Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee
Child Support treated as Alimony
What can be done with Child Support payments when the child is no longer living with the custodial parent (mother), but is now living with a grandparent (father's mother)? The grandmother, although financially able to take care of the child, would like to put our payments into a money market-type fund for the child. The mother has refused and has stated that the payments are to be sent to her as always (we pay her directly weekly) & she will buy the child "stuff" from time to time. By law, do I have to keep sending the payments to the mother or can I send them to the grandmother?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child Support treated as Alimony
While I suspect this answer would also apply to other states, I'm licensed to practice in Tennessee and am certain this in the right approach for Tennessee.
It depends on the wording of the court Order on child support.
If the Order is vague and merely says you will pay child support, without expressly stating that the support shall go to the mother, then you MIGHT be able to get away with makeing the payment directly to the grandmother who actually has custody of the child.
If the Order states the money is to go to the mother, then the only way to do anything is to go to court to get the support order changed.
HOWEVER, if you are going to get the support Order changed, you might also want to look at changing custody.
The child should not be bounced from home to home, as it sounds as if Mom is doing.
If you have questions, feel free to call me directly at 423-267-4391.
Jes Beard
Jes Beard, Attorney at Law
737 Market St., Suite 601
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