Tennessee Dad Voluntarily Underemployed Starting a Camp
Tennessee law case summary on child support, income determination, voluntary underemployment, and imputed income in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Robin Campbell Armbrister v Edwin C Armbrister, Jr. – Tennessee Child Support Laws – Voluntarily Underemployed
In the appeal regarding child support between Robin Armbrister and Edwin Armbrister, the amount of income used to determine the child support amount was considered. The trial court determined the father was voluntarily underemployed. In the case, the mother and father were married in 1994 and had two children. The mother filed for divorce in August of 2007. The mother was employed with Sevier County Schools as a psychologist with an income of $66,000 per year. The father received an undergraduate degree in marketing and worked full-time in a faculty position for the University of Tennessee.
The father started a camp called Camp Curtain Call. At the time of the divorce, his income was coming from the camp, which lasted nine weeks during the summer. The father said his income was $2,500 per month. At trial, he testified his income was $2,750 per month and noted he could work part-time as a professor earning up to $30,000 per year. The divorce decree ended the marriage of 15 years in August of 2009. As such, the trial court determined that both parties had the same earning capacity of $66,000 per year.
The father appealed the decision that he was voluntarily underemployed. The appeals court found the father left his employment with the University with no intent to decrease his income for child support concerns, but rather to attain his life’s goals. He stated he hopes the business allows him to earn much more than he did previously.
The appeals court found that the trial court did not err. It stated that the father was voluntarily underemployed, though this will not protect him from making child support payments. The record supported that the father could have obtained supplement employment.
The appeals court then considered the amount of the child support payment. It determined that, though the trial court used the mother’s income as a benchmark for determining the father’s ability to pay, that he did have the means to make payment as required. It determined that the father was underemployed voluntarily and as such, with part-time work as a professor, he could be making $30,000 more per year. Additionally, it noted he derived income from magic shows and speaking engagements. As such, the appeals court affirmed the awarding of child support according to the lower court’s rulings in the matter.
No E2010-01561-COA-R3-CV, November 21, 2011.
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Voluntarily Unemployed or Underemployed in Tennessee Child Support Law.
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, read and view:
