STEPHENS, J.
Defendant appeals from the circuit court's order denying his motion to vacate a modified universal child support order (UCSO). We vacate and remand.
The underlying case arises from a paternity complaint filed by plaintiff on December 7, 2006, naming defendant as the biological father of her son, who was born on April 14, 2005. Defendant was served by substituted service with the paternity complaint on December 27, 2006, and with an order for genetic testing on January 8, 2007. Plaintiff filed a default application and moved for entry of a default order of filiation after defendant failed to respond to either the complaint or the order for testing. At the April 12, 2007 motion hearing, the trial court entered a judgment of filiation and a UCSO requiring defendant to pay $297 per month in child support, retroactive to the child's date of birth, April 14, 2005. On plaintiff's motion, the court modified the UCSO to include $368 per month for childcare effective from October 6, 2006, bringing defendant's total monthly liability for child support and childcare to $665.
Defendant claims to have first learned about the paternity case when his wages were garnished in the summer of 2009. In 2012, defendant filed a motion to set aside the judgment of filiation under § 13(3), MCL 722.1443(3), of the then new Revocation of Paternity Act (RPA), MCL 722.1431 et seq., in which he denied paternity. Genetic tests excluded defendant as the father. The court held a best interests hearing to set aside the judgment of filiation and terminated defendant's child support obligation effective September 2012, the date of the filing of the RPA petition. More than $45,000 in arrears that had accrued before that date was unaffected by the order.
Subsequently, defendant attempted to set up a payment plan for the arrears through the Friend of Court. Because only $300 of the arrears was owed to the state of Michigan, the Friend of the Court declined to enter a discharge plan and instructed defendant to "file a motion for relief of judgment to be heard by the circuit court."
Defendant filed a motion with the circuit court to vacate the support orders and support enforcement orders under MCR 2.612(C)(1)(f). He argued below, as he argues on appeal, that although MCL 722.1443(3) does not provide a mechanism for relief from arrearages owed for a child
Defendant argues that the plain language of MCL 722.1443(3) allows him to seek relief under MCR 2.612(C)(1). We agree.
The proper interpretation of a statute is a legal question that this Court reviews de novo. Gilliam v. Hi-Temp Prod., Inc., 260 Mich.App. 98, 108, 677 N.W.2d 856 (2003). The fundamental rule of statutory interpretation is to give effect to the Legislature's intent. Klooster v. Charlevoix, 488 Mich. 289, 296, 795 N.W.2d 578 (2011). The Court accomplishes this by focusing on the language the Legislature adopted in the statute, giving meaning to every word, phrase, and clause in the statute and considering both their plain meaning and their context. Mich. Farm, Bureau v. Dep't of Environmental Quality, 292 Mich.App. 106, 131-132, 807 N.W.2d 866 (2011). "Courts may not speculate regarding legislative intent beyond the words expressed in a statute." Mich. Ed. Ass'n v. Secretary of State (On Rehearing), 489 Mich. 194, 217-218, 801 N.W.2d 35 (2011). A statute that is clear and unambiguous on its face should be enforced as written. Dep't of Agriculture v. Appletree Mktg., LLC, 485 Mich. 1, 8, 779 N.W.2d 237 (2010).
The RPA became effective June 12, 2012. 2012 PA 159.
MCL 722.1443(3) of the RPA provides:
The clear and unambiguous language of the statute indicates that while a judgment under the RPA does not automatically excuse a parent from compliance with prior support orders, it also does not bar a motion to have the judgment vacated or set aside by means of any applicable court rule.
MCR 2.612(C)(1) provides six grounds under which a court may relieve a party from "a final judgment, order, or proceeding":
As long as a party meets the requirements for obtaining relief under one of the specified grounds, nothing in the text of MCR 2.612(C)(1) indicates that it may not be used to grant relief from a UCSO.
Defendant seeks relief under Subrule (f). Heugel establishes the following criteria for relief under Subrule (f):
At the hearing on the motion, the trial court focused on whether defendant met the necessary common-law criteria to obtain relief under MCR 2.612(C)(1)(f). Ultimately, the court noted an absence of caselaw on the interplay between the RPA and MCR 2.612 and stated "I just think legally I don't think the Court can grant the relief that you're requesting." In the end, the court simply stated that it did not believe that defendant had met his burden under MCR 2.612(C)(1)(f), and denied defendant's motion "for the reasons stated on the record." However, the court offered no reasons for its denial of defendant's motion other than its belief that defendant had not met his burden. We cannot say as a matter of law whether this defendant can meet the burden under MCR2.612; however, we can state that relief under that rule is available to this defendant and others who are successful under the RPA. Our review of the record shows that the trial court did not state the reasons for its
We hold that MCL 722.1443(3) allows a person who has obtained a judgment under the RPA to seek relief from prior child support orders under MCR 2.612. MCL 722.1443(3) specifically allows a defendant to resort to applicable court rules to seek relief from prior support orders. MCR 2.612(C)(1) expressly provides for such relief and does not limit the type of orders from which relief may be sought. Therefore, the text of the statute and the court rule provide no legal reason to bar defendant from seeking relief from the modified UCSO under MCR 2.612. We also conclude, given the record before us, that we cannot determine whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying defendant's motion. See Woodington v. Shokoohi, 288 Mich.App. 352, 371, 792 N.W.2d 63 (2010).
The order of the trial court denying defendant's motion to vacate the support order and to set aside all support enforcement orders is vacated. The issue of the applicability of MCR 2.612(C) to defendant's case is remanded to the trial court, which must decide the issue and articulate its reasoning. We do not retain jurisdiction.
WILDER, P.J., and SERVITTO, J., concurred with STEPHENS, J.