TN Dad Didn’t Show Sufficient Changes To Warrant Change of Custody

Tennessee child custody modification case summary.

Edgar Michael Galaway v. Patrice Jolene Galaway

The mother and father in this Tennessee custody case had been married for fourteen years and had one daughter at the time of their 2010 divorce.  The agreed to a parenting plan which named the mother as the primary residential parent, with the father receiving 85 days per year of parenting time.  In 2013, the father went back to court requesting a modification of the parenting plan.  He alleged that there had been a change of circumstances as the result of the daughter now being school age and that the mother had withheld parenting time and information.  He also alleged that the mother had initiated arguments over parenting time.

The trial court found that there had been a material change of circumstances.  In particular, the father had relocated further away from the mother’s residence, and this had made the schedule difficult.  It did modify the parenting schedule, but not the change requested by the father.  Under the new schedule, the mother received 279 days of parenting time, with the father receiving 86.  The trial court also awarded the mother $18,000 in attorney’s fees.  Dissatisfied with this outcome of the case, the father appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court carefully examined the record and agreed that the trial court had acted appropriately, since the evidence did not preponderate against the trial court’s findings.

For example, the appeals court noted that the child attends aftercare after school, which would not be necessary if the father were the primary residential parent.  But the appeals court agreed with the trial court that these changes affected the child in a meaningful way.

The appeals court also noted that all children get older every year, but this by itself does not constitute a material change of circumstances warranting a change in the parenting plan.

The court also agreed that the award of attorney’s fees to the mother was appropriate.  However, it declined to award the mother her attorney’s fees for the appeal.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court.

No. M2015-00670-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 31, 2016).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans.