Tennessee Dad Denied Lower Child Support Amount as 1 Child Turned 18
Tennessee child support law case law summary on lowering child support from the Court of Appeals.
DOUGLAS EDWARD CORDER v. VALERIE JEAN CORDER – Lowering Child Support Failed
The parties in this case are Douglas Edward Corder (“Father”) and Valerie Jean Corder (“Mother”). The parties have two children and were divorced in 1998. A child support order was entered in May 2000. The order stated that Father was responsible for a child support payment of $1,558/month. The amount of child support was based upon Father’s income and also included an upward modification for failing to have overnight visits with the two children. In October 2000, one child turned 18 and Father, without permission from the court or Mother, reduced the child support payment to $1,025/month. The second child turned 18 in December 2002 and graduated from high school in May 2003. Subsequently in 2004, Father filed a petition to discontinue child support payments. Father believed he did not owe any further child support, as both children had turned 18. The trial court ruled in 2005 that Father could not cease paying child support payments and instead held Father in contempt of court for failing to pay his child support payments in full.
Father appealed the 2005 trial court order. Father argued that the trial court erred in calculating his child support arrearage and that the trial court failed to reduce the child support obligation after the firs child turned 18. The appellate court was unable to determine if Father’s payment of $1,025/month was proper after one child tuned 18. Thus, the appellate court remanded the case back to the trial court to determine if it was appropriate to hold Father liable for the entire $1,558/month payment after one child turned 18.
In 2009 the trial court reviewed the case. The trial court found that the court was justified in holding Father responsible for the entire $1,558/month even after one of the children reached the age of 18. The court allowed an upward modification because Father repeatedly was in contempt of court by failing to pay child support, pay medical and dental expenses, and for failing to complete financial forms and provide medical insurance documentation for the children.
Father again appealed the ruling requiring him to pay the entire $1,558/month when one child turned 18. Father believed that the trial court was punishing him and was taking punitive measures instead of calculating the correct child support payment. The appellate court reviewed the trial court records and determined that there was no evidence of a change in Father’s income since the child support order was entered.
The appellate court than considered that the fact that one child turned the age of majority (18). Under Tennessee law, “ a change in the number of children for whom the parent is legally responsible and actually supporting” is a significant variance, which warranted a reduction in child support payments. However, the trial court can deviate from the guidelines. The deviation, however, must be reasonable and justified. In examining the facts of the case, the appellate court found that the support for the youngest child could be deviated upward, as Father failed to provide Mother with medical insurance documentation and Father failed to exercise overnight visitation with the child.
Appellate court affirmed Father’s child support obligation of $1,558/month in calculating the arrearage owed.
No. W2009-02653-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 28, 2011).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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