Mom Has Right to Discovery of Dad’s Inheritance in Child Support Dispute

The parties to this Davidson County, Tennessee case were the unwed parents of a child born in 2008.  The mother was an attorney, and the father was a pharmacist who owned a pharmacy.   There had been ongoing disputes involving parenting time and child support.  Under a 2015 parenting plan, the mother was named the primary residential parent.  That plan set the father’s income at about $8000, and the mother’s at about $12,000.  The father’s child support was set at $670.  The father made a motion to modify, and the parties agreed to an order in 2017 keeping it at that amount.  That order barred the father from asking for another modification for three years.  After those three years, the father made another motion, and the mother also moved to modify the parenting plan.  She asked for an ex parte restraining order preventing the father from exercising parenting time, pending an investigation by Child Protective Service and the police department.  The trial court granted that request, and also appointed a Guardian ad Litem.

While that matter was pending, both parties filed motions regarding discovery.  The trial court denied some of the mother’s requests, and also generally ruled against her.  Therefore, she appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

After addressing some procedural matters, the appeals court turned to the discovery issues.  Her requested discovery included information about an inheritance received by the father, and the appeals court noted that money received by inheritance can be considered as income for purposes of child support.  Capital gains are also included in income, and the mother had requested discovery pertaining to this.

The trial court had reviewed the documents in camera before concluding that the mother was not entitled to them.  But the appeals court held that this was error, and that the requested documents should have been provided.

The trial court had also assessed the costs of the Guardian ad Litem against the mother.  The appeals court also reversed this ruling.  It noted that while the father was not indicted for child abuse, he agreed that he would refrain from the behaviors complained of.  The appeals court held that the appointment of the guardian was necessary for this outcome, and that the fees should have been assessed against the father.

Because these issues were reversed, the appeals court remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings in light of whether the mother could make a case for additional child support, based upon her access to the discovery.   The costs of appeal were also assessed against the father.

No. M2023-00248-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 24, 2024).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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