Mom Sells Avon, Not Voluntarily Unemployed, and Has Her Income Set at $300/month for Tennessee Child Support

Tennessee child support case law summary on income determination and voluntary unemployment from the Court of Appeals.

In re Jaiden W. – Tennessee divorce child support income determination

Jaiden W. was born in 2006, and before his tenth birthday, he had been the subject of three appeals to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  In the first appeal, the mother was attempted to have her imputed income set aside.  In the second appeal, the father successfully argued that the trial court had construed the first remand too narrowly, and the case was sent back again to address the other issues in the case.  After the second remand, the trial court heard the case and set child support.  In part, it based its decision on the mother’s imputed income, which had been at issue in the first appeal.  It set this amount at $300 per month.  The father then brought a third appeal, and argued that the mother’s imputed income had been set too low, based on her voluntary unemployment.

The appeals court quoted its second opinion, in which it had stated that the purpose of the remand was to determine the parties’ actual circumstances.  The father argued that the trial court should have followed an earlier more favorable ruling which had imputed a higher income to the mother.

In this case, the mother’s actual income had been $300 per month from selling Avon products.  She had testified that she was in the midst of a high-risk pregnancy and there had been medical limitations on her ability to work.  Even though the father attempted to establish voluntary unemployment, the appeals court noted that this was not supported by the evidence.  Since it was the trial court’s duty to sort out the actual circumstances, the appeals court held that the evidence did not preponderate against the trial court’s finding of $300 per month.  Therefore, it affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

The mother also requested attorney fees for the appeal, and the Court of Appeals granted this request.  Therefore, it affirmed the lower court’s judgment, but again remanded the case, but this time simply to determine the attorney’s fees on appeal.

No. M2014-00953-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 23, 2015).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

For more information, see Tennessee Child Support Laws.  See also Miles Mason’s book available on Amazon.com Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring actual examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases.