No Injunction Against Stepmom’s Cupcakes, But TN Mom Not In Contempt for Yogurt
Tennessee law case summary on parenting and contempt in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Stacy Christina Knellinger v. Mark Steven Knellinger and Becki Knellinger – Tennessee divorce custody.
In 2010, the mother was granted a divorce on the grounds of adultery. She was named the primary residential parent of the children, who were ages 7 and 3. The father was granted visitation. Shortly after the divorce, the father remarried, and the mother believed that the stepmother was trying to usurp her authority. They all lived nearby and were involved in church, school, and extracurricular activities. As a result, confrontations occurred frequently.
The stepmother sometimes sent cupcakes to school with the children, signed report cards, and put notes in the children’s lunch boxes. The mother objected to these practices. On one occasion, the mother saw the stepmother taking pictures of the children at a school event, and decided to take pictures of the stepmother. The stepmother wore a T-shirt with the words “Team Mom” to a baseball game, and the mother believed that this was hurtful and embarrassing.
Eventually, the father filed a petition for criminal contempt, involving the police being called to the children’s Sunday School, and another incident in the baseball dugout.
The mother, on the other hand, asked for an injunction against the stepmother, prohibiting activities such as the sending of cupcakes and notes to school and signing report cards.
The trial court found the mother guilty of criminal contempt. It found, for example, that the mother didn’t actively support the children’s participation in sports events, by bringing them late and being hostile and demeaning toward the father. It denied the motion to change custody, and denied the requested injunction. In fact, it found that some of the items sought to be enjoined were actually helpful to the children.
The mother was fined $150 for contempt, and she appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals first examined the contempt finding. One of the incidents involved the mother’s failure to de-escalate an argument. The stepmother had given unsolicited and unwanted dental advice, and the mother responded “just give me your best shot.” The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that this was not a willful violation of a clear, specific, and unambiguous order.
Similarly, one of the incidents for which she was convicted involved taking the child out of a soccer game and giving him yogurt. Once again, the court held that this was not a clear violation of an order. A similar analysis was made for arriving late at games and practices. This behavior did not support a finding of contempt.
The Court of Appeals also affirmed the denial of a restraining order. The Court acknowledged that some of the stepmother’s actions were offensive to the mother. However, it pointed out that offense to the mother is not an issue. The only relevant issue is the best interests of the children, and the Court of Appeals agreed that incidents such as sending cupcakes to school did not arise to this standard.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of injunction, but reversed the finding of contempt.
No. M2012-02343-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 29, 2013).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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