Cutshaw v. Cutshaw

In Cutshaw v. Cutshaw, 220 Va. 638, 641, 261 S.E.2d 52, 54 (1979), the parties' agreement, which was affirmed, ratified, and incorporated into the final decree of divorce, required the husband to pay twenty-five dollars per week for support of his children "until modified by a court of competent jurisdiction or until such time as the last of the two children leaves the mother's home . . . or until the last of said children shall complete his or her education through the undergraduate level whichever first occurs." Cutshaw, 220 Va. at 639-40, 261 S.E.2d at 53. During the minority of the younger child, the trial judge increased the husband's payments, such that when the younger child reached the age of majority the husband was paying thirty-five dollars per month. Id. at 640, 261 S.E.2d at 53. The Supreme Court reversed the trial judge's order, which assessed the husband an arrearage based upon thirty-five dollars per month for each month the husband failed to pay after the younger child reached the age of majority. Additionally, the Court remanded the case for a recomputation based upon its holding that the trial judge's jurisdiction to provide for support of that child after the child's majority was solely dependent upon the "agreement incorporated into the divorce decree." Id. at 641, 261 S.E.2d at 54. The husband "conceded that his contractual obligation to pay child support in the agreed amount of $ 25 per week continued although the younger child had reached the age of majority." Cutshaw, 220 Va. at 641, 261 S.E.2d at 54.