Dad Gets Custody After Mom’s Alcohol-Related Arrests
Tennessee child custody case summary in divorce.
Michael Lee Brown v. Jennifer Karen Brown
The mother and father in this Montgomery County, Tennessee, case were married in 2005 and had one child, who was born in 2011. They separated in 2014, and the father filed for divorce in 2016. They were able to agree to most issues, but both parents wanted to be named primary residential parent. In 2019, a trial was held before Judge Kathryn Wall Olita.
The parties had lived together until the father, who was in the military, was relocated. In June 2015, the mother was arrested for an alcohol-related offense. This involved a DUI and leaving the child unattended in the car outside a restaurant. The father testified that even before this, the mother had become intoxicated once or twice a month, and the drinking increased when the child was born. At the time of the 2015 arrest, the father was stationed in Afghanistan, but he was given leave to fly home to take custody of the child. He and the child then moved to Colorado, although the mother had the child some of the time. During her custody of the child, she was arrested again, and the child was placed in state custody. Eventually, the father’s brother took custody of the child until the father was able to return from his deployment. At the time of trial, the father was permanently stationed in Louisiana, and the child lived with him there, with the help of a nanny.
The trial court named the father the primary residential parent. The mother then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The trial court had based its ruling in part upon the fact that the father had provided primary care since the mother’s most recent arrest. It found that the child’s schedule in Louisiana was predictable and consistent. The lower court also noted the father’s past performance as a parent, and the mother’s demonstrated lack of ability to perform her parenting responsibilities.
The appeals court noted that in non-jury cases, the appellate court reviews the lower court’s findings de novo, but with a presumption of correctness.
The appeals court extensively reviewed the statutory factors and how the lower court had applied them. It agreed with the lower court that the father had been the more reliable caregiver since the 2015 arrest. Overall, it held that the trial court’s ruling was well within its discretion.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision and assessed the costs of appeal against the mother. The court’s opinion was authored by Judge Andy D. Bennett.
No. M2019-00693-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 18, 2020).
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.
