# FILED July 1, 1998 Cecil W. Crowson Appellate Cou rt Clerk 

### IN THE COURT OF A PPEALS OF TENN ESSEE

AT NASHVILLE

WILLIAM P. WILLIAMS, ) ) Plaintiff/Appellee, ) ) Appeal No. ) 01-A-01-9711-CH-00679 VS. ) ) Wilson Chancery ) No. 7297 WANDA C. WILLIAMS, ) ) Defendant/Appellant. )
APPEALED FROM THE CHAN CERY COUR T OF WILSON COUNTY AT LEBANON, TENNESSEE THE HONORABLE C. K. SMITH, CHANCELLOR

CLARA WILLIS BYRD 1051⁄2 South Cumberland Street Lebanon, Tennessee 37087 Attorney for Plaintiff/Appellee CLARK LEE SHAW 2525 Lebanon Road Nashville, Tennessee 37214 Attorney for Defendant/Appellant

AFFIRMED AND REMAN DED

BEN H. CANTRELL, JUDGE CONCUR: TODD, P.J., M.S. KOCH, J. 

## O P I N I O N- 2 - This is a child support case. The Chancery Court of Wilson County set the mother’s obligationof s upport at $723.00 per month. The mother appea ls and asserts that the evidence prepond erates agai nst the trial court’s finding. We aff irm the judgm ent belo w.

I.

The parties were divo rced in the Chancery Court of Wilson County on June 2, 1988. In 1994the chancellor awarded custody of the parties’ three childr en to the father and set child support at $550 per month. In 1996 the father petitioned foran increase in child support and the mother c ounterclaimed for

a decrease. The court found that the mother has the capability to earn $2200 per month , and raised her child support oblig ation to $723.00 per month.

II.

The onlyissue raised on appeal is whet her the evidence supports the trial court’s findin gs. The findings are presumed to be correct, unless the evidence preponderates against them. Rule 13(d), Tenn. R. App. Proc.

The mother is a realtor and she earns commissions on property sales. She is also an investor in real property, buy ing houses for renovation, rental , and resale. Her financial statements for 1995 showed an anticipated income of $45,000 in salary and wag es and $36,000 in rental income. Taking her rental expenses into account , the statement showed a net inc ome of $40,000. She filed an identi ca l statement in August of 1996 and showed a p rojected inc ome of $70,000 from commissions and bonuses plus another $66,000 from rental i ncome. For t he same year she projected that taxes, living expenses, rental expens es, and something called “other business expenses” w ould amount to $98,000. The difference shown in a slot- 3 -

fornet cash flow was $28,000. H er net w orth increased by $121,350 from 1995 to 1996.

Her

income tax returns

for the same years, filed joi ntly with her husband, do not show an y i ncome to speak of. But after hearing all the proof, the chancellor found the f ollowing: I just don’t think that the burden of proof has been carried either w ay to th e extent t hat you two would have me to believe that. I beli eve that th e burden o f proof sho ws, she ’s not -- she’s got t he capability of making at least $2,200 a month. I don’t think the burden of proof has been carried to the extent to convince me that she’s making $60,000 a year; nor has the burden of proof been carried to make me feel like she can only make $7,000 a year. You know, I just don’t believe ei ther of you carried that bur den of pro

of. I feel like that the proof is, is that her child support should be set on the gross income of $2,200 a month, and that’s actually -- the average of those two woul d b e 2,100 and some thing, bu t I’ve taken into consideration the fact that she’s not providi ng health insurance. So I’ve just rounded that up to $2,200, and I’ll require her to pay $723 a month.

We canno t say that the evid ence preponderates against the chancellor’s findings.

We affirm the judgmen t of the trial court and remand the c ause to the Chancery Co urt of Wilson County for any further proceedings necessary. Tax the costs on appeal to the appellant.

_________________________________ BEN H. CANTRELL, JUDGE- 4 -

CONCUR:

_______________________________ HENRY F. TODD, PRESI DING JUDGE MIDDLE SECTION

_____________________________ WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., JUDGE