Dad Found to Be Voluntarily Underemployed After Minimal Job Search

Tennessee child support case summary on voluntary underemployment in divorce and family law.

Elizabeth E. Ivey Goodrich v. John Exera Goodrich, Jr.

The mother and father in this Montgomery County, Tennessee, case were the parents of four minor children at the time of their 2011 divorce.  The mother was named the primary residential parent, and the father was ordered to pay child support based upon his gross monthly income of $10,000 as the finance manager for an auto dealership.

A few months later, the father was back in court and asked to reduce his child support obligation based upon drastically reduced income.  He reported that he had lost his job and that his new job paid considerably less.  The case wasn’t heard until 2016, but the husband testified that he was searching diligently for a job, but his lack of college education was an obstacle.  He ultimately got a job as an independent contractor for a business owned by his family, earning about $600 per week.  He argued that the stress and long hours of another finance manager position were detrimental to his health.

The trial court, Judge Jill Bartee Ayers, determined that the father was voluntarily underemployed.  She noted that he had not sought employment in the field where he had worked most of his adult life.  The trial court held that he had an imputed income of $10,000 per month, and granted a judgment for arrearages.

The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, and argued that the lower court had erred in finding voluntary underemployment.  The appeals court first pointed out that this is a factual determination, and won’t be set aside unless the evidence preponderates against the finding.

The trial court had agreed with the father that losing the first job was not voluntary.  But the appeals court pointed out that this did not precule a finding of voluntary underemployment.  Here, the trial court had found that the father did not make reasonable efforts to get a new job in the field or with comparable income.

The appeals court pointed out that when the father was terminated, he was in his 40s and had 16 years experience.  He had worked both in sales and finance.  Also, the appeals court pointed out that he did not know how many resumes he had sent out.

After reviewing the evidence, the Court of Appeals held that it supported the judge’s findings and affirmed.

No. M2017-00792-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 26, 2018).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Support Modification in Tennessee | How to Modify Child Support.

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