Tennessee Court Holds Stepfather Responsible for Child Support

Tennessee child support law determining who owes support in Tennessee family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Charles Robert Braun, Jr. v. Nita Lynn Braun – Tennessee child support obligation laws

Nita Lynn Braun, the mother, and Paul I. McFayden, the father, had a child (“the child”) together in August 2000.  They separated and the father did not maintain a relationship with the child.  The mother met Charles Robert Braun, Jr., the stepfather, married him and together they had one child (Titus).  In February 2008, the mother and the stepfather petitioned the court to terminate the father’s parental rights to the child.  Their intention was for the stepfather to adopt the child.  But after the father’s rights were terminated, the stepfather never adopted the child and in September 2009 the parties separated.  At that time, the stepfather cut off all ties with the child, told him that he was not his real father and rejected the mother’s request to pay child support.

The trial court ruled that the stepfather had to pay child support to the child and to his own biological child, Titus.   The court stated that the stepfather’s participation in terminating the father’s rights essentially left the child with no father.  It was therefore the stepfather’s responsibility to step into this role.  The court also denied the stepfather any parenting time with the child because of the cruel way in which he told the child that he was not his father.

The stepfather appealed the child support itself but not the actual amount of child support ordered.  He argued that he was neither the adoptive nor the biological parent of the child.  In response to the stepfather’s appeal, the mother argued that if accepted, the amount of spousal support the stepfather paid should be raised to offset the loss in child support.

The appeals court agreed with the stepfather but also recognized the unique circumstances of the case.  The appeals court held that according to the law, the only persons responsible for supporting a child are the natural parents or the adoptive parents.  And based on previous court cases, a person who did not legally adopt a child is not financially responsible for that child.   However, the stepfather was instrumental in helping to terminate the father’s parental rights and because the stepfather did not adopt the child, he left the child with no source of financial support from his natural father or any other father.

The appeals court rejected the lower court’s imposition of a statutory obligation of child support.  Since the stepfather never completed his adoption of the child, he had no legal obligation to support him.   The court also denied the mother’s request for increased spousal support since she had not raised this issue at trial.

The appeals court, however, used a more creative approach to force the stepfather into taking responsibility for the child.  The case was sent back to the trial court with the suggestion that an upward deviation of the stepfather’s child support obligation relating to Titus might be in order.

No. E2012-00823-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 2, 2012).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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