TN Dad’s Child Support Credited for Providing Necessaries, But Only Back Six Years
Tennessee child support collection case summary.
Dawn Noles Martin (Gorham), et al., v. Matthew Kendall Martin, et al.
The mother and father in this Tennessee divorce case were divorced in Carroll County in 2000. At the time of the divorce, they had a son who was four and a daughter who was two. At the time of the original divorce, the father was ordered to pay child support of $350 per month. The parties agreed that this was paid through 2003.
In 2001, the son started school and moved in with the father, while the daughter continued to live primarily with the mother. The father paid no child support from 2003 to 2009, but never sought an order to modify support. In 2011, the father began paying support by payroll deduction of $200 every two weeks. Since this works out to $433.33 per month, more than the ordered $350, the parties disputed the significance of the excess amount. The mother testified that the extra money was designated for the children’s private school tuition. The father, however, testified that the additional funds were merely given to “help out,” but were not designated for tuition.
In 2013, the mother went to court to have the father held in contempt, and to modify the original support obligation. The trial court found that during the disputed time, the father had been paying $250 per month for the children’s necessary expenses, and gave credit for this amount, with an arrearage of $100 per month. The court ordered the father to begin making payments of $468.88 per month to cover the arrearage and the ongoing obligation.
The father was also ordered to pay half of the private school tuition and expenses. The mother was awarded a judgment of over $17,000 for past tuition. In so holding, the court had relied on the fact that the father had signed the school contracts and had agreed to be jointly liable for the tuition. The trial court found, however, that the judgment would not constitute child support for collection purposes. Both parties appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The mother first argued that the father should have been found liable for a greater arrearage. In particular, she argued that the father should not have been credited with providing necessaries for the children. While this remedy is available in certain cases, the appeals court noted that a child support order cannot be retroactively modified in Tennessee. Since the two remedies might have the same effect, it must be applied carefully.
In particular, the parent arguing that he provided necessaries must show that those expenses were not being taken care of by the other parent.
In this case, the evidence suggested that the father was actually paying closer to $750 per month for his son’s expenses, even though the trial court only gave credit for $250.
After reviewing the evidence, the appeals court generally agreed with the father. However, it also noted that because of the statute of limitations, the father’s claim only went back six years. Therefore, it modified the lower court’s judgment, and only allowed the credit for necessaries provided within the six years prior.
The court also reviewed the evidence surrounding the tuition payments, and affirmed the lower court’s finding. However, the appeals court noted that there was no grounds for retroactively granting tuition reimbursement, and vacated that portion of the lower court’s award.
Finally, the mother argued that the father’s obligation should be satisfied through wage assignment, which the lower court had not ordered. On this issue, the appeals court found that there was an insufficient record, and remanded the case for specific findings as to whether wage assignment was in the children’s best interest.
No. W2014-01007-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 20, 2015).
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.
