(a) The following procedures shall apply to termination of income assignment:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-5-503
Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
Child: means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Child support order: means a support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state or foreign country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
Income: includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support under the law of this state. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
Obligee: means : (A) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been issued. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that: (A) Owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(1) Any party or its agents or assignees may seek termination of an order under this section if there are no arrearages owed by the obligor to the obligee parent, any guardian or custodian of the child, the department of human services or any other agency of the state, or any other Title IV-D agency of any state, the costs of court have been paid, and there are no longer any children to whom the obligor parent is obligated to pay support because:
(A) Of the marriage of the child or children;(B) Of the death of the child or children;(C) The child or children have reached majority and have graduated from high school, or the class of which the child is a member when the child attains eighteen (18) years of age graduates, whichever occurs later, and no other special circumstances requiring the obligation continue to exist;(2) If there are children to whom the obligor is still obligated to pay support, though a change of circumstances has occurred as a result of the discontinuation of the obligation to at least one (1) child, the obligor may not seek termination of the income assignment order, but must seek modification of the support order. Upon obtaining modification of the support order, the clerk of court or the department or its contractors shall issue a modified income assignment;(3) Parties seeking a change of custody, pursuant to § 36-6-101, may not seek termination under this provision but must request termination by the trial court if there is a change in custody ordered;(4) The clerk of the court or the department of human services or its contractor in Title IV-D cases shall send the order and notice of termination of income assignment to the obligor parent, obligee parent, and employer, person, corporation, or institution upon the decision to terminate or not to terminate; and(5)(A) In Title IV-D cases, when the department of human services or its contractor is informed or otherwise determines that the conditions of subdivision (a)(1) have been met, then the department or its contractor shall administratively terminate or modify the income assignment order to reflect the change in circumstances pursuant to the child support guidelines in accordance with this section. In all other circumstances, modification or termination of an income assignment shall be obtained by court order;(B) In cases where an income assignment order may be terminated or modified by administrative order, the department or its contractor shall notify both the obligor, or other payer, and the obligee of the proposed action with respect to the termination or modification action. The notice shall give both the obligor and the obligee fifteen (15) days in which to appeal the proposed action, pursuant to the appeal provisions of part 10 of this chapter.(b) Each parent or other individual having custody of a child who is receiving support payments under an income assignment order shall notify the clerk, or the department of human services or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, at such time as any of the following occur:
(1) A child for whom support is being paid dies;(2) A child for whom support is being paid marries;(3) A child for whom support is being paid reaches such child’s eighteenth birthday if the child is not in high school on that date; or(4) A child for whom support is being paid graduates from high school, or the class of which the child is a member graduates if the child does not graduate with the class, if the child is eighteen (18) years of age prior to the date such child graduates.(c)(1) The obligor parent may also seek termination or modification of a support order when the whereabouts of the obligee parent and child or children are unknown and the clerk of the court, or the department of human services or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, has been unable to forward past payments, and all arrearages owed to the state as a result of the custodian’s receipt of public assistance have been paid.(2) The obligor parent may either file a motion for termination or seek modification of the child support order when support payments equal to the amount due within one (1) month have been returned to the office of the clerk, or to the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, and all reasonable means to locate the obligee parent and child or children have been exhausted. The clerk of the court, or the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, shall notify the obligor parent that such payments have been returned to the clerk, or to the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases. The obligor parent must submit an affidavit verifying that such obligor parent has exhausted reasonable efforts to locate the obligee parent and child or children.(d) When a motion to terminate is filed, the clerk of the court shall proceed to set a hearing and serve the parties as provided in § 36-5-405. Upon receipt of a notice from the custodial parent or individual in accordance with subsection (b), or based upon the department’s own records, the clerk or the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases shall determine whether the income assignment order includes support for any other child or children and whether there are any accumulated arrearages due that have not been satisfied. If there are no other children and no arrearages, the clerk, or the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, after notification to the parties, shall notify the employer, person, corporation or institution withholding support that the income assignment is terminated. If there are other children and/or accumulated arrearages, the clerk or the department or its contractor in Title IV-D cases, after notification to the parties, shall send a new notice to the employer, person, corporation or institution withholding support specifying the correct amount to be withheld as a result of the change in circumstances.(e) If the obligor parent wishes to file a motion for termination or to seek modification of the support order, such obligor parent must complete and file an affidavit affirming that such obligor parent has contacted a reasonable number of relatives and friends of the obligee parent and all lack any knowledge regarding the whereabouts of the obligee parent and child or children, and that such obligor parent has made other reasonable efforts to locate the obligee parent and child or children including:
(1) Mailing a letter to the obligee parent’s last known address requesting a new mailing address;(2) Checking the telephone directory and directory assistance for a listing of the obligee parent;(3) Contacting the obligee parent’s last attorney of record and inquiring as to whether the attorney can provide a current address;(4) Contacting the obligee parent’s last known place of employment (if known) and inquiring as to whether a current address may be provided by the employer; and(5) Contacting the department of human services and inquiring if its records contain a current address of the obligee parent.
