# Transylvania County Department of Social Services Ex Rel. Dowling v. Connolly

> Court of Appeals of North Carolina · June 7, 1994 · 115 N.C. App. 34

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9585526

## Case

- **Full name:** TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES O/B/O DONLYN JNE. DOWLING, MOTHER AND MINOR CHILD, Plaintiffs v. JOHN M. CONNOLLY, III, Defendant
- **Court:** Court of Appeals of North Carolina
- **Decided:** June 7, 1994
- **Citations:** 115 N.C. App. 34; 443 S.E.2d 892; 1994 N.C. App. LEXIS 545
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Greene
- **Judges:** John, Greene
- **Cited by:** 3 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9585526

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that where child support arrearages could not be modified retroactively under Georgia law, “the trial court erred in modifying the Georgia support order by forgiving defendant for the accrued arrearages”
- explaining that Georgia child support order was “entitled to full faith and credit to the extent it represents past due child support payments which are vested.”

## Opinion text

Judge Greene
concurring.
I write separately only to emphasize the difference between a retroactive modification of a child support order and a credit on a child support obligation. These differences apply not only in Georgia, but also in North Carolina. Retroactive modification of past due child support is prohibited. See N.C.G.S. § 50-13.10(a), (b) (1987). Credits on a court-ordered child support obligation are permitted if the oblig- or has substantially complied with the child support order. See Homer H. Clark, Jr., The Law of Domestic Relations in the United States § 17.3, at 748 (2d ed. 1988) [hereinafter Clark] (distinguishing between credits and modifications); Goodson v. Goodson, 32 N.C. App. 76, 81 , 231 S.E.2d 178, 182 (1977) (credit on child support obligation permitted where “equitable considerations” exist). For example, payments made by a third party to the custodian may be credited against the support obligation. Clark at 748-49. For another example, when the obligor fails to make payments as ordered but makes payments directly to the child, no credit is allowed unless the custodial parent consents. Clark at 749; see Pieper v. Pieper, 108 N.C. App. 722, 730 , 425 S.E.2d 435, 439 (1993). Furthermore, as for payments to third parties for expenses incurred on behalf of the child, credit is more likely if the expense is incurred “with the consent or at the request of the parent with custody.” Goodson, 32 N.C. App. at 81 , 231 S.E.2d at 182 .

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9585526. Public record. Not legal advice.