Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee
My sons lived with me for 3 1/2 years and now my ex is wanting support for those
This November I received a order of Contempt from the child support enforcement office. My sons are now 19 and 21. The 21 year old lived with me from November 1995 (he was 16 at the time) til September of 1999. I did not pay support to my ex. My 19 year old lived with me from September 1996 (he was 15) til December of 1998. He went back to live with his mother then. I once again began paying support. The 19 year old did not graduate until 8 months after he turned 18 and I paid support until he graduated. All through the years the boys have been uprooted by their mother and did not have a stable home until they came to live with me. That does not seem to matter. She is now wanting support for when the boys lived with me. Legally if I had got a court order to change custody she might have had to pay support to me. I knew if I did this she would not let the boys live with me so I did not have the order changed. How can the courts give her support for the years that the boys lived here with me?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: My sons lived with me for 3 1/2 years and now my ex is wanting support for t
There are a number of issues in your question:
1. When the children were returned to your custody, did you go to a lawyer and get custody changed through the Court?
2. Did you notify the Child Support Division of the Attorney General's Office of the County in which you were paying support.
3. During the period of time that the children were in your ex's care, did she receive welfare benefits, in the form of Tenn-Care, food stamps, or AFDC?
4. Did you ever go to Court and contest the support order, or have you gone back to Court to emancipate the children.
Your position is defensible as to the child support arrearages if you can substantiate your affirmation that the children were with during the periods that you have indicated. Further, you would need to verify that the State is not attempting to collect on prior arrearages, or for the prior welfare benefits received by your ex.
You need to contact a lawyer and have the assistance in working through the issues identified by your question.
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