TN Parenting Plan Can Be Changed When Current Plan Unworkable
Tennessee child custody modification case summary.
Lawrence Joseph Wilkerson, III, v. Charlene Monique Wilkerson
The parents in this Tennessee divorce case were the parents of three children, two of whom were born in 2003, and one of whom was born in 2007. In their 2009 divorce, the mother was named the primary residential parent, with 275 days or parenting time. The father was granted ninety days of parenting time and was ordered to pay $998 in child support. In the original parenting plan, the court noted that the mother and children would be moving to Virginia.
The mother returned to Tennessee, and in 2012, asked to have the father held in contempt. She alleged that he had moved to Texas and refused to provide his contact information.
The case went to trial in 2014, and both parents testified that there had been a material change of circumstances. However, the trial court denied either party a modification of the parenting plan. The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The court first noted that under Tennessee law, the party seeking a change in the parenting plan must first demonstrate that there has been a material change of circumstances. In this case, the father pointed to two moves by the mother and the fact that both parents testified that the current parenting plan wasn’t workable. The father also testified that he was now able to provide a stable and nurturing home for the children, which was not possible at the time of the original parenting plan.
The appeals court agreed with the lower court that the evidence supported a finding of no material change. The father pointed to a few things such as poor grades and the fact that the children were held back in school. However, the mother testified as to learning disabilities being the cause, and the appeals court noted that poor grades, by themselves, were typically not grounds for finding a material change for purposes of changing the primary residential parent.
However, the appeals court went on to find that there is a lower threshold for finding a material change when the only change contemplated is the amount of parenting time. The appeals court agreed with the father that this lower threshold had been met. In particular, the court cited the fact that both parents believed that the current parenting schedule was unworkable. For that reason, it reversed that part of the lower court’s order that refused to adjust the parenting time.
The Court of Appeals then remanded the case to the lower court to determine whether a change in parenting time would be in the children’s best interests.
No. M2014-02412-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 19, 2016).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans.
See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring actual examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.
