TN Child Support Should Have Been Modified as of Child’s 18th Birthday
Tennessee case summary on ending child support in family law.
Daniel W. Mitchell v. Tricia Lurlene Hall
The mother and father in this Tennessee case had three children at the time of their 2003 divorce. In 2008, they agreed to a permanent parenting plan calling for the father to pay $1,400 per month child support until the daughter reached 18. In 2011, the father filed a petition to modify child support on the grounds that the daughter had reached 18. In respect to the other two children, he asked for a reduction on the grounds that his income had decreased.
The trial court made a modification, but the effective date was a date after the daughter turned 18. In addition, the trial court found that the father was voluntarily underemployed, and ordered him to pay arrearages. The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The father made a number of arguments. First, he argued that the daughter’s 18th birthday should have been the effective date. He also argued that the finding of voluntary underemployment was erroneous.
The court first noted that the decision as to effective date was a matter for the trial court’s discretion, but even that ruling is subject to review on the abuse of discretion standard. In this case, the trial court had set the effective date as being the date of hearing, and the appeals court called that choice arbitrary. Therefore, it reversed the ruling and sent the case back to use the daughter’s 18th birthday instead.
On the issue of voluntary underemployment, the appeals court looked at the evidence and found that there was evidence supporting both sides’ argument. Therefore, it held that the lower court was in a better position to make this determination, and affirmed.
The appeals court also made rulings as to attorney’s fees and sanctions before sending the case back to the lower court.
No. E2014-01919-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 26, 2016).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see When does Tennessee child support end for a parent of one child?
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.
