Parent’s Agreement For TN Child Support Longer Than 18 Valid

Is a Tennessee parents’ agreement enforceable if a parent agrees to pay child support longer than the law requires?

In Alison v. Hagen, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee found that the Father was obligated to continue paying child support even after his older child turned 18, due to the contract he made with the Mother prior to their divorce.  The Tennessee Child Support Guidelines provide that the non-custodial parent is obligated to pay child support until the child turns eighteen.

Barbara Ann Allison (the Mother) and Anthony Ensley Hagan (the Father) were divorced in 1991, with two children.  The Father was an attorney in private practice.  The parties agreed that the Father would pay child support in the amount of $818.79 for both children.  According to the Marital Dissolution Agreement (MDA) they signed, the payments were in accordance with the Guidelines and “shall continue until the youngest minor child reaches the age of 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later”.

The Trial Court

In 2004, the Mother filed a petition with the trial court to find the Father in contempt for reducing his child support to $500 per month after the oldest child graduated from high school.   In the trial court, she argued that the husband owed over $58,000 in back fees for the missing child support.    The  Husband claimed that the Mother had specifically agreed to this reduction but that they had failed to submit a request to the court to modify the original order.   The Father also argued that he was entitled to a reduction in the amount of $62,000 on any child support he owed because the Mother did not pay her share of the mortgage on the marital residence and the Father was required to make these payments instead in order to clear the title on the property so that it could be sold.

The Trial court agreed with the Mother.  The issue in dispute was the meaning of the language in the MDA.    The Guidelines provide for child support to be given until a child reaches the age of eighteen.  The Mother argued, however, and the trial court agreed, that the parties agreed in the MDA that the Husband would pay $818.79 in child support and the payment of that amount would continue until the youngest child reached the age of 18 or graduated from high school, whichever occurred last.   In other words, the amount would not be reduced until the second child turned eighteen.   The court held that had the language been more general, the Father would have been correct but the language in the MDA was very specific.  Furthermore, his agreement to exceed what the law requires is contractual, and therefore obligated the Father.   The MDA could only be modified if the Father offered consideration to the Mother for the change.  The trial court found that no consideration was offered.

Tennessee Court of Appeals

In the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Husband argued that the wording of the MDA was ambiguous, there was no “meeting of the minds” and therefore any obligation beyond what the law requires was not enforceable.  He also argued that the real meaning of the MDA is that he pays child support according to the Guidelines and nothing more.  This means that once a child reaches the age of 18, he is no longer obligated to pay them support.  Finally, he claimed that his interpretation of the language in the MDA is a reasonable interpretation of the language, thereby demonstrating that it is ambiguous.

The Appeals court rejected all of the Father’s arguments and agreed with the Trial court.  The Appeals court ruled that the language of the MDA was not ambiguous and therefore not reasonably open to different interpretations.  The court found that the MDA clearly specified that the amount to be paid was $818.79 and that this amount was to continue until the youngest minor child turns 18, or graduates high school, whichever was later. Finally, the Trial court’s conclusion that there was no consideration to support a modification of the MDA was affirmed by the Appellate court.

In an interesting footnote in the decision, the Appeals court noted that the Father never actually stated what the correct amount of child support should have been.  The court assumed that if the correct amount in 1991, when the decree was given, was $818.79, the amount may have increased over the years with an increase in the Father’s income.  If so, the actual amount the Father should have been paying may have been more than the $818.79 originally decreed.

211 S.W.3d 255 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

Memphis divorce attorney, Miles Mason, Sr., JD, CPA, practices family law exclusively with the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC. To learn more about Tennessee child support laws and guidelines, read and view:

A Memphis child support attorney from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help you with Tennessee child support issues including setting or modifying child support. Contact the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC at 901-683-1850.

 

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