Mother’s Claims Step-Mother Unsuitable Not Enough to Modify Custody

Tennessee child custody modification case summary.

Timothy Rosebrough v. Karen Caldwell, f/k/a Karen Rosebrough

Mother’s Claims Step-Mother Unsuitable Not Enough to Modify Custody

The parents in this Madison County, Tennessee case were divorced in 2010.  Their child was born in 2008, and the parenting plan named the father as the primary residential parent with sole decision-making authority.  He was awarded 280 days with the child, with the mother receiving 85 days.

In 2015, the mother filed a petition to modify the parenting plan.  She asked to be designated the primary residential parent.  A trial was held with 19 witnesses testifying.  At the end of trial, the parties agreed to the mother’s receiving an increase in parenting time, but the trial court concluded that the mother had failed to meet her burden of proof of a material change of circumstances.  The father was also awarded a portion of his attorney’s fees.

The mother asked for reconsideration twice, but the substance of the order remained the same.  The mother than appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

In 2019, the Court of Appeals issued its first opinion in the case.  It found that the trial court had failed to make sufficient fact findings, and it sent the case back to the trial court to make further findings.  On remand, the lower court reiterated its findings, but came to the same conclusions.  It held that the mother had not met her burden of showing a material change of circumstances, and that even if there had been a material change, the change in parenting plan was not in the child’s best interests.  The mother then brought another appeal, acting as her own attorney.

On this appeal, she argued that the trial court had erred in not allowing her to enter certain text messages into evidence.  She also argued that the lower court failed to make any credibility determinations.  She also asked to have the award of attorney’s fees to the father set aside.  But the appeals court found that these issues were not preserved for appeal.  Her main remaining issue was the propriety of the court’s denying her request to modify the parenting plan.

The appeals court started its discussion by noting that courts are generally reluctant to modify custody arrangements unless clearly necessary.

The mother had a long list of reasons why there had been a change of circumstances, such as the husband’s marriage to a woman she claimed not to be a suitable parent, as opposed to the alleged stability of her own relationship with a significant other.

The trial court, on the other hand, had taken the testimony of the parents and a doctor to establish an “obsession” on the part of the mother to be named primary residential parent.  The trial court also found that, despite “constant bickering,” there had been no failure by father to adhere to the parenting plan.  In addition, the mother had skipped some of her parenting time, and the child had lived with the father practically all of her life, in a good neighborhood close to school.  The father attended all of her events and served as a soccer coach.

After reviewing this evidence, the appeals court agreed with the lower court.  The court did note that its review was limited, since there was no transcript prepared.

Since the evidence did support the trial court’s findings, the Court of Appeals affirmed.

The trial court had also postponed two contempt motions until the appeal was decided, and the mother argued that this was improper.  But the appeals court held that this was not error.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed, and remanded the case for further proceedings, which would include the pending contempt motions.

No. W2020–00538-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 6,  2021).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?

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.