Mom Loses Husband, Job, Home & Custody
Tennessee child custody modification case summary.
The child in this Davidson County, Tennessee, case was born to unwed parents in 2009, several months after the parents’ relationship had come to an end. Under the 2014 permanent parenting plan, the mother was named the primary residential parent. The father lived in Michigan, and in 2015, he came to pick up the child to exercise summer visitation in Michigan. During that time, the father filed a petition to suspend the mother’s parenting time, based upon the mother’s being arrested for domestic assault. The father was ultimately named the primary residential parent, and he moved back to Michigan with the child. After that order was rescinded, the Tennessee Court of Appeals remanded the case to Davidson County for further proceedings. The appeals court had found that the mother’s instability was for more than a fleeting period, and that the father had raised serious concerns as to whether there had been a material change of circumstances. After the remand order was issued, the father filed another petition stating additional circumstances. The two cases were consolidated, and were heard by Judge Sheila Calloway.
The trial court granted the father’s request, since there had been a material change of circumstances. The mother then brought a second appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The appeals court first addressed whether there had been a material change of circumstances. In doing so, it reviewed the lower court’s evidence.
The mother had lost her husband, her job, and her home, and had gone back to live with her mother to get back on her feet. However, that arrangement ended abruptly after the mother was charged with domestic assault after an altercation between the mother and grandmother. After reviewing all of the evidence, the appeals court agreed that this was more than a temporary upset, but instead constituted a material change of circumstances.
Therefore, the court turned to the issue of whether the change of custody was in the child’s best interest. One factor that both the trial court and appeals court considered important was the stability of the child’s environment. By the time of hearing, the child had been with the father in Michigan for some time, and the court held that continuing this stable situation was in the child’s best interest.
The appeals court also noted that the child’s behavior in school had improved since being with the father.
Based upon its review of the evidence, the appeals court held that the evidence did not preponderate against the lower court’s findings. Therefore, it agreed that the change of custody was appropriate.
After addressing evidentiary issues and attorney fees, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
No. M2018-02072-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 12, 2019).
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.
