Opinion
Record No. 2534-93-4
Decided: January 3, 1995
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA, Alfred D. Swersky, Judge
(James McConville, on brief) for appellant.
No brief or argument for appellee.
Present: Judges Barrow, Koontz and Fitzpatrick
Pursuant to Code Sec. 17-116.010 this opinion is not designated for publication.
In this domestic relations appeal, the wife contends that the trial court erred in denying her request for payroll deduction of her husband's spousal support payments. Finding the appeal without merit, we affirm the decision of the trial judge.
Upon separation in 1969, the parties signed a separation agreement in which the husband agreed to pay the wife spousal support. When the parties divorced in 1984, the trial judge ratified, but did not incorporate the agreement in the divorce decree. In 1987, after lengthy disputes, the parties entered and the judge signed a "Consent Order Amending Agreement," which among other things, modified the support amount. When the husband failed to pay the full amount, the wife requested payroll deduction pursuant to Code Sec. 20-79.1. The trial court denied the request, and the wife appealed.
"As part of any Order directing a person to pay . . . spousal support pursuant to this chapter . . . or by separate order at any time thereafter," a court may order payroll deduction. Code Sec. 20-79.1. However, the order in this case does not direct the husband to pay support; rather it simply amends the terms of the parties' contract, which was not incorporated in the divorce decree. Code Sec. 20-79.1 does not provide for payroll deduction based on contracts, or amendments to contracts, even if signed by a judge. Therefore, the court did not have authority to order payroll deduction.
Accordingly, we affirm the decision of the trial court.
Affirmed.