**SPONSORED CONTENT BY DANIEL P. BRYANT, ATTORNEY AT LAW**
It comes as a shock to many married parents (usually fathers) that when they move out or are otherwise no longer living with their spouse and child, they owe child support. Many think that as long as they are married, child support is not mandated. Under Tennessee law, the obligation to pay child support exists, even before a divorce is filed. This reality can come as a rude awakening, when a year later, the married father/mother gets hit with a retroactive child support judgment for several thousand dollars, not to mention the disdain of the judge.
Of course, after moving out, a married person often continues to pay for something, perhaps some joint debt that benefits the other parent and the child or children. Such payments can be a saving grace. The Tennessee Court of Appeals has addressed this issue on numerous occasions. One such look was earlier this year in Keenan Carroll v. Chandra Carroll, M2012-00111-COA-R3-CV (2013). Here, a married father moved out and away from his wife and child but continued to pay the debt on wife’s car, which was a joint debt. These payments exceeded what child support would have been under the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines. The trial court and the Court of Appeals agreed that these payments satisfied the father’s child support obligation and relieved him of any obligation to pay retroactive child support.
In conclusion, while a payment like the one in Carroll can potentially satisfy a child support obligation, you are often safer to get an order from a court as early as possible. It is important to be careful when it comes to supporting children. Know your obligations and satisfy them instead of trying to make up for them in the future.
Daniel P. Bryant is an attorney in the Clarksville offices DIVORCE INCORPORATED, Tennessee’s Family Law Firm. His primary areas of practice are divorce, family and juvenile law litigation. Attorney Bryant may be contacted at 931-896-2400 or dbryant@divorceincorp.com.