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IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR HAMBLEN COUNTY, TENNESSEE
TIMOTHY WAYNE WOODFIN,
Petitioner,
vs. No: 2002-141
AMY LYNN COCKRUM,
Respondent.
NOTICE
TO: Respondent Amy Lynn Cockrum
Please take notice that I will appear before the Honorable Thomas P. Frierson, Chancellor, Hamblen Country Chancery Court, Morristown, TN, on Monday, Oct. 27, 2003, at 9:00 AM to argue the following Motion to Enforce Visitation, Modify Child Support, and for Sanctions. In the event you fail to appear at the hearing of this motion, a default judgment may be entered against you for the relief sought in this motion.
Respectfully submitted this 17th day of October, 2003.
_____________________________________
Timothy Wayne Woodfin, Petitioner Pro Se
914 Oliver Springs Highway
Clinton, TN
37716 Phone: (865) 591-8374
Certificate of Service
I certify that I mailed a true and exact copy of this Notice on Oct. 17, 2003, to Respondent Amy Lynn Cockrum, 4053 Wynn Street, Morristown, TN, 37814; Tina Ailshie, Asst. District Attorney, Dept. of Child Support Enforcement, 128 S. Main Str, Suite 208, Greeneville, TN, 37743.
_____________________________________
Timothy Woodfin
IN THE CHANCERY COURT FOR HAMBLEN COUNTY, TENNESSEE
TIMOTHY WAYNE WOODFIN,
Petitioner,
vs. No: 2002-141
AMY LYNN COCKRUM,
Respondent.
MOTION TO ENFORCE VISITATION, MODIFY CHILD
SUPPORT OBLIGATION, AND FOR SANCTIONS
Comes the Petitioner, Timothy Woodfin, and respectfully moves this court for an Order (1) enforcing his visitation rights under the court-approved Parenting Plan, (2) reducing his child support obligation, and (3) imposing sanctions on the Respondent for unilaterally deciding--without any authorization from the court-- to withhold Petitioner's son from any visitation with his father. In support of this motion, Petitioner would show this Honorable Court as follows:
1. Respondent Cockrum has unlawfully refused to surrender Petitioner's son to him for court-ordered visitation with his father. Petitioner has been denied any contact with his son for over 10 months now. Accordingly, Petitioner hereby moves this court to order the Respondent to surrender the Petitioner's son to him on the next Saturday morning following the entry of the court's Order.
2. It is impossible to restore to Petitioner the lost visitation and bonding time that he was denied over the past year. Accordingly, Petitioner asks that his visitation for the next two years be modified to make up for all of the past visitation that he was denied by the Respondent's egregious behavior. In particular, Petitioner would ask the court to modify his visitation as follows. Instead of having custody of his son every other weekend, Petitioner requests that he be given custody every weekend. This modification will partly rectify the injustice suffered by Petitioner from being denied any contact with his son for 10 months.
3. Petitioner's current child support obligation, as well as the child support obligation used to calculate arrearage in this case, far exceeds his ability to pay and failed to comply with the Tennessee statutory child support guidelines. The child support levels and arrearage were calculated using inflated net income for Petitioner. Petitioner's current monthly income is $700/month. It would be an abuse of discretion, reversible on appeal, for the trial court to ignore Petitioner's pleadings, set an excessively high child support obligation and arrearage, and refuse to modify the child support obligation and arrearage despite significant changes in Petitioner's net income. Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 1240-2-4-.02(3).
4. Last month, Petitioner filed an affidavit of indigency with the Circuit Court for Hamilton County. That affidavit indicated that Petitioner was earning approximately $700/month in GROSS income. The Circuit Court of Hamilton County has ordered Petitioner to pay child support for his two daughters in Hamilton County. In Tennessee, child support obligations are required by statute to be calculated from NET income, not gross income. In particular, a trial court must reduce a child support obligor's net income by the amount of child support he is ordered to pay to another court. Simply put, paying child support to Hamilton County lowers the NET income available for making child support payments to Hamblen County, and the Hamblen County Chancery Court must revise its obligation downward with a significant drop in Petitioner's net income. "The Guidelines provide that net income is calculated by subtracting a number of items from the obligor's gross income, including FICA, withholding tax and 'the amount of child support ordered pursuant to a previous order of child support for other children. . . .' Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs., ch. 1240-2-4-.03(4)." State of Tenn., ex rel. Middleton v. Cochran, No. E2002-00164-COA-R3-JV, Tenn. Ct. of Appeals at Knoxville, 2002 Tenn. App. LEXIS 666 (September 17, 2002).
5. Aside from his ability to pay, as a matter of equity, if Petitioner will have custody of his son every weekend, for two days out of each week, then his child support obligation should be reduced by 2/7 or approximately 28%.
6. All decisions by the Court concerning custody and visitation must be made in the best interests of the children. Respondent has two daughters from a previous marriage, and these daughters are the half-sisters of his son, who is the subject of the custody dispute in this case. It is clearly in the best interests of his son for him to have contact with his older sisters, who admire him, dote on him, play with him, and enjoy his company - aside from enjoying the company of his father, Petitioner Timothy Woodfin. Petitioner's son can only have contact with his older sisters if he visits Petitioner on the weekends, when Petitioner has custody of his two daughters.
7. Respondent Cockrum has refused to comply with the orders of this court. She withheld all contact between Petitioner and his son without any authority from the court. Petitioner has had to borrow $300 to pay an attorney to assist him with this matter. He has also incurred financial expenses related to three roundtrips to Hamblen County as a direct result of Respondent's wrongful behavior. Accordingly, Petitioner requests that the court impose sanctions on Respondent Cockrum in the amount of Petitioners actual and out-of-pocket expenses: $300 + 360 miles @ $0.33/mile = $300 + $118.80 = $418.80. Respondent should be ordered to pay this amount to Petitioner, or his arrearage should be reduced by this amount, after it has been recalculated to reflect Petitioner's actual income.
8. It imposes a financial burden on Petitioner, sometimes beyond his means, for him to be required to travel to Morristown round trip each weekend to pick up and drop off his son for visitation. Petitioner moves this court for an order requiring Respondent to bring his son to his home in Clinton, TN, on Saturday mornings at 10 AM, while his son is in Respondent's custody, and that he will return his son to Respondent on Monday mornings.
WHEREFORE, Respondent Timothy Woodfin respectfully moves this court for an Order granting him the relief sought in this motion. In particular, Petitioner should receive custody of his son on every weekend, and the child support obligation and arrearage should be corrected to reflect Petitioner's actual income of $700/month.
Respectfully submitted this 17th day of October, 2003.
_____________________________________
Timothy Wayne Woodfin, Petitioner Pro Se
914 Oliver Springs Highway
Clinton, TN
37716
Phone: (865) 591-8374
Certificate of Service
I certify that I mailed a true and exact copy of this Motion on Oct. 17, 2003, to Respondent Amy Lynn Cockrum, 4053 Wynn Street, Morristown, TN, 37814; Tina Ailshie, Asst. District Attorney, Dept. of Child Support Enforcement, 128 S. Main Str, Suite 208, Greeneville, TN, 37743.
_____________________________________
Timothy Woodfin
This document was prepared with the assistance of attorney Michael A. S. Guth, Ph.D., J.D., phone (865) 483-8309. Dr. Guth does not represent the party and will not be entering an appearance in this action.
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Dr. MICHAEL A. S. GUTH |
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