Divorcing Parents Don’t Need Temp. Plan If Already Had Permanent Plan
- At May 22, 2014
- By Miles Mason
- In Child Custody, Divorce Process
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Tennessee law case summary on parenting plan law in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Christopher Vance Smalling v. Sarah Rebecca Smalling – Tennessee divorce procedure.
The husband in this Sullivan County, Tennessee, case filed for divorce in May 2013, alleging irreconcilable differences. The parties executed a Marital Dissolution Agreement and agreed to a Permanent Parenting Plan for their child. The wife’s answer requested that the case proceed as an uncontested matter.
The local rules in Sullivan County called for the parties to present a Temporary Parenting Plan, and the husband submitted a plan that incorporated the permanent plan that had already been agreed to by both parties. But the trial court insisted that this was not appropriate. The rules called for a temporary plan, and he had instead filed the permanent plan. With the case going nowhere, the husband filed a request for the Tennessee Court of Appeals to take the case, and the appellate court agreed to hear it.
The Court of Appeals first noted the importance of uniform rules throughout the state. While local courts can adopt local rules, those rules cannot conflict with the state statutes or rules of procedure. The husband pointed to a Tennessee statute which stated that if the parties agree to a permanent plan, then a temporary plan is not required. The Court of Appeals held that the local rule conflicted with this statute, and could not be enforced in this case.
The appellate court also took a look at the local rule and couldn’t see any way in which the husband’s temporary plan didn’t comply with it. It held that a temporary plan which incorporated a permanent plan fully complied with the rule, even if it had been enforceable.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals remanded the case to Sullivan County to proceed with the case.
No. E2013-01393-COA-R10-CV (Tenn.Ct. App. Jan. 24, 2014).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
