State of Tennessee ex rel. Mary Lott v. Ernest Lott, III

This appeal involves the payment of child support in a Title IV-D proceeding. The parents of the minor child were divorced, and the father was ordered to pay child support. In a contempt hearing, the father was found to have a substantial arrearage on his support obligation. Two years later, the State filed a petition on behalf of the mother for contempt and for modification of the child support order. The petition alleged that the father’s arrearage was unchanged. A child support worksheet submitted at the hearing showed the father’s child support obligation. The mother testified, however, that the father had been paying money directly to her for the benefit of the child. Based on the mother’s testimony, the trial court reduced the father’s monthly child support obligation to zero. Both of the parents testified that the father had paid a significant portion of the arrearage directly to the mother. The trial court credited the father for the amount that he had purportedly paid directly to the mother and reduced the remaining arrearage to a judgment. The State appeals, arguing that the trial court was required by statute to have the father pay his current support obligation through the Department of Human Services, rather than directly to the mother, and that the trial court was prohibited from crediting the father for payments on the arrearage made directly to the mother, rather than through DHS. We agree, and reverse the trial court’s order in part and remand the case for further proceedings.