Dad Owes $93K Past-Due Child Support After End of Claimed Obligation
Tennessee child support collection case summary.
Steve Anthony Contreras v. Kimberly Dawn Contreras (Hinson)
The father and mother in this Henderson County, Tennessee, case were married in 1986 and divorced in 2003. The mother was named the primary residential parent of the three children, and the father was ordered to pay $721 per month in child support. He was also ordered to maintain health insurance, with additional medical expenses divided evenly.
In 2014, the father came back to court to request that the child support obligation end, on the grounds that the youngest child had graduated from high school. He also requested credit for amounts paid while one of the children was living with him in Texas. The father also asked for credit for amounts paid through a debit card, rather than through wage assignment as required by the original order.
The mother responded by stating that the father had never provided health insurance. She also alleged that the son was sent to Texas for the summer, but that the father never returned him as required, and that she didn’t know where he was.
After hearing all of the evidence, the trial court gave the mother a judgment of over $93,000 in past due child support, plus medical insurance. The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The father first argued that the trial court had miscalculated the amount of the arrearages. But the appeals court agreed with the lower court that the father’s argument was not compelling. While the father had disputed the total amount claimed by the mother, he hadn’t introduced any specific evidence as to his position as to the amount of any arrearages. Based upon this lack of evidence, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court. The trial court had noted that the payments by debit card had gone directly to the children, and the lower court had held that these amounts were not to serve as a credit for the child support, which was required to be paid to the mother. The Court of Appeals examined this evidence and agreed that the lower court had ruled correctly.
As for the medical insurance, the father argued only that the mother had never made a request. However, the appeals court pointed out that this was not required, since the order required the father to continue the health insurance. For this reason, the Court of Appeals also affirmed this portion of the lower court’s order.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s rulings.
No. W2018-00093-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jul. 25, 2018).
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.
