More Parenting Time for Mom After Dad Converted to Messianic Judaism

Tennessee child custody modification case summary.

Christen Nicole Pankratz v. Dion Pankratz

The mother and father in this Cheatham County, Tennessee, had one child, born in 2011, and were divorced in 2015.  At the time of the divorce, the parenting plan named the mother as primary residential parent, with each parent having equal parenting time.  It also called for joint decision making authority by both parents.

In 2015, the mother went back to court asking for greater parenting time, and for sole decision making authority.

The mother based her petition largely upon the fact that the father had converted to Messianic Judaism, and had stated that her religion was a form of paganism.  She expressed the opinion that the father intended to alienate her from the children.

A hearing was held before Judge Larry J. Wallace, who granted the mother’s request.  Specifically, she was given decision making authority for education and health care, and was given additional parenting time on both religious and secular holidays.  Judge Wallace also reminded both parents that they should not make disparaging remarks to the child.  Both parties appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court first noted that the threshold issue was whether there had been a material change of circumstances.  The father argued that there had been none.  However, the appeals court quickly dealt with this issue by pointing out the overall conflict between the parties, and that this was sufficient to satisfy the requirement of changed circumstances.

The court then turned to the trickier issue of determining the best interests of the child.  It first looked at the issue of health care.  It noted that the mother was a registered nurse, but that the father did not believe in man-made pharmaceuticals such as vaccines.

Also, the father wanted to homeschool the child, while the mother preferred public education.  Holidays were also an issue, since the father testified that he believed that holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Birthdays, and others were sinful.

After examining all of the evidence, the Court of Appeals agreed that the lower court had followed the correct approach with respect to the child’s best interests.

The mother also appealed, since she believed that the child needed greater protection from the father’s beliefs.  But after reviewing the record, the appeals court once again agreed that the lower court had followed a sound approach.

Finally, the Court of Appeals declined to award any attorney fees.  For that reason, it affirmed the lower court’s judgment.

No. M2017-00098-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 25, 2017).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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