Spencer v. Spencer

Stephen Wayne Spencer (the ""father"") and Rebecca Garrett Spencer (the ""mother"") were divorced on April 20, 1989. They had one child, who reached the age of majority on July 31, 2000. On July 10, 2000, before the child reached the age of majority, the mother petitioned the trial court for a modification of the original divorce judgment. The mother sought postminority educational support for the child in the amount of one-half of the child's college expenses. The father has been the custodial parent since 1997; however, after graduating from high school, the child moved in with the mother, where he continues to reside. After receiving ore tenus evidence, the trial court entered a judgment requiring the father to pay $300 per month to the child for postminority educational support. The child enrolled as a full-time student at Wallace Community College in August 2000; the court ordered that the $300 postminority-support payments be retroactive to that date and ordered that the $1,500 arrearage that had accrued between August 2000 and January 17, 2001, the date of the trial court's judgment, be paid within 90 days. On February 2, 2001, the father filed a postjudgment motion pursuant to Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P. The trial court denied the father's motion on February 28, 2001. The father appealed.