Child Support Arrears Case

The North Carolina Court of Appeals considered State v. Bryant. This case was on appeal to address the issue of Father’s child support arrears. The case involved the registration of a foreign judgment for divorce which also contained provisions for child custody and child support. The foreign judgment was orginally entered by a trial court in Michigan. The foreign judgment called for Father to pay $486 per month to Mother for child support.

The trial court originally ordered that Father owed arrears of $2,916 and added $100 per month to his existing child support obligation. The State appealed on behalf of Mother.

At trial, both Mother and Father testified that Father had failed to make paments for a ten month period. The court of appeals found that Father actually owed $4,860 in arrears and found that the trial court was not free, consistent with the full faith and credit doctrine, to find any othe rfigure as Father’s debt under the original foreign judgment.