Hateful Allegations Between TN Parents Cause Change to Parenting Plan
Tennessee law case summary on changing parenting plans in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Lisa Gail Hayes v. Mark C. Pierret – Tennessee post-divorce custody – changing parenting plans
The mother and father were divorced in 2007 after an eight year marriage. They were the parents of one son and one daughter. The mother had a degree in engineering, and worked as a marketing manager for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The father had a degree in computer science and an MBA and worked from his home office for an international telecommunications company.
Under the 2007 permanent parenting plan, the mother was designated the primary residential parent, and the father was granted 114 days of visitation per year. The father was to pay $2035 per month in child support, which included “additional expenses” for a nanny for the younger daughter. The relationship between the parents worsened, and there were disagreements over such minor things as whether they could park in the other parent’s driveway when picking up children, and major things such as whether the daughter should undergo surgery. The court went so far as to say that it would not “repeat the parties’ hateful and frequently hypocritical accusations in detail.”
In 2011, the trial court found a change of circumstances because of the relationship between the parents. Specifically, the court found that the mother had systematically endeavored to destroy the father’s relationship with the children and that her credibility had been damaged. It also found, however, that the father had also engaged in conduct that exacerbated the poor relationship.
After weighing all of the factors, the trial court concluded that continuity was the most important factor for determining the best interests of the children. Therefore, it kept her the primary residential parent, but allowed the father to receive more parenting time without interruptions from the mother. The court also found that the mother should have final decision=-making authority over non-emergency medical decisions. Other decisions, such as education, religion, and extracurricular activities, would remain joint decisions. The trial court did not modify the child support obligation.
Dissatisfied, the father appealed this order to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The father first argued that the decision improperly rewarded the mother for her bad behavior. The Court of Appeals rejected this argument.
The court noted that the only issue is the best interests of the children, and that custody decisions are not made to reward a parent’s virtuous conduct or to punish them for prior misconduct. Indeed, the Court of Appeals noted that the trial court had considered all of the misconduct, and had reduced the mother’s parenting time in response. It held that the trial court had acted within its discretion.
Similarly, the Court of Appeals held that it was proper to vest the decision-making authority in the mother. The parties had actually agreed that one parent should be responsible for this decision, and the court noted that the mother was the most logical choice, since she was the primary residential parent. For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s order with respect to the parenting plan.
The father also argued that the trial court should have reduced his support obligation, and that it should have done so retroactively. He argued that he was entitled to a retroactive change because the daughter no longer required a nanny, since she had started school. Because there was no evidence regarding this proposed change, the Court of Appeals remanded the case for that determination.
Also, because the amount of parenting time, as well as the father’s income, had changed since the original parenting plan had been adopted, the Court of Appeals also remanded the case to re-compute the father’s child support obligation.
Finally, the Court of Appeals denied the father’s request for attorney’s fees.
No. M2012-00195-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 27, 2013).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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