Grandparents Get Visitation After Mom’s Death in Accident

Tennessee child custody case summary on grandparent visitation rights.

James William Rose, et al., v. Patrick M. Malone

The child in this Williamson County, Tennessee, grandparent visitation case was born in 2012.  When the parents divorced, the mother was named primary residential parent with 319 days parenting time per year.  Just three months later, the mother was killed in an accident.  Since the father’s work required him to travel, and while he made arrangements to take custody of the child in Nashville, the child remained with the maternal grandparents for about three weeks.  When the mother’s estate was probated, a trust was established with the father named trustee, but with the maternal grandparents serving as protectors.

Starting in 2018, the father ignored or denied requests by the grandparents to have contact.  They subsequently filed a petition for grandparent visitation, and a trial was held in 2020.  The trial court granted their petition.  Specifically, it held that the father had opposed visitation, which resulted in a clear danger of harm to the child, and that such visitation was in the child’s best interests.    The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court first noted that grandparent visitation cases always represent a conflict between the parent’s constitutional right to make decisions about their child, and the grandparents’ rights under the Tennessee grandparent visitation statute.  It then turned to the elements of the statute, the first being that the parent opposed the visitation.

The appeals court agreed that this element had been satisfied.  It reviewed the text messages between the parties and agreed that these constituted opposition.  It then turned to the next prong, substantial harm.

The appeals court also agreed with the lower court that there would be substantial harm to the child if grandparent visitation were denied.  The appeals court noted that the evidence showed that the child was having trouble adjusting to the loss of the mother, and that the child had begun to show negative effects from the separation from the grandparents.

The court then turned to the final element of the statute, the best interests of the child.  The court weighed the statutory factors and agreed that visitation was in the child’s interests.  It noted that the grandparents had been involved in the child’s life since she was born and had a loving relationship.

Finally, the appeals court looked at the actual visitation schedule and agreed that it was reasonable.  The schedule included Mother’s Day weekend, ten days in July, and the weekend closest to the mother’s birthday.  It also included provisions for FaceTime calls and extracurricular activities.

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

No. M2021-00569-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 25, 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.