Dad Owes Only $249/Mo. After TN Child Support Modification
Tennessee child support modification law in Tennessee family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Calley Denise Kopp vs. Michael Shannon Kopp – Tennessee Child Support Modification Case
The Mother, Calley Denise Kopp, and the Father, Michael Shannon Kopp, were continuously in court from the point of their divorce in 2002 through entry of the order of the Court of Appeals in 2009. They divorced, following an 11-year marriage, and had three unemancipated children.
The Parties’ litigation spanned the Father’s original child support obligation of $262/week to a 2003 modification of $337/bi-weekly to a 2004 bi-weekly obligation of $288 back to an obligation of $337/bi-weekly in 2006.
The subject of the appeal was a 2008 order following a trial, resulting in a child support order against the Father of $567.50/month. The Father appealed.
The Court of Appeals took the information from the record to conduct its 2-step analysis, which it criticized the trial court for failing to perform. First, the Court of Appeals calculated the Father’s presumptively correct child support obligation, finding it to be $109/month. Given the difference between the strict computation of child support and the trial court order of child support, the Court of Appeals then analyzed the specific facts and circumstances of the parents, and used its discretion to modify the trial court ruling. The Court of Appeals set the Father’s child support obligation at $249/month – an upward deviation based upon the best interest of the Children within the discretion of the court through Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-5-101(e)(1)(A) and Tennessee Comp. Rules & Regulations section 1240-02-04-.07(1)(b).
The parties stipulated that the Father earned $2,563.07/month. The Court of Appeals found the Father’s income to be consistent since 2003. In 2002 (the time of the divorce), the Father earned $55,000 from Party City, which included a one-time bonus of $13,000. In 2003, the Father had changed jobs to Walgreen’s, working 70-hours one week, being off work the following week in order to provide the primary residence to the Children during his alternate week. The Court of Appeals noted “The flexible employment schedule also assisted Mother while she finished school.” This alternate week custodial schedule represented a change agreed to by the parents in 2003 through a written court order.
The Parties stipulated that the Mother earned $2,024/month. The Mother was initially a full-time student at Middle Tennessee State University, earning no income. After the divorce, she lived in subsidized housing and received food stamps, while working towards her degree. Six months after graduation, the Mother took a job with the State of Tennessee as a good stamp eligibility counselor.
Calley Denise Kopp vs. Michael Shannon Kopp, No. M2008-01146-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 14, 2009).
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:
