Dad Loses Custody After Finding Parental Alienation

Tennessee child custody modification case summary after divorce and finding of parental alienation.

Ferryl Theresita McClain v. Richard Perry McClain

The mother and father in this Washington County, Tennessee, case were the divorced parents of two children, who were sixteen and seventeen years of age at the time of this post-trial proceeding.  Under their 2001 permanent parenting plan, the father was named the primary residential parent.  Some changes had been made over the years, but the father remained primary with 268 days per year of parenting time.

Various motions were filed, including a contempt petition filed by the mother.  A psychological report was obtained, and a trial was held in 2016.  After that trial, the court found that this was a serious case of parental alienation, and that the father had actively supported the children’s alienation without reasonable cause.

The lower court awarded exclusive custody to the mother, and directed that the children participate in a $28,000 workshop in California with the mother, with most of the fee to be paid by the father.  The father was also found to be in contempt and ordered to pay the mother’s attorney fees.  The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals began by carefully reviewing the facts of the case, which included a text message to the mother stating that the mother hadn’t been blocked by satan from hell, and that one day, the father would see the mother and her mother “burning below.”  The evidence also included the psychological report finding that the children had been subject to parental alienation by the father.

The appeals court noted that parental alienation could constitute changed circumstances for purposes of change of custody.  In such cases, the lower court must grant custody in the child’s best interests.

After reviewing the evidence, the appeals court agreed with the lower court that there had been a material change of circumstances in this case because of the parental alienation.  It then turned to the best interest of the children.  Here, too, it agreed that the approach taken by the lower court was in the children’s best interest, despite the children’s stated desire to remain with the father.  For this reason, the appeals court affirmed the trial court’s order in this respect.

The father did fare better when it came to his appeal of the finding of contempt.  The appeals court found that the father had not received proper notice of the possible contempt charges.  It also sent the case back for the lower court to re-compute the amount of attorney fees.

No. E2016-01843-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 13, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans.

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.