Nancy Nichols vs. Howard Nichols

This is a post-divorce action on modification of child support. The parties' original divorce decree required the father to pay child support and, in addition, pay the private school tuition of one of the parties' children. Months later, the father filed a petition to eliminate his obligation to pay the tuition. The trial court referred the issue to a referee, issued an order consistent with the referee's ruling, and then later set it aside. The trial court then referred the issue to a special master for findings of fact. Adopting the findings of the special master, the trial court eliminated the father's obligation to pay the child's private school tuition. The mother appeals, arguing that there was not a significant variance justifying modification of the child support award. We reverse, finding that the basis for the trial court's modification were facts that were before the trial court at the time of the initial award, and that there are no facts in the record sufficient to support modification.