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

M and F never married. M gave birth to Jared on November 3, 1982. In February of 1984 the child support recovery unit, acting on behalf of M, sought and obtained a finding of paternity and a support order against F. On June 12, 1991, the amount of support to be provided Jared by F was substantially increased as a result of M's application to modify the 1984 order. On November 14, 1994, the district court, acting on M's application, again increased the amount of child support required from F based on a finding that the support provided in the 1991 order was more than ten percent below that which was required under the child support guidelines. The November 1994 order that increased F's child-support obligation also acted favorably on his request for court-prescribed visitation with Jared. Prior to that order, F had enjoyed very little visitation. Visitation was sporadic and short. M moved with Jared from Ames, Iowa (where F resided), to Salt Lake City, Utah, and F's visits with Jared ceased entirely except for a few brief telephone conversations. In May 2000, M petitioned for a modification of the support order to include a postsecondary educational subsidy. The district court denied that request on February 6, 2001. This appeal resulted. The Court of appeals determined that it was a violation of equal protection to give children of married parents post-secondary education support after 18 while children of illegitimate parents did not have that opportunity under 252. They reversed, and F appealed.