College Kids’s Living Expenses a Tennessee Dad Must Pay By Agreement

Tennessee law case summary on college expenses in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.

Gary Powers v. Sherry Denise Powers  – Tennessee Divorce college expenses

The father and mother were married in 1990.  They had a daughter in 1993, and divorced in Gibson County, Tennessee, in 1999.  At the time of the 1999 divorce, they had agreed to a marital dissolution agreement.  Under that agreement, the father had agreed to pay half of the daughter’s college expenses, including “tuition, books, living expenses, etc.”  The daughter started college in 2011, and the father began receiving bills for items that the mother deemed to be college-related expenses.  He had not been consulted about these expenses, and believed that many of the expenses, such as health related expenses, a television, and home accents, were not properly classified as college living expenses.  Therefore, he filed a petition for a declaratory order that the provision for college expenses was invalid, since the daughter was over 18 years of age.

The trial court held that the post-majority support provision was valid, and dismissed the declaratory judgment complaint.  However, in the course of doing so, the trial court had held that “living expenses” included only rent, food, and gasoline.  The trial court also held that the mother should submit an itemized bill, and that the father would reimburse within 30 days.  The father appealed the judgment to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals first affirmed some procedural matters.  Then, it addressed the issue of whether the trial court should have clarified the marital dissolution agreement, even though it had dismissed the complaint for declaratory relief.  The Court of Appeals disagreed with the father’s argument that this was improper.  The Court of Appeals pointed out that construing the terms of an agreement was a necessary step that had to be done prior to determining whether the agreement had been breached.  Therefore, it was proper to construe the contract, even though the court ultimately went on to dismiss the case.

The father also argued that the trial court erred by adding a new term, namely, that he pay the expenses within thirty days.  The Court of Appeals also rejected this argument, and held that supplying an omitted term is proper under contract law.

The Court of Appeals did reverse the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees to the mother.  Under the relevant statutes, attorney fees are proper in the case of child support awards for minor children.  Since the daughter was now over 18, the Court of Appeals held that an award of attorney fees was not proper, since she was no longer a minor and did not come under this portion of the statute.

The Court of Appeals assessed half of the costs of appeal to each party.

No. W2012-01763-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 30, 2013).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

The Miles Mason Family Law Group handles Tennessee divorce, child support, alimony, child custody, and parent relocation.  Download our free e-Book, Your First Steps: 7 Steps Planning Your Tennessee Divorce.  A Memphis divorce lawyer from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help.  To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.