TN Mom Can’t Relocate to MO to Be With Woman Met Online
Tennessee law case summary on divorce and relocation in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. To learn more, buy Miles Mason, Sr.’s book, Tennessee Parent Relocation Law, available on Amazon and Kindle.
Luke Nasgovitz v. Gail Ann Nasgovitz – Tennessee Divorce and Relocation Law
Luke Nasgovitz, Father, and Gail Nasgovitz, Mother, married in May of 2000. They lived in Rutherford County, Tennessee during the marriage, though both were from Wisconsin. The two had a daughter born in April of 2002. Though both parents were fit and loving, the relationship became unstable over time. In October of 2009, the Father filed a complaint for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct.
A special master was named and a restraining order put in place restraining either party from relocating the children out of the state more than 100 miles from the marital home without permission of the other party or with permission from the court.
The Mother proposed that she be named the child’s primary residential parent. She requested the child be able to move out of the marital home and requested support from the Father for her and the child to move. The Father requested he be named the primary residential parent.
A hearing was held in February of 2010. The Mother was named the residential parent pendente lite. The Father was given parenting time every other week from Thursday through Monday morning and one night each week until 8 p.m. The Mother was to move from the marital home to an apartment and the Father was ordered to pay child and spousal support, as well as make all mortgage payments on the home.
In April of 2010, the mother filed an answer to the Father’s complaint and counter complained for divorce denying any inappropriate marital conduct. The Mother stated she was actively seeking employment in her field of interior architecture. She stated she had job leads in St. Louis, Missouri and thus asked the court to give her permission to move there stating such a move was in the best interests of the child. The Father stated that was not the best option for the child.
The divorce hearing took place in June of 2010 and eventually ended the couple’s ten year marriage. The Father was employed at Nissan for almost nine years, working 40 to 50 hours per week. His 2009 earnings were $60,000. Though the Mother worked during the marriage, she was not happy with the career. She had a bachelor’s degree in architectural design. She was working part-time at a Publix Supermarket earning $10 per hour. She stated she could not find a position in her field in the area, but had no concrete offers in St. Louis yet.
Numerous people testified to the Father’s good relationship with the child. He stated it would be hard for him to visit with the child if she moved. He would have to try to find a job in the area, but did not want to because his current position was a good one.
The trial resumed in July of 2010 at which time the Mother had a job offer for a full-time position earning between $30,000 and $40,000 per year. She submitted no evidence of the job to the court. The trial court stated that it granted the divorce to the Father on the grounds of inappropriate marital conduct committed by the Mother who admitted to having a sexual relationship with a woman she met online who was also living in the Missouri area. It stated that the move out-of-state was unreasonable and may be due to the pretext because of the Mother’s extra-marital relationship.
The Mother appealed this decision. The appeals court reviewed the case and determined that it agreed with a lower court that it was not in the best interest of the child for the Mother to take her out-of-state. It noted the trial court did not err in its decision.
No. M2010-02606-COA-R3-CV – Filed June 27, 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.
