TN Child Support Can’t Be Reduced Based On Child’s Testimony To Limit Future Vistation

Tennessee child support modification case summary.

Martha Carter v. David Carter

The father in this Tennessee divorce case sought to modify his child support obligation, and the hearing was held two weeks before the daughter turned 18.  He based his motion on his reduced income, and also asked to remove the requirement that he pay an additional $150 per month for extracurricular expenses.  The court kept the requirement for the additional $150, but reduced the father’s overall obligation.  Since the court made the reduction retroactive, the father was awarded a judgment for amounts paid previously.

The mother asked the court to reconsider.  In particular, she asked to let the daughter testify that she intended to exercise less visitation after she turned 18.  The mother argued that for purposes of child support, the father should be assigned zero days in light of this development, which would increase the amount of child support.  The trial court denied this motion to reconsider, and the mother brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The lower court had reasoned that it should base the child support on the parenting plan, and the present number of days that the child was with the father, rather than speculate as to how much time she would spend in the future.

The Court of Appeals agreed, and noted that courts must deal with the present, and not address future events that may or may not happen.  Even if the daughter had been allowed to testify, the appeals court reasoned that this testimony was speculative.

The appeals court did note that if there were a material change of circumstances in the future, that the issue could be addressed at that time.

The trial court had also awarded attorney fees to the father, and the mother argued on appeal that this was improper.  On this point, the mother fared better, and the Court of Appeals reversed the award.  It held that the lower court had misapplied the relevant statutory factors.

For this reason, the Court of Appeals reversed the attorney fee award, but otherwise affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

No. M2014-02457-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 18, 2015).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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

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.