Disabled Daughter entitled to child support after age 19
Tennessee Case Summary on Child Support and Property Division and Classification in Divorce and Family Law.
Disabled Daughter entitled to child maintenance after age 18.
Angela Louise Niemeyer v. Glenn Paul Niemeyer
The couple in this Hamilton County case, Tennessee, were married in 1992. They had two children. The wife was a lawyer with a law degree and worked in her parents’ business. She was the main breadwinner for the family and had an annual income of approximately $85,000. In 2017, the wife filed for divorce and requested an order of protection. A neighbor testified the husband would often scream and swear at the wife, while her voice was in distress. The husband agreed to attend family counseling sessions with the children, and pay $600 a month in child support. His stated income at that time was about $3400 per month.
She later amended the complaint seeking child support for child support past the age of 18 for an adult handicapped child.
According to expert testimony, that child, a girl had an IQ of about 60, with very limited math skills, such as involving money. The expert described her as very disabled.
While the husband agreed that the child would require care for the rest of her life, he denied that it was a severe disability.
There was also testimony at trial concerning the wife’s separate property, an interest in her parents’ family business which she had been gifted. The husband’s expert witness, Shannon Farr, was a CPA. The wife’s expert was Matthew Stelzman. The court accepted the husband’s expert opinion, which stated that the value of the wife’s interest was $444,000 but that it wasn’t liquid. The husband argued, first, that the daughter wasn’t severely disabled and therefore entitled to child support beyond 18. The husband was ordered to pay $806 in child support per month.
But, after reviewing the evidence of the lower court, especially the daughter’s inability manage financial affairs, the court agreed with the trial judge’s ruling.
it actually cited the testimony of the husband that he wouldn’t be comfortable with his daughter living on her own or even crossing the road by herself. The child support award was therefore upheld. It also affirmed an award of arrearages in child support.
After discussing visitation issues, the appeals court turned to the classification and valuation of the wife’s separate property. The husband argued against the finding of separate properties by pointing out he had signed an individual guarantee for a loan related to this interest. However, since no marital funds had been used to repay the loan, the court of appeals found that this was not relevant. The Court of Appeals affirmed that the property was owned by the wife. The court also awarded her attorney’s fee on appeal. E2022-01690-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Child Support Laws in Tennessee.To learn more, visit Property Division in Tennessee Divorce and view our video Is Tennessee a 50-50 divorce state?
See original opinion for exact wording. Legal citations have been omitted.
For more information, visit Child Support Laws in Tennessee.
For more information, visit Property Division in Tennessee Divorce.
To find out more, view our video, Is Tennessee a fifty-fifty divorce state?
