Tenn. Dad Is Primary Residential Parent, But Time To Be Nearly Equal

Tennessee law case summary on custody and roughly equal parenting time in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.

Elizabeth Anne McDaniel v. Robb Ashby McDaniel – Tennessee divorce custody

The mother and father were married in 2004 and divorced in 2012 with two children, ages 3 and 5.  At the time of their marriage, the mother had been a university student, and the father had been a professor at the same school.  At the time of the divorce, the father remained a professor, and the mother had a degree in English in Political Science.  She had almost earned a master’s degree, and needed only to complete her student teaching program to obtain a teaching license.  The trial court found that both were able and loving parents who provided consistent and quality care.  The mother was unable to afford the marital residence, and the father desired to remain there.  Therefore, it was awarded to him, and he was named the primary residential parent.  The father had proposed a parenting schedule which would have given the mother 159 days of parenting time, but the final schedule gave the father 245 days and the mother 120 days per year.  The mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals reviewed the evidence and agreed that both parents were loving and caring, and that they were actively involved in the children’s lives.  The trial court had found that stability was an important factor, and had named the father the primary residential parent because he would be remaining in the marital home.  The Court of Appeals found that the evidence did not preponderate against this factor.  It therefore affirmed the father’s being named primary residential parent.

The mother also challenged the parenting schedule, which gave her only 120 days per year.  She first noted that the father had proposed a plan giving her 159 days.  The trial court had not stated any reasons for this reduction, and the court noted that both parents were very involved in their children’s lives.  Therefore, the Court of Appeals remanded the case for the trial court to make this determination, and to consider adopting a plan which would give the parents more nearly equal amounts of parenting time.

The Court of Appeals assessed the costs of appeal against both parties equally.

No. M2012-01892-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. July 29, 2013).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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