Mom Jailed and Loses Custody for Coaching Child to Refuse Visitation

The child in this Lincoln County, Tennessee, case was born in 2013, and the parents divorced in 2017.  Under the permanent parenting plan, the mother was named the primary residential parent, with the father being granted 124 days per year of parenting time.  When the child was nine, both parents were back in court alleging materially changed circumstances.  The mother claimed that the child was refusing to see his father, but the father claimed that this was the result of the mother’s interference.  A trial was held, and the trial court found the father to be more credible.  The father was named the primary residential parent, and the mother was granted only supervised visitation.  The mother was also found guilty of criminal contempt and ordered jailed, although most of the jail sentence was suspeneded on the condition that she comply scrupulously with future court orders.

Dissatisfied with this outcome, the mother brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The trial court had found that the mother, and her mother, encouraged and coached the child not to visit the father.  They would bring him to the exchange point, where the child would become hysterical and refuse to get out of the car.

The Appeals court began its review of the case by pointing out that custody cases often hinged on subtle factors, and that the trial court is usually in the best position to assess credibility.  Appellate review is on an abuse of discretion standard.

Since she had filed her own petition, the mother agreed that there had been a material change of circumstances in the case.  But she argued on appeal that the lower court had misapplied the best interest of the child factors.

The lower court had focused on what it perceived to be the mother’s mental and emotional fitness.  In particular, it noted that the mother’s actions had prevented the child from interacting with his siblings and step-siblings.

The appeals court reviewed the evidence carefully and concluded that the evidence preponderated in favor of the lower court’s findings.  In particular, it zeroed in on the fact that the mother had testified four times that she would not comply with court orders.  The lower court found the mother’s beliefs about abuse to be patently unreasonable, and the appeals court agreed.

The appeals court also agreed that supervised visitation was appropriate in the case.

The mother also argued that her contempt conviction was improper because she hadn’t received adequate notice of the charges against her.  But the appeals court pointed to trial documents filed by the father that clearly set forth the issues.  The appeals court also agreed with the lower court that the mother’s conduct was willful.  It noted that the maximum sentence could have been 710 days in jail for the 71 counts, and that the actual sentence of three weekends was necessary to protect the sanctity of the lower court’s orders.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment.  It also awarded the father his attorney fees for defending the appeal, and remanded the case for a determination of the amount.

No. M2024-00045-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 24, 2025).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans and our video, How is child custody determined 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.