Mom Gets Custody Following Commitment in Psychiatric Center
Tennessee law case summary on custody and designation as primary residential parent in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Franklyn Nathaniel Morgan v Kandi Tonyelle Morgan – Tennessee divorce laws
The Mother, Kandi Morgan, contested a divorce action filed by the Father, Franklyn Morgan. In the lengthy document provided to the appeals court, the Mother provided various accusations against the Father and did not provide any evidence that the trial court erred in its decisions. Rather, the appeals court stated it believes the Mother was simply trying to do harm to the Father. Though the appeals court could have dismissed the case, it decided to hear it even though it lacked necessary information.
The two married in May of 2005 and had one child in September of 2005. Mother overdosed on Ibuprofen in October of 2009 after a harsh argument with the Father. She was committed to a psychiatric medical center and discharged in November of 2009. The Father and his parents cared for the child during that hospitalization.
The Father allowed the Mother to visit with the child on November 3 with the understanding that the child’s maternal grandmother was be there and that the Father would pick up the child at 9 p.m. that day. The following day, the Father filed a motion with the court stating the Mother would not return the child and that he feared for the child’s safety.
With a pending divorce, the parties came to an agreement through medication in December. In March of 2010, the Mother filed an emergency custody petition stating that the home was a dangerous living condition for the child and provided more than 100 pictures taken from inside the marital residence. However, as part of the agreement made in 2009, the Mother agreed not to enter the property. The court ordered the Father to immediately rectify the problem and a guardian ad litem was appointed for the child who would approve any home where the child would spend any time.
In another incident, a dispatcher received a call stating that a child was unattended in a vehicle of a liquor store. The call came from someone in the Mother’s family but the Father admitted to leaving the child though claimed someone he knew was by the truck watching the child. The court ruled that although the home was bad previously it was no longer so and was safe for the child.
The appeals court found the marital home, which was a trailer, was worth about $32,000. The Mother worked part-time as a hairdresser. During the divorce, the Mother was employed full-time making $1,232.31 monthly. The Father earns $2,071.42 monthly working three, 12-hour shifts. Both are occasional drinkers, though the Mother’s family stated the Father has a drinking problem and has been intoxicated in front of the child.
As far as custody, the child was to remain in the same school system. The Mother was designated primary residential parenting during the school year. The Father was given parenting time every other weekend and weeknights. During the summer, the Father will be the primary residential parent and the Mother is given parenting time every other weekend and one week during the summer. In December of 2010, the Mother filed a motion asking for clarification on the parenting agreement. After two days, the court entered a ruling in May of 2011. It denied any changes in the allocation of parenting time. It denied the mother’s request that the Father not be named the primary residential parent during the summer months.
The appeals court was asked to rule on all of these matters. In the 43-pages the Mother submitted, she never addressed some matters and lacked citing any legal authority for what she believed are errors made by the lower court. The appeals court ruled that aside from the Father being named primary residential parent during the summer months that the lower court’s rulings were affirmed. It was remanded to the lower court for enforcement.
No. E2011-00164-COA-R3-CV, May 30, 2012.
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
Memphis divorce lawyer, Miles Mason, Sr., JD, CPA practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC, which handles Tennessee family law matters including divorce, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreements, child custody, parental relocation, child support modification, alimony modification, and divorces including business valuation and forensic accounting issues.
