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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 04/22/97 OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 96-CA-00498 COA

MICHAEL EARL DOWELL APPELLANT v. ROBERTA SOURS DOWELL APPELLEE

THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED, PURSUANT TO M.R.A.P. 35-B

TRIAL JUDGE: HON. PATRICIA D. WISE COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: CHANCERY COURT OF HINDS COUNTY ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: MICHAEL J. MALOUF ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: CYNTHIA LEE BREWER NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION: MODIFICATION OF CHILD SUPPORT AND ALIMONY PAYMENTS GRANTED

MANDATE ISSUED: 7/8/97 BEFORE THOMAS, P.J., COLEMAN, AND KING, JJ.

THOMAS, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

Michael and Roberta Dowell were married in 1971, and after ten years of marriage they divorced in 1981 on the ground of irreconcilable differences. The couple had one child born to the marriage, Michael Sours Dowell. The divorce decree provided that: (1) Michael Dowell was to pay Roberta Dowell the sum of six hundred dollars per month for child support for their one child until the child reached the age of nineteen years or commenced attending an institution of higher learning, whichever shall occur first; (2) Michael Dowell agreed to pay for their child's college education as long as the child is making satisfactory progress; and (3) Michael Dowell was to pay Roberta Dowell the sum of eight hundred dollars per month for two years, and then six hundred dollars per month as periodic alimony until Roberta Dowell shall die or remarry. In 1996 Roberta sought to have the divorce decree modified so that child support payments would continue past the child's nineteenth birthday, despite the fact that the decree ordered Michael to pay all college expenses for their child. Michael filed a counter motion to have the periodic alimony paid to Roberta either terminated or reduced in sum. The chancellor found that there had been a material change in circumstances with respect to child support and granted Roberta's motion and ordered Michael to pay two hundred fifty dollars a month in child support until age twenty-one, in addition to Michael paying the college expenses of their child. The chancellor also found there had not been a material change in circumstances which would warrant a modification of alimony and denied Michael's counter motion. Finally, the chancellor found a substantial material change in circumstances to allow Michael to reduce the amount of an insurance policy he was required to maintain on Roberta from $171,733.50 to $150,000.00. Feeling aggrieved, Michael appeals raising the following issues as error: I. WHETHER THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF MISS. CODE ANN.

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