TN Dad’s 300 Mile Commute Qualitfies for Lowering Child Support
Tennessee child support law case law summary on lowering child support from the Court of Appeals.
Beverly Diane Jesse v. Erik Dean Jesse – Lowering Tennessee child support
Beverly Diane Jesse and Erik Dean Jesse were divorced in Coffee County, Tennessee, in 2006. They had three children, and they agreed to a permanent parenting plan in which parenting time was split equally. Because the split was equal, and because the mother’s slightly higher income was a result of overtime that might not be continuous, they agreed that there would be no child support.
The next year, the mother filed a petition to request child support. At this point, the father’s income had increased, and she asked the court to compute child support based upon his income. The father also filed a petition asking permission to relocate 140 miles to his new job, and to make him the primary residential parent. The mother then offered her own plan under which she would be the primary residential parent. The parties subsequently settled those disputes and agreed to an order. The father dropped his plans to relocate.
In 2010, the mother came to court again and asked for a modification of the parenting plan and an award of child support. The parties agreed to all issues other than child support, and the court held hearings as to the amount. During that hearing, both parents testified as to the distances they traveled to their jobs, and the court allowed that travel expenses could be deducted. The trial court set child support, which included a downward deviation. The mother appealed this order to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. She argued on appeal that the downward deviation was inappropriate.
The Court of Appeals held that the deviation was not inappropriate. The father commuted 300 miles to his job in Clarksville, Tennessee, and incurred expenses of $17,000 per year in gas and auto expenses. The Court held that this was an appropriate reason to depart downward.
The mother also argued that she had insufficient notice that the father was going to request a deviation because of these expenses. But the Court of Appeals reviewed the procedural history of the case and found that he had made a timely request for this information to be considered.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s rulings.
No. M2012-01246-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 7, 2013).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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