TN Mom Allowed to Move with Child | Dad Claimed 50% Time
Tennessee parental relocation law case summary in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Mother allowed to relocate with children.
Branham v. Branham – Tennessee Parent Relocation Granted
The trial court granted the mother’s petition to relocate to Kentucky with the parties’ child.
The parties were divorced in February 2002, and their Marital Dissolution Agreement (“MDA”) stated that the mother was responsible for the child, except for specific times when she would be in the father’s care.
The plan further stated that the mother and father would alternate transportation for weekend visits, and that the father would “provide transportation for weekdays to and from school during the school term.” Under the heading “Long Distance Transportation Costs: [If Applicable]:”, the plan stated that mother would pay half and father would pay half. All decision-making with regard to the child was designated to be joint, and the father was designated to pay $200.00 per month in child support.
In October 2002, the father filed a Petition for Contempt and to Modify Shared Parenting Time, and stated that there had been a material change in circumstances since the divorce. He said that he was concerned about the child’s safety and well-being while when with the mother because of the mother’s boyfriend’s behavior and asked for primary residential parenting.
The wife admitted that a material change of circumstances had occurred since the divorce, but denied that the father should be designated primary residential parent. She admitted that she resided with her boyfriend, as he was in fact her husband. She alleged that the change of circumstances had occurred when she married her boyfriend, and he had purchased a home in Kentucky. She further stated that she advised the father that she wanted to move to Kentucky because that was where her new husband lived and where her job was located. The mother said she mailed a certified letter to the father which contained her notice of intent to move. The father did not file a response.
The trial court found that the father’s allegations regarding the mother’s new husband and his behavior were not proven, and that the evidence did not weigh in favor of a finding that his temper affected a harmful impact on children in his home. The trial court concluded that neither parent had established a material change in circumstances which would warrant a modification in the primary residential status of the mother. However, the court said that the best interests of the child warranted a change in the MDA’s parenting schedules. It decided that the mother was permitted to relocate to Kentucky with the child.
The father claimed that the parents were spending substantially equal periods of time with the child. However, the evidence showed that the child spent approximately 35% of the time with the father. The court of appeals stated that if the time spent was not substantially equal, one of the following grounds must be established before a court engaged in a best interest analysis: (1) there is no reasonable purpose for the relocation; (2) the relocation poses a threat of specific, serious harm to the child; or (3) the parent’s motive for the relocation is vindictive, as that concept is defined in the statute. If none of the grounds is found, the custodial parent is permitted to move with the children.
The father argued that the trial court erred in finding that the time spent by the parties with the children was not substantially equal. He asserted that his visitation with the children had consistently been more than 40% and that by the time of the hearing on The mother’s motion for permission to move, he was with the children nearly 50% of the time. The appellate court said both parents claimed a material change in circumstances occurred since the divorce, but the evidence did not show either parent had shown a material change in circumstances, and that a change of custodial arrangement was not warranted. While the relocation was not a great distance from the father, the trial court modified visitation. The court of appeals found no basis to alter the Trial Court’s visitation schedule.
Branham v. Branham, 2004 WL 716729 (Tenn.Ct. App. 2004).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, buy Miles Mason, Sr.’s book, Tennessee Parent Relocation Law, available on Amazon and Kindle and see Tennessee Parent Relocation Statute Law | Modifying the Parenting Plan and our MemphisDivorce.com Tennessee Family Law Blog with more detailed cases sorted by relocation cases granted and denied.
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.
