Dillow v. Dillow
| Decision Date | 13 October 1978 |
| Citation | 575 S.W.2d 289 |
| Parties | Linda Carriger DILLOW, Respondent-Appellant, v. Tommy Roger DILLOW, Petitioner-Appellee. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Appeals |
Robert D. Arnold, Johnson City, for respondent-appellant.
John B. McKinnon, III, Johnson City, for petitioner-appellee.
Linda Carriger Dillow, Respondent-Appellant, appeals an order of the Chancery Court for Washington County which modified the support and custody provisions of a divorce decree, and also forgave child support arrearage. By her assignments of error she insists that because there had not been a sufficient change in circumstance the Chancellor abused his discretion in modifying the decree.
The final decree for divorce was entered on August 26, 1977, after a hearing held on July 13. It recited that the parties had reached a property settlement agreement. The agreement, which was confirmed by the Court, provided, Inter alia, the following: (1) the wife is to receive absolute custody of the parties' two minor children, subject to specified visitation privileges by the husband, (2) the husband is prohibited from having the children in the company of Gail Lell (a lady with whom he was keeping company prior to the divorce and who he later married) or any of her children by previous marriages, (3) the husband should pay $250 per month as child support, which would be increased to $300 per month beginning July 16, 1978. On December 20, some four months after the decree was entered, Mr. Dillow filed the petition to modify.
Mr. Dillow, who is employed by Free Service Tire Company as a helicopter pilot, has a net income of $965.37 per month and he receives an additional $675 per year for service in the Army Reserve. Because of the demands of his full-time employer, there is some question whether he will be able to continue in the Reserves and continue to receive payment therefor. In any event, his income is substantially the same as when the divorce decree was entered.
He owes something over $11,000 and is reducing some of the obligations by monthly payments which total $258. Practically all of the debts, however, were either known to Mr. Dillow at the time he entered into the agreement or were within his contemplation and could have been ascertained by a cursory inquiry. In Long v. Long, 488 S.W.2d 729 (Tenn.App.1972), we held that a husband may not allege facts as constituting a change in circumstances if he was aware of those facts prior to the entry of the divorce decree.
It is true that circumstances have changed in that Mr. Dillow has remarried and is bearing some responsibility for the support of two of his present wife's minor children, the support payments from their father being $100 a month,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lambert v. Miller
...Payments 89 A.L.R.2d 7, § 5 (1963); see also Schwartz v. Schwartz, 90 A.D.2d 498, 499, 454 N.Y.S.2d 747, 749 (1982); Dillow v. Dillow, 575 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Tenn.Ct.App.1978). Thus, a party seeking modification of a child support order must show not only a substantial change in the circumsta......
-
Neely v. Neely
...has recognized that it is important for a child to maintain a relationship with the non-custodial natural parent. Dillow v. Dillow, 575 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Tenn.Ct.App.1978). Accordingly, we have held that visitation provisions in a divorce decree should be modified if they prevent the relatio......
-
Bogan v Bogan
...assumed are not proper to be considered as changed circumstance[s] to reduce support payments otherwise owed," Dillow v. Dillow, 575 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1978), and the Court of Appeals has applied this rule in various contexts to deny modification of a support award when an obli......
-
Brewster v. Brewster
...with both parents); Bryan v. Bryan, 620 S.W.2d 85, 88 (Tenn.Ct.App.1981) (relationship with a noncustodial parent); Dillow v. Dillow, 575 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Tenn.Ct.App.1978) (relationship with a noncustodial parent). Thus, the courts should devise custody and visitation arrangements that int......