TN Father Failed to Pay Temporary Support Jailed for Contempt

Tennessee law case summary on contempt in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Corin Mucha Wilkinson v Thomas Gregg Wilkinson – Tennessee Criminal Contempt Law

In the divorce case of Corin Wilkinson, wife, and Thomas Wilkinson, husband, the wife filed a petition for criminal contempt against the husband alleging he willfully failed to pay his monthly pendente lite support. The trial court found the husband guilty of two counts of criminal contempt and the husband appealed the decision. The wife filed for divorce in October of 2008 and in December of 2008, the court ordered the husband to pay $5,400 per month in interim support. In June of 2009, the wife filed a petition for contempt alleging the husband failed to make the required payment for May 2009. In September of 2009, the wife filed an amended petition alleging she had not received support payments from June through September of 2009.

The wife testified that she received $4,800 from the defendant for May 2009 and that was the last payment she received. The defendant had a consulting agreement with Birmingham Enterprises that began in 2008, which paid him $8,500 per month. In July of 2009, one of the owners of the business died and that caused the consulting agreement to terminate the same month.

The husband testified on his own behalf admitting that he did not make the support payment for the required time, and stated he was living in Florida in an apartment with several people. There was some discrepancy about when the final payment from the company was and the plaintiff found that the defendant had the ability to pay the support in May and June of 2009. The husband also stated he tried to find other employment but he had not been successful. The trial court found the husband guilty of two counts of criminal contempt. The court ordered him to serve ten days for each count. The husband appealed this ruling.

The husband appealed the ruling of his guilt in the case and stated that the trial court did not take into consideration the effort he took to deposit his full May 2009 pendente lite payment into the bank or his inability to pay. The appeals court stated the trial court had sufficient evidence to support the findings of willful criminal contempt beyond a reasonable doubt. It affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the husband was guilty on two counts of criminal contempt. It noted that the husband had the ability to pay in the months of May and June and did not do so.

NO M2010-00026-COA-R3-CV, November 29, 2011.

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

Memphis divorce lawyer, Miles Mason, Sr., JD, CPA practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC, which handles Tennessee family law matters including divorce, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreements, child custody, parental relocation, child support modification, alimony modification, and divorces including business valuation and forensic accounting issues.