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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Imagine being told you owe $50,000 in child support for children that aren’t yours.
That’s what’s happening to a Murfreesboro man.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services has thousands of names of parents that owe child support. One of those names is Dennis Joe Brannon.
No one knows where he lives, but the state does know where Dennis K. Brannon lives.
They apparently want him pay for the other guy’s children.
“I’ve been married happily over 21 years and it’s just not possible that I’ve got kids in another county,” said Dennis K. Brannon of Murfreesboro.
Brannon has letters from the state demanding he pay child support.
“It’s in the sum of $50,000,” he said as he looked at the latest letter.
The letter came from the Attorney General’s office in Huntsville, Tenn., which is northeast of Knoxville.
The state is looking for Dennis Joe Brannon, but Dennis K. Brannon is receiving the threatening letters.
Initially, Brannon and his wife thought the mix-up was funny.
“We kind of made a running joke about this, but then it gets aggravating after awhile,” he said. “After two or three years, it’s time to get it straightened out.”
He claims he’s called several times.
“Well I’m sure if he’s been in contact with our office, we would do whatever we needed to do to rectify the situation and make sure we have the right person,” said Lori Jones, Assistant District Attorney of Child Support Division.
That isn’t the case, Brannon said.
“They told me I’d have to come up there and do a DNA test and prove I’m not the father of these children,” he said.
Why doesn’t he just give the state his Social Security number and clear up the entire matter?
“I did give them the last 4 digits of my Social Security number and they asked several times for my whole Social Security number,” he said. “But for obvious reasons, I’m not going to give it. It’d be easy for them to change those numbers and say there, we got him.”
To make matters worse, he has three children ages 21, 17 and 14 and the Dennis Brannon sought by the state for child support has two children ages 16 and 14.
Several similarities have made for a child support mix-up a Murfreesboro family now wants resolved.
A DHS spokesperson said the state is investigating and if a problem has been made, it will be resolved.
The state is also concerned that the two children involved in this case apparently are not receiving the support they’re owed. DHS said the children’s welfare is their No. 1 concern.
NewsChannel 5.com Nashville, Tennessee – Man Involved In ID Mix-Up Over Child Support
