Opinion

Featherstone v. Brooks

  • 220 Va. 443
  • 258 S.E.2d 513
  • 1979 Va. LEXIS 279
Court
Supreme Court of Virginia
Filed
Oct 5, 1979
Status
Published
Author
Carrico
On the bench
Harman, Carrico
Cited by
56 cases

holding that court had authority to modify a divorce decree incorporating a property settlement agreement and to order mother to pay child support when father showed a material change in circumstances

How later courts described this case

  • holding that court had authority to modify a divorce decree incorporating a property settlement agreement and to order mother to pay child support when father showed a material change in circumstances
  • “Code § 20-108 gives the divorce court continuing jurisdiction to change or modify its decree concerning the custody and maintenance of minor children, and a contract between husband and wife cannot prevent the court from exercising this power.” (citation omitted)
  • superseded by statute on other grounds
  • Virginia law requires that “both parents of a child owe that child a duty of support during minority.”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

CARRICO, J.,

dissenting.

As the majority opinion points out, a divorce court may change or modify its decree concerning child maintenance if the party seeking the modification shows that a material change in conditions and circumstances has occurred since entry of the decree. Simply stated, my position is that the father, who sought the modification in this case, failed completely to show a material change in conditions and circumstances. Accordingly, I would reverse the decree appealed from.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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