When Is Retroactive Child Support Owed in Tennessee?

Retroactive child support is often a contentious point between divorcing Tennessee parents and may involve a substantial amount of money.

When is Tennessee retroactive child support owed?

The recipient-parent who was the primary caregiver is compensated to some degree, but not in the way of profit. Looking at the financial situation more broadly, retroactive support benefits the entire household, in addition to the child specified in the order.

[See, Back Child Support Can Be Limited to 5 Yrs: New Law in 2017]

Calculating Retroactive Support for a Child

By including an amount retroactively, we actually mean that the child support order is bifurcated – there are at least two portions involved.

The first portion is calculated to provide current payment for current childcare.

A second portion is calculated looking back to a certain date, as current payment for past childcare expenses.

Retroactive support stops when current support begins, at least in terms of calculating how much the judge shall order. Importantly, the latter portion is ordinarily scheduled to gradually eliminate any retroactive support judgment within a reasonable time (which could be a few months or many years). Retroactive child support, then, is intended to be limited in its duration.

However, any unpaid amount may become a child support arrearage. For information on child support enforcement, take a moment to read:

Child Support Enforcement & Collection in Tennessee Family Law FAQs

Tennessee Retroactive Child Support Law

With few exceptions, Tennessee’s retroactive child support law directs that the judge issuing the initial child support order include a monthly amount calculated from the occurrence of a certain past event. Those events include the child’s birth date, the date the parents separated, or the date someone became the child’s primary custodian. The controlling statute on retroactive Tennessee child support is Rule 1240-2-4-.06.

Paternity and the Unmarried Parent

For the unmarried parent who is ordered to pay maintenance for a minor’s care, the date of the child’s birth will be used to calculate retroactive support. These are cases in which the father was party:

● to a paternity case and determined to be the father; or

● when the father voluntarily acknowledged paternity of his child.

This only includes a percentage of family law cases involving retroactive monthly support, however.

All Other Parents

Take a look at the other events which trigger retroactive child support. For support determinations in which:

● the parents are getting divorced (calculated from separation date);

● the parents are getting an annulment (calculated from separation date);

● a parent and minor child were abandoned by the other parent (calculated from date of abandonment);

● one parent takes physical custody of the minor child (calculated from date of such physical custody); or

● a non-parent caretaker – such as a grandparent standing in loco parentis to the child – takes physical custody of the minor (calculated from date of such physical custody).

In the cases above, some child support can be ordered retroactively to the date at which any of those events occurred. For instance, the party’s support obligation includes a monthly amount calculated from the date the parents separated before the divorce was filed with the court; or retroactive support includes a monthly amount from the date the grandparent took his or her grandchild in.

Supplement Child Support By Agreement

The parties may always agree to supplement their child support, increasing the amount that the judge might otherwise order. The parties’ settlement agreement might include funds for college tuition, for example, with the obligor-parent agreeing to supplement the retroactive support to “catch up” and bolster the college fund. In general, though, parents can agree to increase the amount of support, but cannot agree to pay less than what the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines require unless there is a reason for a downward deviation.

Child Support Lawyer, Memphis TN

For more information, see Tennessee Child Support Answers to FAQ’s, and for legal updates, news, analysis, and commentary, visit our Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Child Support category. A Memphis child support attorney from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help you with Tennessee child support issues including setting or modifying child support. To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.