Mom Loses Custody After Diagnosis of Munchausen Syndrome

Tennessee child custody case summary.

In re M.M.

The child in this Hawkins County, Tennessee, case was born in 2014 to unwed parents. The father then filed an action to legitimate and set a parenting plan.  The father was granted temporary visitation under the mother’s supervision.

In 2016, the father was back in court and alleged that the mother was not complying with the parenting plan.  The parents were sent to mediation, but were unable to resolve their differences.

Both parties filed various motions, including the father’s motion for a proposed parenting plan.  In 2017, the father was granted unsupervised visitation, but the mother soon filed a motion to suspend visitation, alleging the father had left bruises on the child.  A guardian ad litem was appointed, and the mother was ordered to have a mental health evaluation.  Eventually, a forensic evaluation revealed that the mother suffered from Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another, also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

In 2018, a hearing was held before Judge J. Todd Ross to set a permanent parenting plan.  Under the permanent plan, the father was named the primary residential parent, with the mother having only supervised visitation.  The mother than appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  After addressing an evidentiary issue, the appeals court turned to the question of custody.

The trial court had found that both parents displayed love and affection for the child, but that the father was better suited to provide food, clothing, medical care, education, and other necessities.  It had also made a finding that the father lived in a suitable stable environment.

Notably, the lower court also found that while with the mother, the child suffered emotional and medical neglect.  The mother had not shown that she was receiving treatment for his disorder.  Therefore, the lower court concluded that the child suffered a risk of harm.

The appeals court reviewed all of the evidence and concluded that the evidence did not preponderate against the lower court’s findings.  For that reason, the court affirmed the lower court’s decision and remanded the case for collection of costs.

No. E2018-00515-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jun. 11,  2019).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws 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.