No Retroactive Child Support When Dad Not Told of Child Born in 1996

Tennessee child support case summary on retroactive orders.

In 2013, the State of Tennessee brought this case in Sumner County juvenile court to legitimate a child and require the father to provide health insurance. That petition was granted, and the mother later filed a petition to set child support.

The trial court ordered the father to pay child support of $549 per month, but dating back only to the date the state filed the original petition. The mother took the position that the child support should be retroactive to the date of the child’s birth in 1996, and she appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The juvenile court had determined that if child support was made retroactive, then the amount would have been over $130,000.

In denying retroactive child support, the trial court first noted that there was no evidence of domestic violence. It also noted that the mother, for reasons of her own, had decided to keep the child to herself, and that she had gone out of her way to avoid establishing parentage. For this reason, the father never had the opportunity to bond with the child. Nonetheless, the court had noted that when the father became aware of the child, he began providing support.

Under these circumstances, the trial court held that it would be inequitable to require retroactive child support.

The appeals court noted that the decision to make child support retroactive is within the discretion of the juvenile court, subject to statutory requirements. While the mother made accusations of domestic violence convictions, the appeals court noted that she had not offered evidence of these alleged convictions, and thus discounted the argument.

After reviewing the evidence, the Court of Appeals agreed that the trial court had acted properly and within its discretion. Therefore, it affirmed the juvenile court’s order in all respects.

No. M2015-01568-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 26, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Support Laws in Tennessee.

See also 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 available on Amazon.com.