Parenting Time of 17 Year Old Reduced to 90 Days for Mother

Tennessee child custody case summary on parenting time modification.

The mother and father in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case were the parents of two children at the time of their 2011 divorce. Extensive litigation followed regarding a number of custody and child support issues. The oldest child was over the age of majority by the time of the father’s 2016 motion to modify the parenting plan for the younger child. The court heard testimony of the child, who was then 17, in chambers with a court reporter present.

After a hearing, the trial court held that there had been a change of circumstances warranting a modification of the child’s residential schedule. The mother was awarded 90 days of co-parenting time, and she was ordered to pay child support of $352 per month, as well as attorney fees and retroactive child support of $32,000. An appeal followed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals on a number of issues, including the modification of the residential schedule.

The appeals court noted that factual findings of a trial court have a presumption of correctness and will not be overturned unless the evidence preponderates against them. It also noted that the trial court has broad discretion in custody and visitation matters.

In her appeal, the mother argued that the trial court erred in awarding her only 90 days of parenting time, and noted that even the father indicated that he was agreeable to 125 days of parenting time for her.

The appeals court once again reminded the mother that lower courts have broad discretion in such decisions, and that individual fact findings for every minor issue in the case were not required. After reviewing the lower court’s order, the appeals court was satisfied that the trial court had applied the correct factors in setting the parenting time, and that the record supported the changes.

After addressing the other issues in the case, the Court of Appeals went on to affirm the lower court’s order in its entirety. However, it denied the father’s request for attorney fees on appeal.

No. M2016-01635-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 23, 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.