TN Dad’s Alimony and Child Support Modified After Loss of Job

Tennessee alimony and child support case summary.

Tracy Melinda Cook v. Tracy Dean Iverson

The mother and father in this Tennessee case were divorced in 2012.  Later that year, the father lost his high-paying sales job and made a petition to modify his alimony and child support obligations.  The trial court agreed that there had been a material change of circumstances, and made a modification.  However, the trial court imputed certain income to the father, which resulted in a reduction less than what the father desired.  Accordingly, he appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

At the time of the divorce, the father’s income was over $30,000 per month, and the father was required to pay alimony of $5,000 per month until the mother’s death or remarriage.  Shortly after the divorce, the father was informed that his job was being eliminated.  Under his severance package, he was to receive pay through May 2013.  At the time of hearing, he had not yet landed a new job, but the trial court set his ability to earn at $16,500 per month.  Based upon this imputed income, the trial court set his alimony obligation at $4,000 per month.

The Court of Appeals agreed with the father that the trial court had erred in imputing income.  The appeals court scoured the record but was unable to find evidence supporting this figure.  The father had been diligently seeking employment, but had received no job offers.  The court also noted that the father’s age and “flux” in his industry were factors indicating that the job search might not be as fruitful as the lower court assumed.

The father also argued that any change should be retroactive.  However, the Court of Appeals declined to look at this issue, stating that it would best be considered by the trial court, since the case had to be remanded.

The Court of Appeals also agreed with the father that his child support obligation should be further modified.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to the lower court for proper consideration based upon the father’s income.

No. M2014-02292-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 30, 2015).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Alimony Modification in Tennessee Law | How to Modify Alimony.