Smith v. Smith

OPINION

FONES, Chief Justice.

This procedural quagmire does not lend itself to a brief introductory statement of the issue. We granted defendant’s T.R.A.P. 11 application to examine the propriety of the Court of Appeals’ award of a judgment for child support arrearage based on a procedural technicality, there having been no adjudication on the merits of plaintiff’s claim in the trial court. We reverse and remand for a trial of that issue on its merits.

On June 27, 1980, plaintiff Evelyn Smith filed a petition titled “Petition for Contempt and Increased Child Support.” She recited therein that…