TN Mom Held in Contempt for Failing to Cooperate with Passport for Son

Tennessee child custody case summary after divorce and contempt.

Renee Ann Bradley v. Richard Bradley

The husband and wife in this Morgan County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2016 and had one child who was still a minor.  Under their marital dissolution agreement, which was approved by the court, both parents were allowed to travel with the child, either domestically or internationally.  In addition, the husband was allowed to purchase real property that had been in the wife’s name.  Under the agreement, the husband was given three weeks to qualify for a loan on the property.

In October of that year, the husband filed a contempt petition.  He alleged that the wife was refusing the cooperate with his lender, making the purchase of the property impossible.  He also complained that the wife was refusing to cooperate in the process of renewing the son’s passport.

At trial, the wife testified that she believed that the husband was actually attempting to refinance a loan that had been in her name, which would have resulted in her remaining liable.  As to the passport, the wife testified that she was afraid that the husband would take the son to his native Czech Republic and not return the child.  She testified that she would consent to the passport, but only if she was allowed to hold it until needed.

The case was heard by Judge Michael A. Davis, who found the wife in contempt.  The court found that the wife had willfully failed to cooperate with both the loan and the passport, and that both were required by the marital termination agreement.  The wife then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court began its discussion by noting that courts are authorized to impose punishment for willful disobedience of court orders.  In this case, the court focused on the issue of wilfullness.

On the issue of the property purchase, the appeals court agreed with the wife that there had not been willful disobedience.  It held that under the terms of the agreement, she was required to cooperate, and sign whatever documents were necessary to make the transfer.

However,  the appeals court analyzed the evidence and concluded that the wife’s actions were not willful.  For example, one of the parties involved in the transaction had told her “this is not a purchase.”  Under the circumstances of the case, the appeals court held that there had been no willful refusal on the wife’s part.  Therefore, it reversed this part of the contempt finding.

The wife did not fare as well, however, when it came to the passport.  She had argued that the agreement did not specifically mention the passport, and that adding this obligation was error.  However, the appeals court pointed out that she had agreed that there would be no restrictions on travel.  When she refused to cooperate with the passport, she was essentially making international travel impossible.  It also agreed that the contempt was willful.  Therefore, it affirmed this portion of the order.

Finally, the appeals court looked at the amount of damages that had been awarded.  Since a portion of the contempt finding had been reversed, the appeals court sent the case back to the lower court to compute the amount of damages for the passport violation.

For these reasons, the case was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

No. E2017-01626-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 7, 2018).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee.

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.