Dad Not Liable for Attorney’s Fees in Criminal Contempt Case

Tennessee child support case summary on enforcement and attorney’s fees.

Joyce Bradley Watts v. Colin Wade Watts

The mother and father in this Tennessee case were divorced in 2009, and the mother was named the primary residential parent of their minor children.  The father was ordered to pay $629 per month in child support, as well as $100 per month towards an arrearage of $1,890.

In 2014, the mother filed a petition for criminal contempt for not paying child support and medical expenses.  A hearing was held, and the trial court found the father guilty of one count of criminal contempt.  It found that the mother was entitled to over $3,000 in back child support, plus almost $400 in medical expenses.  The court also ordered the father to serve ten days in jail, but suspended the sentence.  The mother then asked for her attorney’s fees.  The father argued that attorney’s fees were not available in a criminal contempt case, but the trial court agreed with the mother and awarded the attorney’s fees.  The trial court reasoned that the criminal contempt petition served a dual purpose, both to establish contempt, but also to collect the amounts owed.

The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  The appeals court first analyzed the background of a court’s contempt power and looked at the Tennessee statute governing contempt.  It noted that punishment for contempt must be exercised only within the fixed rules of law.

The appeals court noted that the statute provided specific sanctions, such as imprisonment.  However, it noted that the monetary fine was limited to $50.  The trial court, however, had looked at the general provisions regarding child support enforcement, and noted that they allow an award of attorney’s fees.  Some prior cases had suggested that this was a correct interpretation.

However, the appeals court examined those cases and held that punishments for criminal contempt must be limited to what is specified in the statute.  Since the criminal contempt statute is essentially punitive in nature, the punishment must be limited to what is specified by the statute.  Since that statute did not provide for attorney’s fees, the award could not stand.

The father had also argued that imposing attorney’s fees was unconstitutional in his case.  But since the appeals court had ruled that they are not allowed by the statute, it did not reach this issue.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the award of attorney’s fees.

No. M2015-01216-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 8, 2016).

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.