Bernice Sorrell v. William D. Sorrell (2013)

DECISION RENDERING JUDGMENT

The plaintiff-wife filed a Complaint for the dissolution of her marriage to the defendant-husband in this court on April 25, 2012.   She seeks sole custody of their minor children and child support.   The Return Date was May 15, 2012.   On May 14, the husband appeared as a self-represented litigant and filed a cross-complaint.   He seeks dissolution of the marriage, joint legal custody of their minor children, child support, visitation and restoration of the wife's maiden name.   Counsel filed an appearance for the husband on September 18, 2012.   The wife appeared through counsel on October 9, 2012.   No Amended Complaint, Answer or Cross Complaint was filed by either party.

After status conferences, pre-trials, mediations, special master's conferences, and pendente lite hearings, none of which were successful, the matter was continued and assigned to this trial court for a limited contested final hearing.   A limited contested final hearing was held on April 23, 2013.   The wife appeared for trial with her attorney who represented her throughout.   The husband appeared for trial with his attorney who represented him throughout.   The wife and husband each testified.   No other witness was called by either party.   The wife introduced no exhibit and the husband introduced one exhibit.

FINDINGS

After hearing, and a careful review of the credible and relevant evidence offered during the trial, and a review of the judicially noticed court records, the court finds the following:

The wife resided continuously in the State of Connecticut for at least twelve months immediately preceding the filing of the Complaint.   She married the defendant by her birth name of Bernice De Jesus on June 28, 1997, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.   There are three (3) minor children issue of the marriage.   They are Victoria L. Sorrell, born on January 8, 1998;  Gabrielle E. Sorrell, born on April 28, 2002;  and Isabella A. Sorrell, born on April 6, 2010.   There is no other child that is issue of this marriage or that has been born to the wife since the date of the marriage.   The Wife is not pregnant.   There is no reasonable hope of reconciliation.   The marriage of the parties has broken down irretrievably.

The parties and their three minor children have been recipients of cash assistance from the state of Connecticut since July 1, 2012, and Husky medical assistance since December 1, 2010.   The state of Connecticut has an interest in this action.   The Assistant Attorney General appeared as a party on June 3, 2012, pursuant to C.G.S. § 46b–55.   The Assistant Attorney General requested that orders be entered for the benefit of the state of Connecticut in accordance with its Prayer for Relief, filed with the court April 23, 2013.   The parties do not object to the Proposed Orders for Relief submitted by the Assistant Attorney General.   The allegations of the Complaint are found to be true.   This court has jurisdiction over the marriage of the parties.

Each of the parties completed four years of high school.   Neither of them has had any further formal education.   They each appeared to be in their mid-thirties, in reasonably good health and able to work.   The wife is employed by Training Direct as a Phlebotomist Instructor.   She has a gross weekly income of $450 with a net income of $358 per week.   Health insurance is not available to her through her employment, however;  she maintains medical and dental insurance for herself and the children through the State of Connecticut.

The husband is employed through a temporary employment agency as a shipping and receiving clerk.   He has made reasonable efforts to obtain a full-time job for more than two years without success.   He works an average of thirty-three hours per week at $12.00 per hour.   He averages a gross weekly income of $400 with a net income of $320 per week.   The parties stipulated his earning capacity is $400 per week.   He has no health insurance or life insurance available to him.

The parties have been married to each other for 15 years.   This is the first marriage for each of them.   After marrying in 1997, they relocated to North Carolina.   They lived there for several months then moved back to Connecticut.   In 1998, they moved to Tennessee but moved back to Connecticut in 1999.   They remained in Connecticut until 2005 when they moved to Johnson City, Tennessee.   In December 2009, the family left Tennessee and relocated to Florida.

Victoria and Gabrielle were born in Connecticut.   Isabella was born in Florida.   The marriage broke down when the husband lost his job within a year after they moved to Florida.   She wanted to return to Connecticut.   He liked Florida and wanted to stay there.   In November 2011, she returned to Connecticut without the husband but with the children.   They have lived apart since then.   He has had only sporadic contact with the children since November 2011.

The husband subsequently became romantically involved with another woman.   He lives with his girlfriend of two years and her 26–year–old son.   He has minimal knowledge about the background of his girlfriend's 26–year–old son.   They live in a three-bedroom house owned by his girlfriend.   He believes that it is in Gabriella's and Isabella's best interest to continue to live with the wife.   He wants Victoria to live with him in Florida.   Victoria wants to be with her father.   However, she has no other family, friends or support system in Florida.   He has no clear plan for her continued schooling in Florida;  only minimal knowledge about the Florida school system;  no clear plan for obtaining medical and dental care for her;  and no plan for her to maintain a close relationship with her siblings.

Victoria has a good relationship with her siblings.   She and her mother have been engaged in an ongoing conflict since they relocated from Florida to Connecticut.   Their interaction has been volatile at times.   She faults her mother for breaking up the family.   Victoria left home in February 2012 and stayed for several days with her god-parents.   She then returned home and resumed living with her mother and siblings.   The GAL believes that the conflict between Victoria and her mother is having a detrimental effect on the other children.   She recommends that all of them participate in counseling.   The wife is willing to participate in counseling with Victoria and if recommended, to include the siblings in the counseling.   Counseling is available to the wife and children through their Husky coverage.

The wife wants to keep all three children together and with her.   She has been their primary caretaker and disciplinarian for all of their lives.   Victoria is in the eighth grade.   She wants to attend Platt Technical High School here in Connecticut.   She has satisfied the high academic criteria for admission into Platt Technical and has been accepted for admission in the fall of 2013.   The parties have not been able to effectively communicate, discuss and agree upon major decisions to be made for the children.   Invariably, their attempts to communicate devolve into an argument with one of them hanging up on the other.   Consequently, the wife has made all of the major decisions concerning the children.

The parties were required, pursuant to Connecticut General Statute 46b–69b(b) to take and complete the mandatory parenting education program prior to entry of a final judgment.   They were ordered on October 9, 2012 to participate in a parenting education program.   Neither was granted or even applied for a waiver of the requirement.   Notwithstanding the order of the court, they failed and neglected to attend and complete the statutorily required parenting education program without good excuse.   The wife and the husband are in contempt of the court's order.

In entering the following decree the court has taken into consideration among other things, the length of the marriage, the causes of the breakdown of the marriage, the age of the parties, their health, skills, employability, amount and sources of income, distribution of the marital assets, their resources, and their respective ability to acquire work and future income.   The court has considered all of the evidence in the light of the statutory factors in Connecticut General Statutes § 46b–81 and § 46b–82 and hereby enters the following orders:

ORDERS

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE

1. The marriage is hereby dissolved on the ground of irretrievable breakdown.

PERIODIC ALIMONY

2. The husband shall pay the sum of $1.00 per year as periodic alimony to the wife.   The alimony shall terminate after six (6) years from the date of judgment or upon the death of either party, remarriage of the wife or civil union of the wife or a finding of cohabitation pursuant to Connecticut General Statute § 46b–86(b).  The term of the alimony is non-modifiable.   The amount of the alimony may be modified pursuant to Connecticut General Statute § 46b–86(b).

3. The husband did not request alimony.   No alimony is awarded to the husband.

CUSTODY AND PARENTING TIME

1. The children's primary residence shall be with the wife.

2. The wife shall have sole decision making authority concerning the children.

3. The husband shall be entitled to have full access to all daycare, school and medical records of the minor children.   He shall be notified and allowed to participate in all school meetings with teachers and/or school support staff.   He shall have the right to receive copies of all reports issued by any medical or health care provider, teacher or school in accordance with Connecticut General Statute 46b–56(e).   The wife shall notify all school, medical providers, and activity providers of this requirement if the husband has any difficulty in obtaining records or consulting with a child's teacher, doctor or activity provider.

4. The wife shall notify the husband of all scheduled medical appointments, extracurricular events and activities in which the children may be involved.

5. The parties shall exert reasonable efforts to maintain free access and unhampered contact between the children and each of them.   The parties shall exert reasonable efforts to foster a feeling of affection between the children and each of them.   Neither party shall make any comment that tends to disparage or denigrate the other parent to, or in the presence or hearing of, any of the children.   Neither party shall do anything that may estrange the children from the other party nor injure the opinion of the children as to the other parent, nor act in such a way as to hamper the free and natural development of each child's love and respect for the other parent.

6. The parties shall provide to each other and keep each other current with their home address, work address, e-mail address, cell phone and landline telephone numbers.

7. Each party shall be entitled to have telephone contact with the minor children every night whenever the child is with the other parent.   In the event the children are not home or available during the time the call is made, the custodial parent shall immediately call the other parent upon the child's return home and as soon as the child can be made available to speak with the non- custodial parent that evening.

8. The Husband shall be entitled to have the children in the even numbered years every Thanksgiving day overnight until Sunday;  every Christmas break in the odd numbered years from the last day of school until January 2nd;  every Christmas break in the even numbered years from December 26 to January 2;  and every April school vacation, subject to the children's required attendance at school and participation in mutually agreed upon extracurricular activities and sports.

9. The husband shall be entitled to have two consecutive weeks of vacation time with the minor children Gabrielle and Isabella during the summer of each year.   He shall also be entitled to have Victoria for the summer of each year commencing the day after her regular school year ends until one (1) week before it resumes in August or September.

10. The husband's visitations/vacation with the children may occur within or outside of the state of Connecticut at his election.   He shall provide the Wife with written notice by May 1 of each year of the two weeks that he has chosen for his summer visitation/vacation time with Gabrielle and Isabella.

11. He shall be solely responsible for all of the expenses incurred in the exercise of his visitations/vacation time with the children.

12. This custody and parenting time order shall be subject to review and modification by the Court.

CHILD SUPPORT

13. The husband shall pay $124 per week, in accordance with the Child Support Guidelines, to the state of Connecticut, as child support for their three minor children until they graduate high school or attain 19 years of age, whichever occurs first.

14. The husband shall also pay $16 per week towards an arrearage owed to the state of Connecticut in the amount of $5,208.00, as of April 23, 2013, until paid in full.

15. These orders for the payment of current child support and child support arrearages shall be secured by an immediate income withholding.

TAX DEPENDENCY EXEMPTIONS

16. The wife shall be entitled to claim Gabrielle and Isabella as a tax dependency exemption or credit for the even-numbered tax years.

17. The wife shall be entitled to claim Victoria as a tax dependency exemption or credit for the odd-numbered tax years.

18. The husband shall be entitled to claim Gabrielle and Isabella as a tax dependency exemption or credit for the odd-numbered tax years if he is current in his obligation to pay child support for the entire calendar year by December 31 of each year.

19. The husband shall be entitled to claim Victoria as a tax dependency exemption or credit for the even-numbered tax years if he is current in his obligation to pay child support for the entire calendar year by December 31 of each year.

CHILD CARE CONTRIBUTION

20. Any child care expense necessarily incurred by either party for a minor child so that they may engage in full-time employment shall be shared equally by the parties and shall be paid within thirty (30) days of the date of the written request for payment.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

21. The parties shall share equally the cost of all of the children's school supplies and extracurricular activities, including necessary equipment, travel, meals and lodging expenses for the children, which they mutually agree the child will participate.

POST–SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT

22. The parties acknowledge that had they remained an intact family, they would have paid for their children's undergraduate college expenses to the best of their abilities.   In the event that they are unable to agree in the future as to the allocation of the undergraduate college educational expenses, either party may file a motion for a determination of such allocation.

23. The court shall retain jurisdiction pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes § 46b–56c regarding any future orders for the post-secondary education of the parties' children, including the disposition of all funds being held by the parties jointly by the parties for the benefit of the children, until the age of 23.

HEALTH INSURANCE

24. The wife shall provide and maintain, pursuant to the requirements of C.G.S. § 46b–84, medical, dental, and vision health insurance for the benefit of the children until the age of 18, if available to her at a reasonable cost not to exceed seven and one-half (7 1/2%) percent of her net income, including if available through her employer, group insurance or union.   If a child attains age 18 and is a full-time student, she shall maintain the child's medical, dental and vision health insurance until the child attains age 23, marries, deceases, becomes employed full-time, or is no longer eligible to be carried by her at a reasonable cost.

25. In the event that medical, dental, and vision health insurance for the benefit of the children is not available to the wife at a reasonable cost, including through her employment then, in that event, the husband shall maintain such insurance as may be available to him at a reasonable cost, not to exceed seven and one-half (7 1/2%) percent of his net income, including if available through his employer, group insurance or union, for the benefit of the children, until they reach the age of 18, or the age of 23, if the child is a full-time student.

26. Any uninsured or un-reimbursed medical, dental, vision or other health care expense, incurred for a minor child shall be shared equally by the parties.   The husband is required to reimburse the wife her equal share after she has provided him with documentation of the amount of the medical expense, the insurance payment, and the company's co-pay reimbursement.

27. Neither party shall contract for any elective surgery or incur expenses for non-medical healing arts for a child without consulting with and obtaining the consent of the other, except in the case of an emergency.   Consent to such treatment shall not be unreasonably withheld.

28. The wife shall be responsible for her own medical, dental, and vision health insurance.

29. The husband shall be responsible for his own medical, dental, and vision health insurance.

BANK ACCOUNTS

30. The wife shall retain all monies deposited in the bank accounts as listed on her financial affidavit, dated and filed with the court on April 23, 2013, free and clear of any claim by the husband.

31. The husband shall retain all monies deposited in his bank accounts as listed on his financial affidavit, dated and filed with the court on April 23, 2013, free and clear of any claim by the wife.

PERSONAL PROPERTY

32. The Parties have previously divided all of their personal property.   Each of them shall be entitled to retain all of the household appliances, furniture, furnishings and other personal property currently in their possession, free of any claim by the other.

DEBTS AND LIABILITIES

33. The wife shall be responsible for all of the debts set forth on her financial affidavit, dated and filed with the court on April 23, 2013 or that exist in her individual name.   She shall indemnify and hold the husband harmless against any claim brought against him arising from such debts.

34. The husband shall be solely responsible for all of the debts set forth on his financial affidavit, dated and filed with the court on April 23, 2013 or that exist in his individual name.   He shall indemnify and hold the wife harmless against any claim brought against her arising from such debts.

35. Any debt incurred postjudgment is the sole responsibility of the party incurring the debt.

PARENTING EDUCATION

36. The wife and the husband are ordered to apply for the parenting education program within fourteen (14) days of judgment.   Each of them is ordered to take and complete the program and file a Certificate of Completion of the parenting education program with the court within two weeks of completing the program, and by not later than three (3) months from the date of judgment.

37. As a sanction for their failure to comply with the court's orders to take and complete the parenting education program, the court imposes upon the wife a fine in the amount of $25.00 and upon the husband a fine in the amount of $25.00, which they are ordered to remit to the clerk's office for the Judicial District of Milford at Milford within 90 days from the date of judgment.

38. Should the wife fail to comply with the orders in paragraph no. 36, the court hereby imposes, as a further sanction upon her, an additional fine of $25.00 per week for each week, after the three months, that her Certificate of Completion of the parenting education program remains unfiled with this court, up to a maximum total fine of $500.00.

39. Should the husband fail to comply with the orders in paragraph no. 36, the court hereby imposes, as a further sanction upon him, an additional fine of $25.00 per week for each week, after the three months, that his Certificate of Completion of the parenting education program remains unfiled with this court, up to a maximum total fine of $500.00.

GUARDIAN AD LITEMS FEE

40. The Husband shall pay the remaining balance due on his fifty 50% share of the GAL's fee as approved and ordered by the court on October 9, 2012, at the rate of fifty ($50) dollars per month until it has been paid in full.

COUNSEL FEES AND COSTS

41. The wife shall be responsible for payment of her attorneys fees.

42. The husband shall be responsible for payment of his attorneys fees.

By the Court,

John Turner

Judge of the Superior Court

Turner, John, J.