WELSH v. DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE CHILD SUPPORT PROGRAM (2021)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.2021-09-08No. No. 4D21-1715

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court reversed the final support order and remanded the case to the Department for issuance of an amended proposed order that accounts for health insurance costs, after which the appellant may request an administrative hearing or informal discussion if he disagrees with the revised proposal.

Fabion Welsh appealed a final child support order issued by the Florida Department of Revenue, arguing that he never received a proposed order beforehand and was denied the opportunity to request a hearing. He also claimed the Department failed to account for his payments toward his child's health insurance premiums when calculating his support obligation. The Department acknowledged these errors, conceding that it should have issued an amended proposed order that properly incorporated the health insurance costs into the child support calculation as required by Florida law.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether appellant received proper notice and opportunity to be heard before issuance of final support order
Whether health insurance premium payments were properly credited in child support calculation
Proper procedure for amending child support orders to include health insurance costs

Procedural posture

Appellant appealed a final administrative child support order issued by the Department of Revenue, and the Department subsequently confessed error on appeal.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

ON CONFESSION OF ERROR

Appellant Fabion Welsh appeals from a final administrative support order entered by the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Program (“the Department”). Appellant contends that he did not receive a “Proposed Administrative Final Order” and was not given an opportunity to request a hearing prior to the issuance of the final administrative support order. He also challenges several of the orders findings, including the failure to credit him for payment of his childs health insurance premiums.

In response, the Department confesses error, noting that it did not properly account for Appellants information concerning health insurance costs in calculating child support. The Department maintains that it “should have issued an Amended Proposed Order, with accompanying amended child support guideline worksheets, factoring the health insurance costs into the child support guidelines,” consistent with section 409.2563(5)(d), Florida Statutes (2021).

Per the Departments confession of error, the final support order is reversed and remanded for the issuance of an amended proposed administrative support order. Should Appellant disagree with the proposed order, Appellant may thereafter request an administrative hearing or contact the Department for an informal discussion. See § 409.2563(5)(c), Fla. Stat. (2021).

Reversed and remanded.

Per Curiam.

May, Ciklin and Forst, JJ., concur.