TN Mom Waited Too Long To Reopen Child Support Case With Allegations of Fraud
- At April 06, 2016
- By Miles Mason
- In Child Support
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Tennessee child support case summary on child support and fraud in divorce and family law.
Heather Russell Wilder v. Joseph Chamblee Wilder
The mother and father in this Tennessee case were divorced in 2010. The trial court had set the father’s child support obligation at $1,014 per month, which was subsequently increased to $1,419 per month. The mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which affirmed the judgment in 2012. Later that year, she filed a petition to modify the order. For the first time, she alleged that the father and his attorney had fraudulently misstated his income. While the lower court made some modifications, it held that the claim of fraud was untimely. The mother, proceeding without an attorney, then brought a second appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The appeals court first noted that in hearing such a case, it gives great deference to the trial court’s findings, and will not set them aside unless the trial court abused its discretion. Under Rule 60 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, motions to reopen the judgment must be filed within one year. However, an exception might apply in cases of “extrinsic” fraud, namely, fraud that relates to matters outside the lawsuit. In this case, the only fraud alleged by the mother related to the concealment of evidence within the case, meaning that it was “intrinsic” fraud. For this reason, the Court of Appeals held that the lower court had properly denied the motion as being brought too late.
The appeals court did also review the merits of the case and held that the trial court had acted properly in setting child support at the level it had. For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the lower court and assessed the costs of the appeal against the mother.
No. E2014-02227-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 4, 2015).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Child Support Laws in Tennessee.
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.
