Mom Denied Change of Custody, Despite Allegations of Abuse by Dad

Tennessee child custody case summary.

Alanna Christine Howe v. John Ashley Howe

The mother and father in this Hamilton County, Tennessee, case were married and had one child at the time of their 2007 divorce.  Under the parenting plan, the father was named the primary residential parent, and the wife was awarded 65 days per year of co-parenting time.  The mother was also ordered to pay child support of $498 per month initially, which increased to $758 per month after six months.  The mother then moved to Florida.

In 2014, the mother came back to court asking to modify the parenting plan to name her as the primary residential parent.  She alleged that there had been a material change in circumstances due to her allegations of physical abuse, the father’s staying overnight and travel out of town with romantic acquaintances.  She also alleged that the father failed to comply with the parenting time schedule, that he didn’t provide adequate medical and dental care, and didn’t notify the mother of the child’s activities.

The father denied these allegations, and also asked that the mother be held in contempt for failure to pay child support.  A hearing was held, at which Judge Pamela Fleenor was tasked with sorting out the conflicting allegations.

The father denied the abuse allegations, but admitted that he had spanked the child with a belt on one occasion.  The mother testified that the child was unhappy with her current school and didn’t want to return to the father after visitation.

The father admitted that he had stayed overnight with two women, but denied that the child had viewed any inappropriate material, other than one inappropriate video.

A guardian had been appointed, and the guardian advised the judge that the child would like to spend more time with the mother.  But the guardian also believed that keeping the father the primary residential parent was in the child’s best interest.

The trial court found that there had been no material change of circumstances.  Therefore, the father remained primary residential parent.  But the mother was awarded 135 days of co-parenting time.  The mother was also held in contempt due to the child support. The case was then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

In support of her appeal, the mother first argued that the trial court should have allowed the child to testify about the allegations of abuse and neglect.  But the Court of Appeals held that the decision of whether to allow a child to testify is best made by the trial judge and vested to her discretion.  Therefore, it affirmed this portion of the lower court’s ruling.

Since the mother’s custody appeal was premised on reversing that ruling, the Court of Appeals affirmed the change of custody.  It also affirmed the finding of contempt against the mother.

Finally, the father argued that he should have been awarded his attorney fees.  But after reviewing that portion of the case, the Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s ruling in that respect as well.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment and assessed the costs of the appeal against the mother.

No. E2016-01212-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 10, 2017).

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 examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.