Stephen Murphy v. Suzanne Murphy (mem. dec.) ( 2019 )


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  •       MEMORANDUM DECISION
    Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
    this Memorandum Decision shall not be                                                 FILED
    regarded as precedent or cited before any                                     Oct 30 2019, 9:44 am
    court except for the purpose of establishing                                          CLERK
    the defense of res judicata, collateral                                           Indiana Supreme Court
    Court of Appeals
    and Tax Court
    estoppel, or the law of the case.
    APPELLANT, PRO SE                                        ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE
    Stephen Murphy                                           Joshua G. Orem
    Indianapolis, Indiana                                    Law Offices of Steven K. Deig,
    LLC
    Evansville, Indiana
    IN THE
    COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
    Stephen Murphy,                                          October 30, 2019
    Appellant-Petitioner,                                    Court of Appeals Case No.
    19A-DR-261
    v.                                               Appeal from the Vanderburgh
    Superior Court
    Suzanne Murphy,                                          The Honorable Robert R.
    Appellee-Respondent.                                     Aylsworth, Special Judge
    Trial Court Cause No.
    82D05-1606-DR-848
    Pyle, Judge.
    Statement of the Case
    [1]   Stephen Murphy (“Father”), pro se, appeals the dissolution court’s denial of his
    motion to modify parenting time with his children. He specifically argues that
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019                      Page 1 of 17
    the dissolution court abused its discretion when it denied this motion and that
    there has been no final custody order issued in this case. Finding no abuse of
    the dissolution court’s discretion, we affirm the dissolution court’s denial of
    Father’s motion to modify parenting time. However, because there is no final
    custody order contained in the record, we remand the case to the dissolution
    court with instructions to enter one.
    [2]   We affirm and remand with instructions.
    Issue
    Whether the dissolution court abused its discretion in denying
    Father’s motion to modify parenting time.
    Facts
    [3]   Father and Suzanne Murphy (“Mother”) are the parents of the following five
    children: (1) daughter V.M., (“V.M.”), who was born in November 2003; (2)
    daughter F.M., (“F.M.”), who was born in March 2009; (3) son A.M.,
    (“A.M.”), who was born in May 2012; (4) son M.M., (“M.M.”), who was born
    in November 2014; and (5) daughter L.M., (“L.M.”), who was born in
    December 2016. Father filed a dissolution petition in June 2016 in
    Vanderburgh County where he was a practicing attorney.
    [4]   Two weeks later, Vanderburgh County judges recused themselves en banc. Four
    days later, the parties agreed to the appointment of the Honorable Brent Almon
    from Posey County as a special judge (“Judge Almon”). After Father made
    numerous attempts to remove Judge Almon, including filing: (1) a motion for a
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 2 of 17
    change of judge; (2) a praecipe to withdraw the case from the judge, appoint a
    Marion County judge, and transfer the case to Marion County; (3) a petition for
    a writ of mandamus and prohibition, Judge Almon recused himself in March
    2017. The case was subsequently assigned to the Honorable Robert Krieg from
    Gibson County (“Judge Krieg”).1
    [5]   During the pendency of the dissolution proceedings, Mother and the five
    children moved to Indianapolis, and Father received parenting time every other
    weekend. In April 2017, when Father was picking up the children for parenting
    time, he and Mother became involved in an altercation that led to the
    Department of Child Services (“DCS”) removing the children from both
    parents and placing them in foster care. In August 2017, both parents admitted
    that their children were children in need of services (“CHINS”) and agreed to
    complete recommended services. Father specifically agreed to: (1) participate
    in supervised visitation with the children; (2) complete a twenty-six-week
    domestic violence counseling program; (3) attend counseling with therapist
    Angelique Parker (“Therapist Parker”); (4) complete home-based therapy; and
    (5) complete parenting education.
    [6]   Three months later, in November 2017, Father filed a request to close the
    CHINS case. Mother, DCS, and the Guardian Ad Litem (“GAL”) filed
    1
    Father also made several unsuccessful attempts to remove Judge Krieg, including filing: (1) two motions to
    transfer venue to Marion County; (2) two praecipes to withdraw the case from the trial court; (3) two motions
    for a change of venue from the judge; (4) a motion for automatic change of judge pursuant to Indiana Trial
    Rule 76(B); and (5) a praecipe to remove the case from the judge.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019                 Page 3 of 17
    responses in opposition to Father’s request. Following a hearing, the CHINS
    court (“the CHINS court”) issued a December 2017 order, which found that the
    supervisor of Father’s parenting time felt threatened by Father and had safety
    concerns for the children and herself based on the behaviors that she had
    observed from Father during supervised parenting time. The CHINS court’s
    order specifically found as follows in this regard:
    7.     [Father] tries to control the situation and becomes upset
    when [the supervisor] does not permit this. [The supervisor] has
    observed aggressive behavior from the Father and has observed
    him become agitated. This has resulted in her feeling threatened
    by him and she feels that he is a safety concern to the three
    younger children who are 5 years old and younger and cannot
    communicate at all or very well. During parenting time at Eagle
    Creek Park, [the supervisor] had to redirect the Father because he
    was permitting [M.M.] (approximately three years old) and
    [A.M.] (five years old) to get too close to the banks of the
    reservoir as it was getting dark[.] The Father was at McDonald’s
    with some type of pocket knife which the Father made visible to
    [the visitation supervisor] during supervised parenting time. She
    also observed the Father pick fights with [V.M.] in public places
    and then [V.M.] will threaten that she is going to leave and the
    Father’s response to [V.M.] is ‘you can’t leave and then he
    threatens to harm her.’ [The supervisor] has been trying to assist
    the Father with [V.M.] and teach him it is about the approach by
    the parent to the child and that he must be the adult and take a
    mature approach with all of his children[.] [The supervisor
    found] the children’s fears of their Father [were] genuine and that
    the Mother [was] not trying to alienate Father or brainwash the
    children.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 4 of 17
    8.     Both [V.M.] and [F.M.] have expressed fear of their Father
    and [F.M.] has developed a safety plan because she has a great
    deal of anxiety along with her fear of her Father.
    (Mother’s Exhibit I).
    [7]   The CHINS court also made the following additional findings: (1) Father had
    threatened to sue the parenting time supervisor and the agency that she worked
    for because the supervisor had refused to recommend unsupervised parenting
    time; (2) Father had challenged the competency of Therapist Parker, who
    worked with V.M., F.M., and A.M., and had sent her a set of ethical guidelines
    that he thought she should follow; (3) Father had refused to complete the
    services that he had previously agreed to complete; (4) Father believed that
    Mother was engaging in parental alienation and that DCS and the GAL were
    both ignoring it; (5) Father believed that if he had to undergo a psychological
    evaluation he should be awarded additional parenting time; (6) Father believed
    that DCS was engaging in child abuse and he had no choice but to refuse
    services even though he had previously agreed to complete them; (7) Father
    had given notice to the DCS family case manager (“FCM”) that she had
    deprived him of his constitutional rights and that he had a right to sue her in
    federal court; and (8) V.M. and F.M. refused to attend parenting time because
    they were afraid of Father.
    [8]   The CHINS court further noted that Mother had completed the court-ordered
    services and continued to attend therapy. In addition, the CHINS court
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 5 of 17
    pointed out that “[i]n the pending divorce, Mother had sole legal and physical
    custody of the children.” (Mother’s Exhibit I).
    [9]   The CHINS order further provided as follows:
    24.      When judging the credibility of witnesses in this case, this
    Court does not find the Father’s testimony [to be credible]
    but does find all other witnesses are credible. The Father
    is arguing that everyone else is wrong and that he has done
    what he is supposed to and that this is a parental alienation
    case.
    25.      This Court strongly disagrees with the Father. The
    evidence strongly supports the fact that the Father wants to
    control this process and when he cannot he threatens the
    DCS FCM, the family therapist, and the visitation
    supervisor in an attempt to get his way. The evidence
    presented clearly demonstrates that the Father is also
    controlling with Mother. The mental health evaluation
    recommended Father undergo psychological testing. This
    Court finds that Father is behaving in an aggressive,
    threatening manner, that he becomes easily agitated and
    that he poses a safety concern to his children if he is not
    supervised when he exercises parenting time with his
    children.
    *       *        *       *        *
    29.      The Court will permit supervised parenting time with
    [L.M., M.M., and A.M.] as previously ordered. However,
    this Court has concerns about [V.M.]’s physical safety
    when with Father even when the parenting time is
    supervised and has safety concerns about [V.M. and
    F.M.]’s mental and emotional well-being if with Father
    under a supervised setting. The evidence demonstrates
    that the Father presents a safety concern to [V.M. and
    F.M.] Thus, the Court hereby modifies the Father’s
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 6 of 17
    parenting time with [V.M. and F.M.] to continue to be
    supervised but that it must take place in an agency
    environment to ensure the safety of [V.M. and F.M.] The
    Court strongly encourages [V.M. and F.M.] to attend
    parenting time.
    30.      The Court finds that all the above findings and orders of
    this Court are in the best interest of the minor children and
    to protect the children and to ensure their physical safety
    and mental/emotional well-being.
    (Mother’s Exhibit I). The CHINS court denied Father’s request to close the
    case and explained that when the CHINS case was eventually terminated, the
    CHINS court’s custody and parenting time order would survive the termination
    of the CHINS proceedings until the dissolution court assumed primary
    jurisdiction of the case to address all of the issues.
    [10]   Two months later, in February 2018, the CHINS court issued an order
    suspending Father’s parenting time with all five children until he completed all
    services in the CHINS matter. The CHINS court specifically concluded that it
    was “clear by [Father’s] behavior during the course of this case that he [was] a
    danger to his children and it [was] in their best interest to not see their Father as
    he pose[d] a danger to their physical, mental and emotional well-being.”
    (Mother’s Exhibit B at 9). The CHINS court also concluded that Father was
    “an abusive litigant who [would] not stop filing pleadings until the Court
    [found] in his favor on matters which ha[d] been previously litigated and/or
    agreed to by [Father].” (Mother’s Exhibit B at 9). The CHINS court further
    concluded that Father’s abusive litigation tactics were a substantial burden on
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 7 of 17
    the CHINS court, DCS, the GAL, and Mother and pointed out that Father had
    filed several motions to remove the CHINS court judge. According to the
    CHINS court, it had no bias or conflict in the case, and it was clear that Father
    wanted another judge to handle the matter so he could convince that judge that
    it should rule in his favor on prior motions and issues which had already been
    litigated. Father did not appeal the CHINS court’s order suspending his
    parenting time.
    [11]   Less than two weeks later, Judge Krieg held a dissolution hearing and entered a
    decree dissolving the marriage and taking any other matters under advisement
    (“Dissolution Court Order 1”). In March 2018, Judge Krieg entered an order
    taking judicial notice of all orders regarding child custody and child visitation
    entered by the CHINS court and adopting as its own rulings the CHINS court’s
    decisions regarding child custody and visitation (“Dissolution Court Order 2”).
    Thus, Father’s parenting time remained suspended.
    [12]   In June 2018, after Father filed a motion to modify the dissolution decree and a
    motion for automatic change of judge. Thereafter, the dissolution matter was
    assigned to the Honorable Amy Steinkamp Miskimen from Warrick County
    (“Judge Miskimen”).2
    2
    Father had also initiated an appeal of the dissolution order, but the appeal was dismissed in September
    2018.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019                  Page 8 of 17
    [13]   In August 2018, the parties and the CHINS court signed an agreement to
    dismiss the CHINS case. As a condition of the dismissal, the parties agreed
    that the current CHINS order regarding custody and parenting time would
    “stand as to any parenting time in the dissolution matter and the dissolution
    court [could] resolve any future pleadings.” (Mother’s Exhibit D). The same
    day that the parties entered into the agreement, Father filed in the dissolution
    court a motion to establish custody and modify parenting time, wherein he
    asked that court to determine custody and modify parenting time immediately.
    It is the denial of this motion that precipitated this appeal.
    [14]   In December 2018, Judge Miskimen recused herself from the dissolution
    proceeding “due to [Father] having filed two (2) separate Praecipes for
    Withdrawal of Special Judge and one (1) complaint against her with the
    Indiana Supreme court.” (CCS at 40). Following Judge Miskimen’s recusal,
    the Honorable Robert Aylsworth from Warrick County (“Judge Aylsworth”)
    was assigned to the dissolution case as a special judge on December 20, 2018.
    Judge Aylsworth assumed jurisdiction of the case seven days later on December
    27, 2018. Less than a week later, before Judge Aylsworth had issued any orders
    in the case, Father filed a motion requesting that Judge Aylsworth disqualify
    himself from the case. Judge Aylsworth explained as follows when it denied
    Father’s motion the following day:
    The special judge was required to accept this case because there
    were no grounds under the rule allowing the special judge to
    decline the appointment. There are still no grounds for the
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 9 of 17
    special judge to do so. The Father’s motion for the special judge
    to disqualify is now denied[.]
    (Appellant’s Amended App. at 40-41). Later that month, Father filed a second
    motion to disqualify Judge Aylsworth, which the judge also denied.
    [15]   In March 2019, the dissolution court held a hearing on Father’s August 2018
    motion to determine custody and modify the parenting time order. The
    evidence revealed that GAL Jillian Moon (“GAL Moon”) had completed a
    fifteen-page single-spaced report that included interviews with Mother, Father,
    the five children, Therapist Parker, a Child Advocates supervisor, the visitation
    supervisor, and a friend of Father’s. The report, which was admitted into
    evidence, included the following relevant information: (1) V.M. was scared of
    Father because he had hit her with a large stick in the past; (2) V.M. had
    witnessed Father attacking Mother a few days after M.M.’s birth, and V.M. had
    to grab the infant off the floor because she was afraid that Father would either
    step on him or shake him; (3) V.M. had been diagnosed with post-traumatic
    stress disorder and took medication for anxiety and depression; (4) Father
    alleged that Mother had lied about everything; (5) Therapist Parker alleged that
    Father had harassed and threatened her because he wanted her to state “that
    parental alienation was taking place;” (6) Mother alleged that Father was
    emotionally, financially, and sexually abusive to her during the marriage, and
    her allegations were corroborated, at least in part, by children old enough to
    remember and articulate them; (7) Mother’s reports about Father were also
    corroborated by multiple professionals who had interacted with them. The
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 10 of 17
    GAL’s report concluded that her “job . . . was to uncover . . . what [was] in [the
    children’s] best interest based on the current set of circumstances.” (Mother’s
    Exhibit A). The report further concluded that it was in the children’s best
    interest to leave in place the current order suspending Father’s parenting time
    because there had been no substantial or continuing change in circumstances.
    [16]   Also at the hearing, Mother testified that V.M. had been present when Mother
    was “abused by [Father] physically, emotionally, sexually, [and] financially.”
    (Tr. 109). Mother also testified that Father had refused to participate in services
    and that her position was that until Father took “actions to improve his
    situation . . . nothing should change.” (Tr. 140). Mother further testified that
    during the pendency of the CHINS proceedings, Father had filed 270 pleadings
    in that case and “there had been no improvement in the nature of filing
    pleadings” in the dissolution case. (Tr. 116). According to Mother, during the
    prior year from March 2018 until March 2019, she had incurred $32,000 in
    attorney fees to defend this matter. She asked the trial court to order Father to
    pay these fees.
    [17]   Father testified that Mother had lied to DCS and to the courts and that
    everything in the GAL’s report was untrue. Father further testified that the
    CHINS court had issued orders about him that were untrue and that he had
    agreed to dismiss the CHINS case because “it was the respectful thing to do . . .
    . to let [the CHINS] judge off the hook[.]” (Tr. 65). Father further declared
    that “[w]hat was going on in this case right now [was], in [his] estimation, a
    mockery[,]” and that the CHINS case had been a “sham.” (Tr. 65, 119).
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 11 of 17
    According to Father, DCS was corrupt and Therapist Parker had been “duped
    by Mother to believe [Father was a] crazy, scary guy to the point that she
    commit[ed] defamation per se against [him] to [the GAL] in this case.” (Tr.
    88).
    [18]   Following the hearing, the dissolution court entered an order denying Father’s
    motion to amend parenting time in April 2019 (“Dissolution Court Order 3).
    Specifically, the order provides, in relevant part, as follows:
    16.      The substance of [Father’s] testimony at the hearing was to
    reiterate and confirm his prior positions and statements
    which have previously been rejected by the earlier judges
    in this case, as well as [the CHINS court judge]. The court
    did not hear any testimony from [Father] regarding efforts
    he had made to address the issues and concerns raised
    earlier in this case which gave rise to the order suspending
    his parenting time until rehabilitative services are received
    to improve [Father’s] personal situation, as well as his
    situation regarding the children. It appears that much
    counseling and reunification therapy must be done before
    serious consideration can be made to modifying the prior
    order of the court suspending [F]ather’s parenting time. . .
    . Not only has there not been a substantial change of
    circumstances since the order of suspension was entered,
    there really has been no change of circumstances since the
    prior order was entered.
    17.      [F]ather is correct that, as a general proposition, he has a
    right to be a parent and to parent his children. However,
    the law is clear that a right of parenting time is
    subordinated to the best interests of the children, as it has
    been in this case.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 12 of 17
    18.      The court would take encouragement from any efforts
    made by [Father] to address the issues raised and the
    issues discussed and ruled upon by the prior judge in this
    matter. However, the court can take no encouragement by
    the fact that nothing has been done over the past year to
    show any improvement in [Father’s] personal situation or
    in relation to his relationship with the children.
    19.      Because there has been no substantial change of
    circumstances, or really any change of circumstances
    whatsoever, since the prior orders of the court suspending
    [Father’s] parenting time with the children, the court
    cannot and has no basis upon which to grant [Father] any
    relief toward terminating the earlier order suspending his
    parenting time. As such, [Father’s] request for
    modification must be and is hereby denied.
    (Amended App. Vol. 2 at 46). The dissolution court also denied Father’s
    request that it abate child support and ordered Father to pay $20,000 to
    Mother’s attorney. Father now appeals.
    Decision
    [19]   At the outset, we note that Father contends that no final custody order has been
    issued in this case. Our review of the record of the proceedings, including the
    forty-five-page Chronological Case Summary in the dissolution action and the
    many court orders issued over the years, reveals that Father is correct.
    Although the CHINS court stated in its December 2017 order that Mother had
    sole legal and physical custody in the pending divorce, we have found no
    provisional order reflecting this status. In addition, we note that the CHINS
    court’s December 2017 order explained that when the CHINS case was
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 13 of 17
    eventually terminated, the CHINS court’s custody and parenting time order
    would survive the termination of the CHINS proceedings until the dissolution
    court assumed primary jurisdiction of the case to address all of the issues. We
    further note that Dissolution Court Order 2 provided that the court had taken
    judicial notice of all orders regarding custody and visitation entered by the
    CHINS court and adopted as its own rulings the CHINS court’s decisions
    regarding child custody and visitation. However, we have found no final child
    custody order in either proceeding. Nor has Mother directed us to one. We
    therefore remand this case to the dissolution court to issue a final custody order.
    We now turn to the substantive issue in this case.
    [20]   Father argues the dissolution court abused its discretion when it denied his
    motion to modify parenting time. Our standard of review in cases involving a
    modification of parenting time are well-settled. On review, we will neither
    reweigh the evidence nor judge witness credibility. Moell v. Moell, 741, 745 (Ind.
    Ct. App. 2017). We grant latitude and deference to the trial court and will
    reverse only upon a showing of manifest abuse of discretion. Id. No abuse will
    be found if there is a rational basis in the record supporting the trial court’s
    determination. Id. It is not enough that the evidence might support some other
    conclusion. Id. It must positively require the conclusion contended for by
    appellant before there is a basis for reversal. Id.
    [21]   INDIANA CODE § 31-17-4-2 provides as follows:
    The court may modify an order granting or denying parenting
    time rights whenever modification would serve the best interests
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 14 of 17
    of the child. However, the court shall not restrict a parent’s
    parenting time rights unless the court finds that the parenting
    time might endanger the child’s physical health or significantly
    impair the child’s emotional development.
    In other words, “a factual basis and a finding as to the potential endangerment
    of [the child’s] physical health or safety or significant impairment of his
    emotional development are necessary.” Rickman v. Rickman, 
    993 N.E.2d 1166
    ,
    1169 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).
    [22]   Here, Father argues that the dissolution court “made no finding that [his]
    parenting time with his children would cause physical harm or substantially
    impair their emotional development.” (Father’s Amended Brief at 19).
    However, our review of the evidence reveals that it was the CHINS court, in its
    February 2018 order, that initially restricted Father’s parenting time rights after
    finding that it was in the best interest of all the children to not see their Father
    “as he pose[d] a danger to their physical, mental and emotional well-being.”
    (Mother’s Exhibit B). The CHINS court based this finding on testimony that
    Father’s two oldest children were afraid of him. V.M. was suffering from post-
    traumatic stress, and F.M. had an escape plan because of her anxiety and fear
    of Father. The CHINS court’s order further found that the visitation supervisor
    had a safety concern for the three younger children who could not
    communicate at all or very well.
    [23]   The dissolution court took judicial notice of the CHINS court’s order in its
    March 2018 dissolution order. In April 2019, following a hearing, the
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019   Page 15 of 17
    dissolution court issued an order on Father’s motion to modify parenting time.
    In that order, the dissolution court relied on the findings and conclusions in the
    2018 CHINS order. In addition, the dissolution court found that V.M. and
    F.M. still saw Father as abusive to them. V.M. was seeing a psychologist and a
    counselor and took medication for depression and anxiety. The dissolution
    court further found that Father had done nothing in the previous year to show
    any improvement in his relationship with the children. Because of the lack of
    improvement, the dissolution court concluded that it had no basis upon which
    to grant Father’s motion to establish parenting time and that Father’s right of
    parenting time had been subordinated to the best interests of his children. We
    find no abuse of the dissolution court’s discretion. 3
    3
    Father also asks this Court to order Judge Aylsworth to recuse himself because “[n]o part of his current
    order is favorable to Father or reasonably supported by the evidence and there is absolutely not one negative
    about Mother.” (Father’s Amended Br. 23). Although the mere appearance of bias and partiality may
    require recusal if an objective person, knowledgeable of all the circumstances, would have a rational basis for
    doubting the judge’s impartiality, In re Adoption of M.H., 
    15 N.E.3d 612
    , 624 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014), trans.
    denied, adverse rulings and findings by a trial court judge are not sufficient reason to believe the judge has a
    personal bias or prejudice. We therefore decline Father’s request that we order Judge Aylsworth to recuse
    himself.
    Father further argues that the dissolution court abused its discretion in ordering him to pay $20,000 to
    Mother’s attorney. According to Father, “$20,000 is far beyond the abuse of discretion standard. It is
    scandalous.” (Father’s Amended Br. 23). However, Father has waived appellate review of this issue because
    he has failed to support it with cogent argument and relevant authority. See Kentucky Nat’l. Ins. Co. v. Empire
    Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 
    919 N.E.2d 565
    , 598 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010) (holding that argument was waived for
    failure to cite authority or provide cogent argument). Waiver notwithstanding, we find no error. An award
    of attorney fees in a dissolution of marriage action is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Mason v. Mason,
    
    775 N.E.2d 706
    , 711 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002), trans. denied. We will reverse such an award only if it “is clearly
    against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court.” 
    Id.
     Misconduct that directly
    results in additional litigation expenses may properly be taken into account in the trial court’s decision to
    award attorney fees in a dissolution proceeding. Here, the dissolution court had before it evidence of
    Father’s litigation tactics, which were aggressive and costly to defend against. Under these circumstances,
    the dissolution court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Father to pay Mother’s attorney fees of $20,000.
    Lastly, Father argues that the dissolution court should have granted his request to abate child support. He
    specifically argues that the child support guidelines are unconstitutional because they deny him due process.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019                    Page 16 of 17
    [24]   Affirmed and Remanded with Instructions.
    Robb, J., and Mathias, J., concur.
    According to Father, after paying child support, he has “no money to maintain a home to exercise
    constitutional parenting time[.]” (Father’s Amended Br. 27). Father, however, has waived appellate review
    of this argument because he has failed to support it with cogent argument and the five pages in his appellate
    brief devoted to it include no citation to authority. See Kentucky Nat’l. Ins. Co., 
    919 N.E.2d at 598
    . We further
    note that this Court has previously determined that the child support guidelines do not violate due process.
    See Garrod v. Garrod, 
    590 N.E.2d 163
    , 171 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992).
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-DR-261 | October 30, 2019                    Page 17 of 17
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 19A-DR-261

Filed Date: 10/30/2019

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/17/2021