The trial court declared Georgia’s statutory child support guidelines to be unconstitutional, concluding they violate the constitutional guarantees of due process, equal protection and privacy, and also operate as an unconstitutional taking of property. Having reviewed the matter, we conclude that the trial court erred by employing incorrect constitutional standards and unsound constitutional analyses. Therefore, we reverse. When they divorced in November 1998, Samuel and Michelle Sweat agreed that Samuel would retain custody of the couple’s three minor children, that Michelle would have visitation rights, and that Michelle would not be required to pay child support. In July 2000, at Samuel’s request, the Georgia Child Support Enforcement Agency notified Michelle of a “possible modification” of her child support obligation and asked her to furnish financial information. Michelle complied with the request and shortly thereafter, based upon Georgia’s statutory child support guidelines the “Guidelines”,1 the Agency instructed Michelle to begin paying $452 per month in child support and $79 per month toward her childrens’ health insurance.
Michelle challenged both the child support award and the Guidelines themselves. A hearing was held, after which the trial court declared the Guidelines unconstitutional. The court made many findings of fact concerning the purpose, effect, and uses of the Guidelines and then concluded that because the Guidelines are arbitrary, were hastily enacted, and have been reviewed by an unqualified Guideline Commission, they violate substantive due process under both the Georgia and United States Constitutions. The trial court also held that the Guidelines violate state and federal equal protection guarantees by placing different burdens on individuals who, “but for the award of child custody,” are similarly situated. The court then ruled that the Guidelines violate the right to privacy because they interfere with “parental decisions regarding financial expenditures on children.” Finally, the court held that the Guidelines violate the Georgia Constitution’s takings clause by reducing Michelle “to poverty status” such that she could not afford to appeal this action if she was unsuccessful in the trial court. Based on these conclusions and on its own determination of a constitutionally sound standard for the determination of child support, the trial court also denied the Agency’s request for modification of the original child support agreement, ruled that Michelle owed no child support, and ordered the state in the event DHR appealed the trial court’s ruling to provide Michelle with a transcript of the proceedings at no cost to her. For the reasons explained below, we reverse.
