TN Father Wins Custody Modification After Mother Assaults Grandmother

Tennessee law case summary on custody modification in Tennessee family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Shanette Collier Chandler v Kylan Chandler – Tennessee Custody Modification Law

Shanette Chandler, mother and Kylan Chandler, father, were divorced in November of 2005. During their marriage, they had one child born in 2002. In the original divorce decree, the mother was named primary residential parent and the father was given parenting time on alternate weekends and holidays. The father appealed that decision. The appeals court affirmed the destination of the lower court in an initial appeal, conducted in June of 2007.

In January of 2007, the father petitioned to modify the parenting plan seeking designation as the primary residential parent. He also believed the mother should be held in civil and criminal contempt. The petition stemmed from a material change in circumstances including the mother’s physical assault on the child’s paternal grandmother. In one instance reported in the petition, the father stated that a physical altercation occurred with the father on the part of the mother. The mother was then arrested because of the incident, which occurred at a basketball practice for the son.

After this instance, a hearing led to the temporary designation of primary residential parent to the father. The mother received eight hours of supervised parenting time each week. At this time, the parties consented to the supervision of mother’s parenting time by her attorney.

At this point, the father hired a private investigator to verify the supervision of the attorney of the parenting time. It was found the mother was left unsupervised with the child for several hours. The father filed a petition to hold the mother in civil and criminal contempt as a result. This disqualified the attorney from representing the mother. From that point on, the mother represented herself.

In May of 2010, the court had a hearing over the pending motions. After numerous witnesses and various exhibits entered into evidence, the trial court issued an oral ruling. The oral ruling stated the mother had engaged in activities designed to frustrate the Father’s parenting time and she initiated physical assaults on him. The trial court found an abundance of evidence to substantiate the father’s allegations. It ruled that the father should be the designated primary residential parent.

In June of 2010, the mother filed a notice of appeal. The mother indicated she was not financially able to purchase a copy of the transcript of the trial court proceeding and was submitting a proposed statement of the evidence based on her memory of the heating. The appeals court heard the case with the proposed statement of the evidence not approved by the trial court. In the appeal, the mother presents numerous issues including the destination of the father as primary residential parent.

However, the court could not rule on the parenting plan changes because the mother could not provide a transcript of a statement of the evidence. Due to the issues being very fact-specific, the appeals court could not make a ruling based on just the mother’s records. In this absence, the appeals court must presume every fact admissible under the pleadings was found or should have been found in favor of the Appellee. Therefore, it affirmed the decisions of the lower court.

No. W2010-01503-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 26, 2012).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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