Mother Must Pay Half of Child’s Residential Treatment Costs
Tennessee child support case summary on uncovered medical expenses.
Sara Marie Poe Mossbeck v. John Pollard Hoover
Mother Must Pay Half of Child’s Residential Treatment Costs
The mother and father in this Hamilton County, Tennessee, case were married in 1997 and divorced in 2000. They had one child, and the permanent parenting plan provided that the father would maintain medical insurance with a deductible of less than $200. Uncovered medical expenses would be divided by the parties. In 2012, the child was placed with the father, who, because of behavioral and psychiatric issues, placed the child with residential programs. The mother consented, but did not sign the payment agreement. Expenses were significant, and in 2016, the father filed a petition for contempt to pay the uncovered medical expenses.
The trial court did not hold the mother in contempt, but ordered her to pay half of the expenses, granted judgment to the father, and allowed the mother to pay the judgment in installments. The father brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The father first argued that the trial court erred in failing to find the mother in contempt. But the appeals court agreed with the lower court that because the mother did not have an ability to pay, her conduct was not willful. Therefore, a finding of contempt was not appropriate.
The father also argued that the wife should have been responsible for a portion of the fee of a CPA used to determine the amount the wife owed. But the appeals court agreed with the lower court that this issue was properly decided by the lower court.
The mother argued that the full amounts owing were not “medical bills” for purposes of reimbursement. But the appeals court held that she had failed to raise this issue in the trial court, and that it was waived.
The appeals court did note one correction in the amount of medical bills paid, and reduced the mother’s portion. But in all other respects, it affirmed the lower court’s ruling.
No. E2020–00311-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 30, 2021).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Child Support Collection & Enforcement 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.
