Anderson v. Anderson (Nebraska 2018)
Courts have some flexibility in determining income for child support purposes. The father appealed the court’s determination of his monthly income for child support. The father owned a lawn care business. He testified that he cashed checks and received cash for services that he did not deposit in his bank account. He also testified that…
Read MorePeople in the Interest of D.C.C. (Colorado 2018)
Once a juvenile court declares a child dependent or neglected, the juvenile court has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to that child, including paternity. The father appealed a juvenile court order dismissing him from a dependency and neglect action. The juvenile court dismissed the father based on a child support court order for non-paternity. The…
Read MoreBaucom v. Vlahos (North Carolina 2018)
A petition to modify a child support order must request specific relief. Otherwise, the terms of the underlying order do not change. The mother appealed a court order denying her request for reimbursement of uncovered medical expenses. The original divorce decree ordered the father to pay a specific percentage of the uncovered medical bills. A…
Read MoreWoodard v. Woodard (Tennessee 2018)
Courts have authority to establish support for a special needs child who is over the age of majority at the time of a divorce as long as the child became disabled before reaching the age of majority. However, if the initial order did not address support, it cannot be established later. The mother appealed a…
Read MoreShawn E. on behalf of Grace E. v. Diane S. (Nebraska 2018)
A garnishment order is not final unless it requires delivery of the debtor’s property to the creditor. The state of Nebraska initiated a garnishment action against the father’s prison account for arrears and past due medical support. After a hearing, the district court entered an order denying the father’s request for continuance, overruling his objection…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of White (Kansas 2018)
The requirement in the child support guidelines that medical support be addressed includes bills incurred, not only bills paid. The father appealed a district court order dividing medical expenses. He argued the court improperly considered bills presented by the mother for expenses incurred, but not paid. The court of appeals upheld the district court order.…
Read MoreState ex rel. Townsend v. Williamson (Tennessee 2018)
A parent may receive credit against any owed arrears for necessary expenditures, but the suit must be brought within six years of the expense and meet the definition. A parent has an obligation to support a child even in the absence of a valid court order. The father appealed a court order that did not…
Read MoreCampbell v. Campbell (Mississippi 2018)
Modification of a child support order is only appropriate when there is a substantial change of circumstances that was not reasonably anticipated at the time of an agreement. The father appealed an upward modification of his child support. The terms of the original decree included a per child support amount and specified the conditions under…
Read MoreState on behalf of Marcelo K. & Rycki K. v. Ricky K. (Nebraska 2018)
Only final orders are appealable. By final, the order must dispose of all of the issues. Ricky K. was the acknowledged father of two children. The State filed an action to establish support. Ricky filed an answer and cross-claim, alleging he was not the father of one of the children, and requesting joint custody and…
Read MoreKaplan v. Kaplan (North Carolina 2018)
The burden of proof in a child support contempt hearing shifts to the non-paying parent once a court enters an order to appear and show cause. The father appealed a contempt order. He argued he didn’t have the ability to pay the support or the purge condition. The appellate court affirmed the order and found…
Read MoreRobeson County Enforcement Unit v. Harrison (North Carolina 2018)
A substantial change of circumstances must occur for a child support order to be modified. The father appealed an order modifying his support arguing that there was no substantial change of circumstances. His income had increased, but it increased some time ago. In fact, the parties agreed to the previous order, and his income had…
Read MoreSilver v. Silver (Nebraska 2018)
If payment of a child support obligation leaves a parent with a net income below the poverty line, Nebraska courts can consider specific costs related to supporting the child to get the parent back above the line. Supervised visitation is not one of those costs. An award of retroactive support must take into account the…
Read MoreState ex rel. Lytle v. Webb (Tennessee 2018)
Adequate findings must support the determination of an arrearage amount. The father appealed an order setting arrears. The arrears were determined in a modification order, but the state filed to alter/amend the arrears amount. The court amended the amount, and father filed to set aside this order. He argued that there was no evidence to…
Read MoreHewitt v. Hewitt (North Carolina 2018)
Competent evidence must support the finding of income for child support purposes. A parent should receive credit for maintaining health insurance for the children. The father appealed the decree of divorce, arguing that the court didn’t properly determine his income and that he should receive credit for paying for the children’s insurance. The court of…
Read MoreState ex rel. Nichols v. Songstad (Tennessee 2018)
Child support cannot be modified without court permission even when the number of children for whom the parent is responsible changes. The parent must file for a modification, provide notice to the other parents, and prove a significant variance. The mother and father were divorced, and the father was ordered to pay support for their…
Read MoreKaiser v. Kaiser (North Carolina 2018)
Findings must support a court’s determination of an asset as income for child support purposes. The mother and the father were divorced, and the trial court set child support. Mother appealed the child support order, arguing that the court incorrectly included capital gains, dividends, and payments from her boyfriend for rent as income. She also…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Hou and Chu (Kansas 2018)
A court can deviate from the amount of presumptive support as long as findings support the reason for deviation. The divorce decree in this case ordered the father to pay child support, plus half of the children’s extracurricular activities. The father appealed, arguing that an amount for extracurricular activities was included in the guideline calculation.…
Read MoreIn re Biehl (Kansas 2018)
A paternity order may not be final for appellate purposes if it doesn’t address child support and other matters incident to the paternity establishment. The mother in this case appealed the denial of her motion to set aside a journal entry to paternity. The appellate court found it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal…
Read MoreHance v. Hance (Tennessee 2018)
The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over dependency and neglect proceedings including child support. If there is also an open action in chancery court, the jurisdiction of the chancery court is suspended. The mother and father in this case divorced in chancery court. A few months later, the father filed to modify the parenting…
Read MoreMadigan v. Madigan (North Carolina 2018)
Income for child support purposes is normally based on a parent’s actual income but it can be imputed to a parent if the evidence shows the parent isn’t earning up to his or her earning potential. The mother appealed the trial court’s determination of her income arguing that the trial court improperly imputed income to…
Read MoreGoodrich v. Goodrich (Tennessee 2018)
For child support purposes, a court can impute income to a parent that is higher than the parent’s actual income. The father appealed the district court order finding him underemployed and imputing income to him. He argued that he had involuntarily left his previous job and could not find an equivalent job. The Court of…
Read MoreMcCullough v. McCullough (Nebraska 2018)
A parent must make child support payments even if a modification is pending. The father appealed a district court order finding him in contempt for failure to pay child support. He argued that he had filed to modify the support order and that the new order might affect the amount of support owed. The Supreme…
Read MoreCalleja v. Calleja (Nebraska 2018)
A court may use actual income, not earning capacity, for child support purposes even when a parent makes a job change and the new job results in less income. The father, a tile installer, left a job to start his own business. As a result, his income decreased. The district court calculated support using his…
Read MoreSummerville v. Summerville (North Carolina 2018)
A child support order cannot be modified sua sponte. The father appealed a district court order modifying his child support obligation, arguing that neither party had requested a modification of support. The appellate court agreed and found that there was no request to modify child support before the court. There is a line of North…
Read MoreMetzler v. Metzler (Nebraska 2018)
Due process requires that a court have personal jurisdiction over a nonresident parent before it can determine child support. For a court to have personal jurisdiction over a parent, the parent must have minimum contacts with the state of Nebraska such that the parent could expect to be called into court. The father, a Nebraska…
Read MoreKline v. Holmes (Kansas 2018)
The presumption of paternity is not conclusive and can be rebutted with clear and convincing evidence. The rebuttal can also be overcome. In this case, the district court established parentage for a child who was born to a same-sex couple by applying the presumption that the “notorious” presumption. The biological mother of the child appealed,…
Read MoreCarlson v. Carlson (Nebraska 2018)
In a divorce, parents may enter into a property settlement agreement (PSA) on all terms, including child support. Once approved, the PSA becomes a judgment, and when construction issues arise, the court must use the four corners of document. During the divorce proceeding, the parents agreed to a term of the PSA that the father…
Read MoreStrickland v. Strickland Day (Mississippi 2018)
An anonymous sperm donor is not the legal father of a child and has no parental rights. A same-sex couple married and had a child using artificial insemination. One partner carried the child. The parents divorced, and the Chancery Court found that the child was born during the marriage, but not of the marriage. While…
Read MoreHeisinger v. Riley (Mississippi 2018)
A Mississippi court can modify the support provisions of a properly registered child support order. The mother registered an Iowa child support order in Mississippi. She then requested a modification, which the chancellor denied. The chancellor found that the mother had not showed the order met the requirements for a modification under Iowa law. The…
Read MoreHarden v. Scarborough (Mississippi 2018)
A child support calculation should reflect the amount of income a parent is actually earning. It shouldn’t be based on a speculated decrease in income. A temporary order set child support for the father based on his income as a teacher and a coach. By the time of trial, the father had resigned his coaching…
Read MoreKeruzis-Thorson v. Thorson (Nebraska 2018)
A parent must provide the cost of a health insurance premium attributable to child to receive a deduction from gross income for purposes of calculating income for child support. The district court gave the father credit for the cost of his health insurance premium. The mother appealed arguing that the father didn’t prove the cost…
Read MoreState v. Rogelio L. (Nebraska 2018)
In a modification action, the court may deviate from presumptive support for children born subsequent to the order. The father filed to modify his support order based on a reduction in his income. The father testified he didn’t pay taxes, but deducted taxes to reach his proposed net income. The district court dismissed the modification…
Read MoreCovil v. Covil (Nebraska 2018)
A Nebraska district court can’t modify certain terms of another state’s order. The father and mother were divorced in Florida. The mother moved to Nebraska and received court permission to move with the children. Nebraska registered the Florida order. The Father filed to modify the order in Nebraska. He requested credit for past payments, support…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Boettcher (Colorado 2018)
The highest amount of child support on the income schedule is not a maximum presumptive amount. If the parents’ combined income is more than accounted for on the schedule, support may be more based on an application of the statutory factors. The father in this case appealed a modified support order arguing that the highest…
Read MoreLong v. Long (Wyoming 2018)
A district court must include the presumptive child support amount in a final decree of divorce. That is the basis for any deviation. Prior to the divorce, the mother filed for a protective order in Circuit Court, and the court set support in this action. The District Court incorporated the amount of support in the…
Read MoreBecher v. Becher (Nebraska 2018)
Chapter 25 of the Nebraska statutes allows for the appointment of a general referee to hear court proceedings, which could include a divorce. The child support statutes also provide for the appointment of a referee for specific child support proceedings, including establishment of an order. The deference the district court judge gives to the findings…
Read MoreFetherkile v. Fetherkile (Nebraska 2018)
A paternity determination made pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-512.04 is res judicata as to that issue. In this case, the mother and father stipulated to a paternity and support order prior to filing for divorce. The parents then filed for divorce, and the mother testified the father was not the child’s biological father.…
Read MoreSantee v. Santee (Tennessee 2018)
If a court imputes income to a parent for child support, it must make supportive, consistent findings. In this divorce action, the mother didn’t work during the marriage and stayed at home with the children. The trial court imputed the mother to the income of a medical assistant even though mother would have to attend…
Read MoreGipson v. Jackson (Mississippi 2018)
If a court deviates from the presumptive amount of child support, it must make findings as to why the application of the guidelines is unjust or inappropriate. The father appealed the Chancery Court order that increased child support by $200. The order did not contain any specific findings as to father’s adjusted gross income or…
Read MoreMcKinney v. Hamp (Mississippi 2018)
A supersedeas bond, authorized by Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 8(a), will not stay enforcement of an order for prospective, monthly child support pending appeal. A signing bonus for a parent-athlete is part of the parent’s gross income for child support purposes. A court has the discretion to modify an order back to the date…
Read MoreThomson v. Holling (North Carolina 2018)
Specific evidence must support the income determination for a self-employed parent. The mother appealed the lower court’s income calculation for the father, who was self-employed. The lower court based its determination on father’s child support worksheet and testimony. The Appellate Court found that the evidence didn’t support the monthly income attributed to the father. He…
Read MoreDixon v. Dixon (Mississippi 2018)
A Mississippi statute gives courts discretion to emancipate a child and terminate child support under certain circumstances. A judgment on arrears clears a parent of contempt so as to allow for a modification of support but the parent still has to show a substantial change in circumstances. The father appealed the chancery court order that…
Read MoreIn re Michael J. (Tennessee 2018)
A copy of a genetic testing report is not eligible for judicial notice. This case involves a paternity action that was first heard in front of a magistrate, who ordered genetic testing. The results showed a 99.9% probability of paternity, and the magistrate entered an order. The father requested a rehearing before the juvenile court.…
Read MoreIn re Joel B. (Tennessee 2018)
It is appropriate to impute a parent to a higher income for child support when the parent voluntarily takes a lower paying job. The mother, an attorney, appealed the lower court’s order imputing a higher income to her. Mother practiced immigration law Tennessee, but then moved to California where she worked as a paralegal, earning…
Read MoreState on behalf of Mariah B. and Renee B. v. Kyle B. (Nebraska 2018)
A contempt finding requires that the parent willfully violate the court order. The parent must have the present ability to comply with the purge conditions. The father appealed a contempt order for failure to pay support. He argued that the nonpayment was not willful and that he couldn’t comply with the purge conditions. The Supreme…
Read MoreKanka v. Kanka (Tennessee 2018)
Child support can be based on a parent’s earning capacity if the court finds a parent willfully unemployed. The father appealed the order that found him willfully unemployed and imputed income to him in the amount of his salary from his previous job. The appellate court upheld the decision. When determining if a parent is…
Read MoreSmith v. Doe (Mississippi 2018)
A party must move to set aside a final judgment within six months if the party is alleging misconduct by the other party as the grounds for the set aside. In the case at hand, the father and mother settled their divorce. The terms included a higher than guideline amount of child support and father…
Read MoreSchurman v. Wilkins (Nebraska 2018)
Under the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, child support abatements are discretionary. The father appealed the district court’s order that did not allow for an abatement in support during his summer parenting time. The appellate court found that the decision whether to abate is clearly left to the court. The district court considered evidence of the…
Read MoreKabasan v. Kabasan (North Carolina 2018)
The value of an annuity counts as income for child support purposes without regard to any penalties for surrender or early withdrawal. The father in this case appealed the trial court’s calculation of his income, which included the value of an annuity. The father appealed arguing that the court should have reduced the value to…
Read MoreCounty of Durham v. Hodges (North Carolina 2017)
Evidence of a parent’s ability to pay must support a contempt order. The father in this case appealed a contempt order arguing that the evidence showed he had no ability to pay support. The contempt order was a pre-printed form that didn’t contain any findings of fact. The appellate court found the order lacked the…
Read MoreIn re Ava B. (Tennessee 2017)
When calculating income for child support, capital losses apply only in the year in which they occurred and cannot be carried over into subsequent years. The father appealed the juvenile court’s calculation of his income. The father’s income varied, so the juvenile court averaged his income for several years. The juvenile court did not give…
Read MoreSpires v. Simpson (Tennessee 2017)
In a wrongful death action, a parent, who seeks recovery for the death of a child yet owes child support for that child, cannot recover any proceeds until satisfaction of the child support arrears. The mother and father in this case married and had a child. The father left when the child was young, but…
Read MoreLasecki v. Lasecki (North Carolina 2017)
An unincorporated settlement agreement is a contract, and the agreed-to child support obligation can’t be modified based on a change of circumstances like a court-ordered obligation. The father appealed the district court’s decision not to reduce his support obligation based on his lower income. The appellate court held that a trial court is without authority…
Read MoreTSR v. State of Wyoming (Wyoming 2017)
As long as the process meets statutory requirements, a court may deviate from presumptive support for later-born children. The mother appealed the district court’s decision to deviate downward from presumptive support for a child born of the father’s current marriage. The district court calculated presumptive support for the parties’ child. The court then calculated the…
Read MoreMitchell v. Moore (Mississippi 2017)
The dismissal of a paternity complaint is not a jurisdictional bar to the refiling of the complaint. In this heirship action, relatives of the deceased challenged his child’s status as his heir, arguing that the paternity order was void. The Department of Human Services filed the initial paternity complaint in 2007 and then dismissed it…
Read MoreJohnson v. Dominick (Tennessee 2017)
The Tennessee child support guidelines provide that child support starts at the birth of the child and retroactive support must be set accordingly.* If a court deviates from the guidelines, it must make specific findings regarding the factors set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-2-311(a)(11)(A)(i-iii). Without these findings, the order is defective. The mother…
Read MoreState ex rel. Schrita O. v. Robert T. (Tennessee 2017)
A mother has standing to bring a paternity action in juvenile court even if the child has a legal guardian. In this case, the grandfather of the child had been his legal guardian since birth. On appeal, the father argued that the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to decide the claims because mother…
Read MoreBlack v. Black (Mississippi 2017)
When a parent’s adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 per year, the Court must make a finding as to whether the application of the guidelines is reasonable. The guideline child support award would be 20 percent of the parent’s adjusted gross income. The father in this case is a surgeon whose adjusted gross income is more…
Read MoreRoberts v. Roberts (Nebraska 2017)
The definition of income for child support is flexible, and the court has wide discretion on what to include and exclude as income. This case addresses a wide variety of issues with calculating income for child support. The district court properly excluded a housing allowance and danger pay from the father’s income but inappropriately included…
Read MoreMarshall v. Marshall (Nebraska 2017)
The definition of income for child support purposes is flexible and fact-specific, according to the Nebraska Supreme Court. This lines up with the equitable nature of child support proceedings. The trial court in this case split the difference between the parents’ proposed income for father. In overturning the appellate court decision, the Court found that…
Read MoreDrabbels v. Drabbels (Nebraska 2017)
The court should not include employer-paid health insurance as income to a parent for child support. In this case, the father’s employer pays the health insurance premium for the father and the child. The district court included this cost in the father’s monthly income but did not give him credit for the premium amount off…
Read MoreCatawba County ex rel. Rackley v. Loggins (North Carolina 2017)
Catawba County ex rel. Rackley v. Loggins, No. 152PA16 (N.C. 2017). A court maintains subject matter jurisdiction to modify a child support order even without a formal motion for modification. The parents filed a modified voluntary support agreement and order in 2001. The father failed to pay current support regularly and was involved in many…
Read MoreSarno v. Sarno (North Carolina 2017)
North Carolina courts must follow the statutory process for deviating from presumptive child support. The mother appealed the court’s deviation from presumptive support arguing that the court failed to make the required findings. In North Carolina, the court can consider a deviation after determining the presumptive support amount, considering evidence regarding the child’s need for…
Read MoreScobey v. Scobey (Tennessee 2017)
A parent must present evidence of their most recent actual income when determining income for a child support modification. The father requested a modification of his support and used outdated income information to calculate the new obligation. The trial court denied the modification and the appellate court upheld the decision. The appellate court found the…
Read MoreIn re Grace N. (Tennessee 2017)
This is the second appeal of this case. The parties appealed the child support calculation in the first order and are now appealing the calculation in the amended order. The Mother appeals the trial court’s calculation of the Father’s income with respect to the proceeds of a property sale and barter income, the court’s exclusion…
Read MoreWilliams v. Williams (Tennessee 2017)
Tennessee statutes require that an initial support order contain a judgment for retroactive support or findings to support deviating from the requirement. In this divorce action, the court awarded primary custody of the children to father. The court ordered no current support because mother was receiving social security. Prior to the custody order, the children…
Read MoreCopeland v. Copeland (Mississippi 2017)
A court can terminate child support when the children’s clear and extreme behavior makes the parent-child relationship impossible. The father, the non-custodial parent in this case, petitioned the chancery court to award him custody of his children and/or for other general relief. The chancery court denied the modification but found the children’s behavior toward their…
Read MoreIn the Matter of the Paternity of S.M.J. (Kansas 2017)
In an indirect contempt proceeding, the individual must be physically present. If necessary, the Court can issue a bench warrant to compel attendance. The father in this case appealed a contempt finding that resulted from a hearing he did not attend, even though he had been properly served. The language of the indirect contempt statute…
Read MoreState on behalf of Lockwood v. Laue (Nebraska 2017)
In a contempt proceeding for failure to pay child support, a parent can rebut a presumptive finding with evidence showing the failure to pay was not willful. In a district court exception hearing, the court has the discretion to hear additional evidence. In this case, the state of Nebraska took exception to a referee’s dismissal…
Read MoreDennis v. Dennis (Mississippi 2017)
A person who voluntarily agrees to pay support may be held to that obligation under a quasicontractual theory. In this case, the great-grandparents were the custodians of a child. The great-grandparents subsequently divorced and in the settlement agreement, the step great-grandfather, who had no biological connection to the child, agreed to pay child support. Several…
Read MoreThompson v. Gerlach (North Carolina 2017)
In order to find a parent in contempt for failure to pay support, the court must find evidence of their ability to pay and willful failure to do so. Also, the order must contain specific purge conditions and date. In this case, the trial court found the father in contempt for failure to pay support…
Read MoreIn re Conner F. (Tennessee 2017)
When determining income for child support, the court can consider a parent’s lifestyle if the lifestyle is inconsistent with the amount of income the parent claims. The father appealed the lower court’s income determination. The record showed that he represents his income inconsistently. He made claims of a high yearly income, but provided documents that…
Read MoreKann v. Kann (Colorado 2017)
Child support and spousal support arrears accrue in two ways, the unpaid principal amount and interest. In cases for collection of spousal support arrears, the defense of laches may apply regardless of the source of the arrears; however, the court reaffirmed its earlier decision in In re Marriage of Johnson, 2016 CO 67 (2016), that…
Read MoreAraujo v. Araujo (Nebraska 2017)
Distributions from a trust fund are income to a parent for purposes of child support. When determining income for child support, the court can consider a parent’s earning capacity as opposed to their actual earnings. The mother appealed this child support order and argued that trust distributions were not income. She also argued that the…
Read MorePlummer v. Plummer (Mississippi 2017)
When a parent’s income varies from year to year, the court must use its discretion in calculating the monthly income for child support. In this child support modification action, the Chancellor averaged the father’s high and low adjusted gross income to reach his income for child support. The appellate court found this appropriate. The Chancellor…
Read MoreErin W. v. Charissa W. (Nebraska 2017)
A court did not abuse its discretion in denying a motion for genetic testing in a divorce proceeding where the child was born during the marriage and the father had held out and supported the child as his own. Prior to their marriage, the mother told the father he might not be the child’s biological…
Read MoreMississippi Dep’t of Human Services v. Porter (Mississippi 2017)
UIFSA does not require an initiating tribunal or registered child support order for a responding tribunal to have subject matter jurisdiction to establish a support order. Additionally, UIFSA calls for the responding state to apply its laws and procedures to the order, including its age of majority. The state of Illinois requested Mississippi’s assistance in…
Read MoreKolar v. Tester (Nebraska 2017)
The court appropriately used its discretion to calculate income for a father who regularly works more than a 40-hour work week. The father testified that he works between 45 – 50 hours per week, even though he is only guaranteed 40. He is paid at a higher rate for the additional hours. The court calculated…
Read MoreSardon v. Sardon (Tennessee 2017)
The Tennessee statutes allow courts to deviate from the presumptive child support amount for the cost of children’s extracurricular activities. The evidence in this case clearly supported the cost of the activities, and the father did not object to the activities other than he felt mother didn’t consult him. The appellate court upheld the trial…
Read MoreCollins v. Mississippi Dep’t of Human Services (Mississippi 2017)
A parent’s obligation to support a child financially does not end even when their relationship has deteriorated due to extreme behavior from the child, especially when the parent also had a role in the decline of the relationship. The mother in this case appealed a child support order obligating her to pay support for her…
Read MoreAli v. Ali (Mississippi 2017)
When setting child support for a high-income parent, a strict application of the guidelines may not be reasonable. The court must make findings to support its decision. In this case, the chancery court found that applying the child support guidelines to an income greater than $100,000 was not reasonable and set child support based on…
Read MoreIn re CT: Taylor v. Timmons (Mississippi 2017)
When a substantial change of circumstances occurs, a court can modify a child support order. If the court deviates from the new presumptive amount, written findings must support the deviation. In this case, the father appealed his modified order, which increased his support amount from $300 to $1,500 per month. He argued inadequate findings. The…
Read MoreState of Tennesse ex rel. Spurlock v. Torres (Tennessee 2017)
A child support order is void if the court did not have personal jurisdiction over the respondent parent. In interstate actions, there are specific requirements for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident parent, one of which is the parent has entered an appearance or filed a responsive document. In this contempt proceeding, the father, a Texas…
Read MoreParrish v. Griggs (Tennessee 2017)
In Tennessee, the obligation to support a child begins at birth unless there is a statutory basis for deviation. The deviation factors revolve around the father not knowing about the child or the possibility of his paternity. The appellate court reviews the support order for an abuse of discretion if appealed. In this case, the…
Read MoreVincent v. Rickman (Mississippi 2017)
If a parent willfully fails to follow the terms of a child support order, the court can find the parent in contempt. Contempt is appropriate if the order is final and the terms are clear. The appellate court upheld the contempt ruling against the father, finding that he failed to comply with the unambiguous terms of…
Read MoreState of Tennessee ex rel. Bass v. Gonzalez-Perez (Tennessee 2017)
Longshore and Harbor Workers’ benefits are exempt from income withholding; however, the receipt of these benefits does not excuse a parent from paying child support. A parent who fails to pay can be found in contempt. In this case, the father suffered a work-related injury and qualified for Longshoreman’s benefits. After the accident, his support…
Read MoreSansom v. Sansom (Tennessee 2017)
The value of a house, given as a one-time gift, should not have been included in this parent’s gross income for child support. The trial court found that the house, under the facts of this case, could only fall into one income category – a gift that could be converted to cash. The trial court added…
Read MoreState ex. rel. Smith v. Thorne (Tennessee 2017)
An appeal of a child support order set in juvenile court must be taken to the circuit court. In this case, the State appealed an order dismissing arrears to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals found it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal because the order originated from a dependency…
Read MoreFisher v. Davis (Kansas 2017)
A final paternity judgment can be set aside if it is based on an error of law and no reasonable person would take the trial court’s view. In this case, the father signed a paternity acknowledgement based on the results of a home paternity test. The father filed a paternity action and a journal order…
Read MoreNunnally v. Nunnally (Tennessee 2017)
In a child support case, the court must have reliable evidence of income above a parent’s regular wages in order to include it in the income calculation. The trial court in this case calculated the parents’ incomes using only their hourly rates even though they testified to additional monthly income. The appellate court found no…
Read MoreHalim v. El-Alayli (Tennessee 2017)
A parent who requests more than the capped amount of child support must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the upward deviation is reasonably necessary to support the children. In this modification action, the mother requested child support plus additional amounts for the caretaker for a special needs child, camp, food, utilities, vacation,…
Read MoreMaher v. Woodruff (Tennessee 2017)
To calculate back child support, apply the guidelines that are in effect at the time of the order. The mother in this case appealed an award of retroactive child support and argued the trial court applied the wrong guidelines. Custody of the children changed from mother to father in 1999. The support amount was not…
Read MoreState ex rel. Secretary for Dep’t for Children and Families v. Smith (Kansas 2017)
A Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) binds the signers unless it is revoked in the statutory time period. It does not create a presumption of paternity, as the father in this case argued. The father also argued the VAP did not qualify as an acknowledgement because it lacked certain formalities and that the VAP did not…
Read MoreHolman v. Holman (Mississippi 2017)
A parent must create a record to support the amount of arrears requested. The mother in this case failed to support her claim, and it was denied. The mother included medical bills in her arrears request, which was not appropriate. She also claimed the father had missed several child support payments, but did not question his…
Read MoreCarter v. Davis (Mississippi 2017)
The court has discretion to count payments made directly to a child as child support. The pivotal question is would not giving credit unjustly enrich the custodial parent. The father in this case made direct payments to his daughters while they were in college, and the court gave him credit against his arrears for those…
Read MoreIn re: Jalen O-H (Tennessee 2017)
A court can order retroactive support in different amounts for different periods of time as long as evidence supports the determination. The parents in this case had multiple custody arrangements since the child’s birth. The court reviewed the terms of each custody agreement and the time it was in place, the parents’ incomes during that…
Read MoreState ex. re. Williams v. Woods (Tennessee 2017)
Child support is due to a child’s primary caregiver even if that person is not a parent. However, the caregiver must request support and be a party to the action. In this case, mother petitioned the court for child support as the child’s primary caregiver even though the child lived his step grandparent during the school…
Read MoreHouse v. House (Nebraska 2017)
A finding of contempt for failure to pay child support is a rebuttable presumption. The burden of proof shifts to the parent to provide evidence that the failure to pay was not willful. In this case, the father argued he was indigent and could not pay support. The Court found that he offered no other…
Read MoreHamilton v. Young (Mississippi 2017)
A Mississippi court does not have jurisdiction to modify the child support provisions of an out-of-state divorce decree unless neither of the parents reside in the issuing state or the parties agree in writing to transfer jurisdiction. The issuing state retains jurisdiction until one of these conditions is met. In this case, a Mississippi chancery…
Read MoreRambo v. Rambo (Wyoming 2017)
Unpaid child support becomes a judgment by operation of law on the due date. Unless a specific exemption applies, interest begins to accrue at the statutory rate. In this case, the mother filed an order to show cause alleging father had failed to pay child support. The order provided that father could purge himself of…
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