TN Dad’s Child Support Reduced After Businesses Fail
Tennessee child support law case law summary on reducing child support from the Court of Appeals.
Donald Lester Benedict v. Gretchen Michelle Benedict
Donald and Gretchen Benedict were divorced in 2000, and had two children. The husband was ordered to pay child support of $3200 per month. From 2003-2006, the parties and their children once again lived together, and in 2003, the father filed for bankruptcy. In 2007, the husband filed a petition to modify child support in which he alleged that his income had decreased substantially and that the wife was working. The trial court in Hamilton County, Tennessee, reduced the husband’s child support obligation to $1900 pending trial. In 2011, a special master set the husband’s obligation at $1259 per month, based on his salary of $75,000 per year. The master also ruled that various other obligations had been discharged in the bankruptcy.
The trial court, Judge W. Frank Brown, III, reversed the special master’s order in part, holding that the husband was voluntarily underemployed and imputed additional income, for a total of $219,362. Judge Brown also held that the other obligations had not been discharged, and held that there were no grounds for reducing the child support. The trial court also awarded over $44,000 in attorney fees. The husband promptly appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The appeals court first examined the trial court’s finding of voluntary underemployment. The trial court had looked at the husband’s prior income and his entrepreneurial skill and marketing knowledge in holding that the husband was voluntarily underemployed. The appeals court noted that this is a fact-intensive determination, but that the burden of proof is on the party seeking to show underemployment.
The appeals court noted that the father’s income “took a major hit” and that his different enterprises floundered since the parties were married. But the appeals court did not find any evidence that the husband “intentionally torpedoed his career prospects.” The appeals court noted that the husband’s business eventually did so poorly that the husband had to close them.
Since the Court of Appeals agreed with husband that there was no voluntary underemployment, it set his income at $75,000 for child support purposes, and remanded the case for re-determination of child support based on that amount.
The appeals court did agree with the wife that the other obligations had not been discharged in bankruptcy. It also upheld her award of attorney fees.
For these reasons, the appeals court remanded the case.
No. E2013-00978-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 27, 2014).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
For more information, see Tennessee Child Support Answers to FAQ’s. For legal updates, news, analysis, and commentary, visit our Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Child Support category. Also, check out 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.
