Dad Gets Custody of Teen Daughter Due to Stormy Mother-Daughter Relationship

Tennessee child custody case summary in divorce.

Robin Leah Louise Farnham Carter v. Myron Thomas Carter

The mother and father in this Knox County, Tennessee, case had been married for 21 years and were the parents of a son and a daughter.  They filed for divorce in 2012, but continued to reside together for over two years, during which time the relationship continued to deteriorate.  At one point, the mother insisted that all communications take place by e-mail, even when the parties were in the same room.

In 2015, a co-parenting order was issued under which the parents had equal parenting time.  However, the relationship between the mother and the teen daughter continued to deteriorate.  They often fought, and on some occasions, the daughter hit the mother.  After their fights, both the mother and daughter would go to their respective rooms and cry.

Much counseling ensued, but ultimately, the trial court concluded that the relationship was damaged beyond repair, and that continued fifty-fifty custody was not in the daughter’s best interest.  The court’s final order on the custody issue called for the fifty-fifty arrangement to continue with respect to the son.  But the father was named the primary residential parent of the daughter, with the mother having 80 days with the daughter.  The mother then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court turned to the relevant statutes and reviewed the factors to be employed in making custody determinations.  With respect to the daughter, the court first looked to the strength, nature, and stability of the relationship with each parent and concluded that this factor favored the father.  In particular, it noted the volatility of the relationship between the mother and daughter and the lack of any real problem solving or compromise.

The court also concluded that the parties’ history of performance of parenting responsibilities favored the father.  The mother had admitted that the relationship with the daughter had become far worse than it was previously, but the daughter testified as to how great a relationship she had with the father.

The mother argued that her history as primary caregiver should have taken precedence.  However, the appeals court agreed with the father that this had changed over the years, and that in the time before trial, he was serving as the primary caregiver.

After reviewing these and other factors, the appeals court agreed that the trial court had acted properly in its custody determination with respect to the daughter.

Similarly, the appeals court looked at these factors as they related to the custody of the son.  After reviewing the relevant evidence, it again concluded that the lower court had acted within its discretion.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

No. E2017-01648-COA-R3-CV  (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 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.