Opinion ID: 2174046
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Effect of Parental Termination on Support Obligation

Text: First, we agree that the juvenile court erred in awarding back child support for the two periods during which Mr. P.'s parental rights were terminated, March 13, 2002 to September 2, 2003, pursuant to the first juvenile court decision, and February 10, 2005 to the date of this opinion, pursuant to the second Court of Appeals decision. Mr. P. was stripped of his rights as a legal parent during those times and cannot be required to pay child support for the time he was not T.K.Y.'s legal parent. Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-1-113( l )(1) provides that although an order terminating parental rights shall not eliminate the responsibility of such parent . . . for past child support, such an order  shall terminate the responsibilities of that parent . . . for future child support or other future financial responsibilities. (Emphases added.) Thus, the statute unambiguously provides that termination of parental rights terminates the parent's support obligation going forward. The fact that a termination of rights is later reversed is irrelevant to the question of support, because the parent simply was not the parent during the time rights were terminated; that time cannot be recaptured. Where the parent-child relationship is severed, there can be no duty to support because the obligation to support the children flows from the existence of the relation of parent and child. Monroe County Children & Youth Servs. v. Werkheiser, 409 Pa.Super. 508, 598 A.2d 313, 315 (1991). The majority of state courts have held that, absent a statute directing otherwise, an order terminating parental rights severs the parent-child relationship to the degree that the parent no longer owes a duty to support the child. McCabe v. McCabe, 78 P.3d 956, 960 (Okla. 2003); see also Erwin v. Luna, 443 So.2d 1242, 1244 (Ala.Civ.App.1983); County of Ventura v. Gonzales, 88 Cal.App.4th 1120, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 461, 463 (2001); In re Bruce R., 234 Conn. 194, 662 A.2d 107, 111 (1995); Ponton v. Tabares, 711 So.2d 125, 126 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1998); Dep't of Human Res. v. Ammons, 206 Ga.App. 805, 426 S.E.2d 901, 902 (1992); Kansas ex rel. Sec'y of Soc. & Rehab. Servs. v. Clear, 248 Kan. 109, 804 P.2d 961, 966 (1991); Mauk v. Mauk, 873 S.W.2d 213, 215 (Ky.Ct.App. 1994); Louisiana v. Smith, 571 So.2d 746, 748 (La.Ct.App.1990); In re Estate of Braa, 452 N.W.2d 686, 688 (Minn.1990); Schleisman v. Schleisman, 989 S.W.2d 664, 671 (Mo.Ct.App.1999); Nevada v. Vine, 99 Nev. 278, 662 P.2d 295, 297-98 (1983); Gabriel v. Gabriel, 519 N.W.2d 293, 295 (N.D.1994); In re Scheehle, 134 Ohio App.3d 167, 730 N.E.2d 472, 475 (1999); Werkheiser, 598 A.2d at 315; Coffey v. Vasquez, 290 S.C. 348, 350 S.E.2d 396, 398 (Ct.App.1986); Estes v. Albers, 504 N.W.2d 607, 608 (S.D.1993); Swate v. Swate, 72 S.W.3d 763, 771 (Tex.Ct.App. 2002); Virginia ex rel. Spotsylvania County Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Fletcher, 38 Va. App. 107, 562 S.E.2d 327, 329 (2002); In re Dependency of G.C.B., 73 Wash.App. 708, 870 P.2d 1037, 1042 n. 6 (1994). But see Adoption of Marlene, 443 Mass. 494, 822 N.E.2d 714, 718 (2005); Evink v. Evink, 214 Mich.App. 172, 542 N.W.2d 328, 331 (1995); Rhode Island v. Fritz, 801 A.2d 679, 685 (R.I.2002); Rebecca Lynn C. v. Michael Joseph B., 213 W.Va. 744, 584 S.E.2d 600, 603-04 (2003). In view of the plain language of section 36-1-113( l )(1) and the well-reasoned decisions from a majority of our sister states, we hold that termination of parental rights also terminates that parent's prospective support obligation. If parental rights are reinstated, as in this case, the support obligation resumes upon the date that rights are reinstated. In sum, we reverse the juvenile court's order of support to the extent that it requires Mr. P. to pay support during the times that his parental rights were terminated: between March 13, 2002, and September 2, 2003, as well as for the period following the second Court of Appeals opinion, February 10, 2005, through the date of the judgment in this appeal.