Grandparents Failed to Show Harm to Child from Denial of Visitation

Tennessee child custody case summary on grandparent visitation.  Visitation granted by Juvenile Court.  Overruled by Court of Appeals.

In re Houston D.

Old Tipton County Tennessee Courthouse

The child in this Tipton County, Tennessee, Juvenile Court case was born to unmarried parents in 2014.  Up until 2018, the paternal grandparents provided care for the child about twice a week.  But the grandparents ceased these visits after an argument about the father’s 18-year-old brother, who announced that he was gay and had a paramour that he had met online.  The parents didn’t want the child to be around the paramour.  Therefore, the child was not allowed in the home when the paramour was present.  After the brother moved out of the home, the parents still didn’t want the child in the home.

The parents ultimately married, but the grandparents did not attend.  In early 2019, the grandparents filed a petition for grandparent visitation.  Mediation was attempted but failed, but the grandparents were allowed to spend some time during the summer.  Visits ended in July 2020 after the grandparents took the child into their home after being asked not to.

The trial court, Judge William A. Peeler, heard the case in September 2020 and first concluded that the parents had opposed grandparent visitation.  The court also found that there was a significant existing relationship such that there would be emotional harm to the child if it was cut off.  Therefore, the trial court awarded the grandparents visitation on weekends, holidays, birthdays, and summer.  The parents then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Even though the parties had not raised the issue, the Court of Appeals first considered whether the Juvenile Court had jurisdiction.  The case was unusual in that the parties were not married at the time of the child’s birth, but did marry before the case was filed.

The Juvenile Court has jurisdiction to establish paternity to children born out of wedlock, and to determine custody issues relating to those children.  It went on to hold that nothing in the grandparent visitation statute altered the status of the children in this case.  Since the child was not born during the marriage, the Juvenile Court had jurisdiction.

The appeals court then turned to the merits of the case, and noted that grandparent visitation cases always involve a conflict between the parents’ constitutional right to make decisions about the care of their children on one hand, and the interest of the child on the other hand.  But there must be a compelling state interest in order to interfere with the parents’ rights.

The parents first argued that the trial court erred in finding that the threshold issue was met—that the parents had opposed visitation.  The court noted that “opposition” could include a total denial, or conditions that are so severe as to constitute a denial.

The appeals court first found that the parents were reasonable in asking that the child not have contact with the uncle’s friend, which it characterized as a stranger to the family.  This restriction, by itself, did not constitute opposition.  But there was further evidence, and the appeals court agreed that there was actual opposition in word and deed.  Therefore, it affirmed the lower court’s finding on this threshold issue.

The appeals court next turned to the issue of substantial harm from being deprived of grandparent visitation.

Here, the appeals court sided with the parents, and found that there was insufficient evidence in the record to support the conclusion of harm.  The court noted that this was the grandparents’ burden to bear, and that they had failed to meet the burden of proof.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the Juvenile Court and dismissed the case.  The costs of the appeal were taxed to the grandparents.

No. W2021-00979-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2022).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Grandparent Visitation Rights Law 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.