Tenn Parent’s College Tuition Payment Limited to Reasonable Amount

Tennessee child support case law summary on college tuition costs Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Linda Sue Long Hathaway (Branstetter) vs. Glenn Jefferies Hathaway – Tennessee child support law

Tennessee Parent’s Obligation for College Costs Limited to Reasonable Amount

At issue in this appeal was a single sentence from a “Marital Dissolution Agreement,” signed by the Mother, Linda Sue Long Hathaway (Branstetter), and the Father, Glenn Jefferies Hathaway, in 1987, when their children were 2 and 5 years old.  The contract provision read:  “The husband shall pay all customary and reasonable tuition expenses for the parties’ minor children in obtaining a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.”  Based upon this language, the trial court ordered the Father, Glenn Jefferies Hathaway, to pay his daughter’s tuition, without limitation.  The Court of Appeals modified the decision.

In TN Child Support Suits for Contempt, There Can Be a Jury Trial

Tennessee child support law on right to a jury trial for contempt for failure to pay child support from the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Susan L. Brown vs. Fred De Loach Latham and Patricia Peebles Walker vs. Clint Monroe Walker, Sr. – Tennessee child support law

Two cases were consolidated on appeal because both involved issues of contempt for failure to make child support payments.  The question that arose is whether someone accused of contempt can request a jury trial.  The Supreme Court affirmed that there is indeed a right to a jury trial when one is defending against criminal contempt charges, even when done in the context of a civil child support enforcement proceeding.

The first matter concerned Fred De Loach Latham, against whom his former wife, Susan Latham (Brown), had taken a judgment for child support arrears.  She requested he be incarcerated, and he requested a jury trial.  No case details were provided in the opinion as to the amount or duration of arrears claimed or the income of the Father.

In Tennessee Child Support Law, Courts Can Prorate as Children Turn 18

Tennessee child support law on proration of child support in Tennessee family law from the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Sarah Avalon Myatt Clinard (Brown) vs. James Edward Clinard – Tennessee child support law – proration as children grow up

With three children in common, Sarah Clinard Brown and James Edward Clinard were divorced in 1969.  The Mother was awarded custody, and the Father was directed to pay $60 per week as child support.  Less than a year later, the Father began paying $25 per week, prorated for a child having turned 18.  The Mother accepted this $25 per week for 15-years, until the youngest child turned 18-years of age.  No court cases were filed during the entire of the children’s minority.

Then, in 1993, eight years after the youngest child was emancipated, the Mother filed a petition to reduce child support arrearages to a judgment, interest, and for contempt.  The Father conceded he owed arrears, but disputed the amount.

Special Education Needs Can Require Private School Tuition in Tenn.

Special Education Needs Can Require Private School Tuition & Tennessee Mother Not Required to Consult with Father

Special Education Needs Can Require Private School Tuition & Tennessee Mother Not Required to Consult with Father

Judi Richardson vs. George Kevin Spanos – Special Education and Private School Tuition in Tennessee Child Support Law

This case stands for the principle that a primary residential parent may unilaterally seek the special education services a child needs, including enrollment in a private school, and compel the other parent to provide the necessary financial support, which may be in addition to the standard child support obligation.

The child at the center of this case was an 11-year old boy named Lewis, who had special education needs.  His Father, Dr. George Kevin Spanos, was a physician, who had little to do with his son.  The Court of Appeals noted that at the time of trial, the Father had not visited Lewis for four years, and that their last visit was an hour spent at a bowling alley.

Tennessee Father Must Pay the College Tuition He Agreed to Pay

Jeannea Lynn Jones vs. Kenneth Dale Jones – College Tuition in Tennessee Family Law. Case law summary.

Tennessee Father Must Pay the College Tuition He Agreed to Pay

The Parents were divorced in 2003 through a decree that incorporated a provision for a Marital Dissolution Agreement that said “The parties agree to equally divide the expense for college tuition and books for the parties’ daughters, Jennifer Page Jones and Jerrica L. Jones.”  The Father, Kenneth Dale Jones, also obligated himself to provide medical insurance plus half of the out-of-pocket medical costs.At the time of the court case, the Mother, Jeannea Lynn Jones, worked at Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma.  She testified that she moved from Tennessee to Oklahoma and took the job for the sole purpose of helping to pay for her daughters’ college educations.  In making the move, the Mother left a job at Murray Corporation in Tennessee and took a $10,000 per year pay cut.

In Tennessee Child Support Law Deviations Must Be Explained In Writing

Child Support Award Twice Sent Back to the Trial Court for Recalculation – Under Tennessee Child Support Guidelines Any Deviation Must Contain Trial Court’s Reasoning

Anderton v. Anderton – Tennessee child support case law summary discussing the amount of child support determination and deviations.

In Tennessee Child Support Law Deviations Must Be Explained In Writing

Father appealed the child support award given by the trial court, arguing that it was too high and inconsistent with the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines.  The Appeals court sent the case back to the trial court for further consideration, finding that the child support awarded was too low. Any deviation (upward or downward) from the Child Support Guidelines must be in a written finding by the court.

Including Bonuses for Child Support Awards in Tennessee Child Support

Including or Excluding Bonuses for Child Support Awards in Tennessee Child Support

Simmons v. Simmons – Tennessee Court of Appeals case summary on income determination for child support.

Including or Excluding Bonuses for Child Support Awards in Tennessee Child Support

Allison Lyn Simmons and Richard Lee Simmons were married for seven years and had three children together.  The children were six, five, and two years old at the time of the divorce hearing.  The Father and Mother previously both worked as flight attendants when they were married, but the Father was the sole provider since the first year of marriage.  During the marriage the parents went deeply into debt, in part due to the Mother’s spending, and filed for bankruptcy.

Tennessee Courts Can Order Private School Tuition as Child Support

Is Private School Tuition an Extraordinary Educational Expense in Tennessee Child Support Law?

Barnett v. Barnett – Supreme Court of Tennessee decides private school tuition can be awarded as child support.

Paula Lynn Barnett (the Mother) and Robert McAlister Barnett, III (the Father) were divorced in 1986 after a fourteen-year marriage. At the time of the divorce, the parties’ son, Joshua, was three years old and their daughter, Katie, was an infant. The divorce decree required the Father to pay $2,167 per month in child support for both children.  In March, 1996, Ms. Barnett filed a petition to modify the child support award.    Based on the Father’s gross income of $209,206, the trial court set child support at $3,700 per month but ordered the Mother to pay private school tuition from that support award.   The trial court found that the son’s  tuition at a private school, was an extraordinary educational expense but ruled that the tuition be paid by the Mother from the $3,000 monthly child support.

How many years’ salary should be averaged for child support in TN?

How many years of salary should be averaged to determine parent’s salary for child support purposes in Tennessee?

DAVID L. ADAMS v. NANCY W. ADAMS – Tennessee Child Support Case Summary

How many years of salary should be averaged to determine parent’s salary for child support purposes in Tennessee?

In 1994, Daniel L. Adams (“Father”) sued his wife, Nancy W. Adams (“Mother”) of 12 years for divorce.   Their two children were aged ten and eight years old at the time the divorce request was filed.  The Mother has a high school diploma and at the time of the divorce worked as a teacher’s aide in the local middle school and as the music director for a church.  In 1994, she earned $7,950.  The Father is a lawyer and a sole practitioner since 1988.  From 1988 through 1992, the Father’s income varied between $30,000 to $97,000.  In 1994, his income was $134,300.The couple was divorced on September 25, 1995.  The trial court found that the Father’s  gross monthly income was $4,600 and using this figure, awarded child support in the amount of $ 1,060 per month for both children.   In addition, the trial court ordered the Father to provide medical insurance for the children and to pay any medical costs not covered by insurance.The Mother filed an appeal asking that the child support be increased.  The Mother did not argue that there was a change in circumstances but rather that the trial court made a mistake in setting support at $1,060 based on a calculation of the Father’s gross income at $4,600.   The appellate court found that the trial judge used the income figures for 1992 ($55,824) and 1993 ($52,008) to determine the Father’s income.    The appellate court, however, held that the trial court could have come to a more realistic income figure by averaging the Father’s income over the last five years, including 1995 (no figures are provided for 1995).

The appellate court sent the issue of child support back to the trial court, and asked the trial court to determine the amount of child support using an average of the Father’s net income over the past five years, including 1995. The court was asked to calculate the Father’s  net income according to Rule 1240-2-4-.03 of the Child Support Guidelines, entitled “The Income Shares Model.”

The Tennessee Child Support Guidelines, using the Income Shares Model,  take into account both parents’ income and the needs of the child or children.  Each child’s basic needs – food, housing, transportation, clothing and entertainment – are calculated on a monthly basis.  Gross income is then calculated for each parent.  Gross income is based on many sources of income, including, but not limited to, wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, overtime, severance payments, interest, dividends, net capital gains, worker’s compensation, disability, prizes and lotteries, just to name a few.  Once the parent’s gross income is determined, deductions may be made based on various types of “credits,” such as self-employment tax, for self-employed parents.  In general, the amount of child support needed is divided by the AGI of each parent, determining the share each parent has to pay monthly.

No. 01-A-01-9606-CH-00281, Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section, at Nashville, January 8, 1997.

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

For more information, see Averaging Income in Tennessee Child Support Law and Tennessee Child Support Answers to FAQ’s.  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 about Tennessee child support, call us today at (901) 683-1850.

Double Jeopardy in Tennessee Child Support Law

Tennessee child support case law summary from the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

Dorothy Jane AHERN (Pierotti) v. Robert Francis AHERN – Tennessee’s double jeapardy law and child support.

Dorothy Jane Ahern Pierotti, the Mother and Robert Francis Ahern, the Father  were divorced on June 25, 1993.  The divorce decree included a marital dissolution agreement (“MDA”) and child support to be paid to the Mother for the couple’s two children.  The MDA also said that the Father must pay the majority (88.5%) of the health-related costs not covered by insurance, and a majority (88.5%) of the children’s school tuition.

In 1996, the Mother asked that the court to find the Father in contempt of court because he did not pay the full amount of child support.  The Mother claimed that the Father had not paid all of his children’s school tuition, his son’s braces and some dental expenses not covered by insurance.

The trial court judge, who had approved the MDA, transferred the case to the Circuit court in Division 5.  After hearing testimony from the Mother, the Circuit court judge decided the case should be heard in the original trial court and sent the case back to the trial court.  The trial court found the Father guilty of criminal contempt for failure to pay child support and sentenced him to 180 days in prison.  The Father appealed this ruling.

Civil and Criminal Contempt

The trial court ruled that the Father was guilty of criminal contempt because he had the ability to pay the child support and his decision not to pay it was willful and deliberate.  The trial court sentenced him to 6 months in prison for failure to pay support.  However, the law the trial court used for sentencing the Father limited the punishment to a fine of $50 and up to only ten days in court.  Neither the Mother nor the court cited the provision in the law that allowed for up to six months in prison.  Since the Father did not challenge the length of his sentence when he appealed, so the appellate court upheld the sentence.

Double Jeopardy in Tennessee Child Support Law

The Father appealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee arguing that according to the rule prohibiting double jeopardy, his case could not be sent back from the Circuit court to the trial court and therefore his sentencing should be dismissed.  The double jeopardy clause appears in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and prohibits a person from being tried twice for the same offense.  Double jeopardy is applied in Tennessee through  Article 1, § 10 of the Tennessee Constitution, which says that “no person shall, for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

The Supreme court agreed with the Father, citing Tennessee cases which ruled that once testimony begins in a trial, jeopardy begins.  Since the Mother had already given testimony in the Division 5 court, the decision by the judge to return the case to the trial court meant the Father was being tried a second time for the same offense.   The Supreme Court found that there was no opportunity for the Father to oppose the Circuit court judge’s decision to send the case back to the trial court, since she determined that it would be returned to the lower courts immediately.  As a result, the Supreme court reversed the convictions for contempt and withdrew the Father’s  sentencing.  The case was sent back to the trial court for further proceedings that would fit with the Supreme court’s ruling.   While the Father could not be punished for contempt, that is, for not paying the child support, he could still be required to pay what he owed.

15 S.W.3d 73 (Tenn. 2000). 

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

For more information, see Tennessee Child Support Answers to FAQ’s.  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 about Tennessee child support, call us today at (901) 683-1850.