Mom Voluntarily Underemployed for Child Support Purposes

Tennessee child support income determination case summary on voluntary underemployment.

This Davidson County, Tennessee, child support income determination case was before the Tennessee Court of Appeals twice. In the first appeal, the mother’s income had gone from about $90,000 per year to about $2,100 per month while she devoted her time to being general contractor of her new home. The Court of Appeals ruled that the lower court should have considered her voluntary underemployment, and remanded the case for that reason. After the trial court made its order on remand, the mother brought a second appeal.

The mother raised a number of issues, including the lower court’s income determination for her. The Court of Appeals first addressed the portion of the Tennessee child support guidelines relating to “work-related childcare costs.”

On remand, the lower court had held that the mother was voluntarily underemployed, and held that she had the capacity to earn at least $80,000 per year, an amount less than her earnings prior to the child’s birth. It also held that the father should not have to cover childcare expenses other than those necessary for her employment.

The Court of Appeals did partially rule in the mother’s favor on the underemployment issue. Specifically, the trial court had imputed income to her when computing retroactive child support. But the father had not raised this issue, and the court held that he had waived the issue for prior years.

However, going forward, the appeals court agreed with the lower court. It noted that this issue was factual, and normally decided by the lower court. Specifically, the lower court had found that the mother made a conscious decision to forego work, and that the evidence did not preponderate against this finding.

After addressing the other issues raised by the mother, the Court of Appeals affirmed the case in part, reversed in part, and remanded the case for more proceedings in the trial court.

No. M2016-00453-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 27, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Support Laws 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.