Mom Gets Attorney Fees for Child Support Contempt
Tennessee child support case summary on child support and attorney’s fees in divorce and family law.
Mom gets atty fees for child support contempt, even though dad wins on one issue.
Clayton Sugg Wilson, Jr., v. Rebecca Lynn Blocker Wilson
The parents in this Lincoln County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2017, and the mother was named the primary residential parent of their child. The father was ordered by the court to pay $535 in child support per month, plus half of uninsured medical costs for his child. Four years later, he filed a petition to modify child support based on his decreased income. The mother responded with a contempt petition, and the trial judge agreed with her. The court did reduce the amount of the obligation. It awarded her attorney’s fee for the contempt case. The trial court refused to apportion the fees. As part of the contempt complaint, the mother made a discovery request and the husband claimed he did not have a bank account. The mother’s lawyers responded by subpoenaing all banks in the area. This revealed that the dad did have multiple bank accounts and that $3.6million had been deposited. He testified that he only received an allowance of $350 a week plus some money from partnerships. The trial court reduced the child support but granted the mother’s contempt motion. She submitted an attorney’s fee affidavit of over $35,000, and the trial court found that these fees were reasonable.
In his motion for apportionment, the father noted that he was the prevailing party in his petition to modify, and that some of the fees were attributed to that matter. The mother argued that she was the prevailing party, since the father had willfully failed to pay, even though the amount was later reduced somewhat.
The trial court ruled that the fees were reasonable under the circumstances and affirmed.
The appeals court started by noting that attorney’s fees can be awarded only to a “prevailing party” and that this determination is fact intensive.
The trial court had found that the father was “clearly in civil contempt,” and the mother was awarded a lump sum.
And while the father got some relief as far as his ongoing obligation, it was not nearly what he had requested. The father had asked that the mother pay child support and this request was denied. It found that the mother met the standard of being “sufficiently successful” as set forth in a 2007 case. It quoted a 2007 case applying a standard of a party being “sufficiently successful,” and found that the mother met this standard.
It then reviewed the fee award, based upon the facts of the case, and found it to be reasonable.
The appeals court went on to find that the mother was entitled to her attorney’s fees for bringing the appeal. It therefore affirmed the lower court and remanded the case to determine the amount of those fees.No. M2023-01026-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. Legal citations omitted. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, visit Child Support Laws Tennessee.To find out more, visit Child Support Collection & Enforcement Tennessee.
