TN Dad Named Primary Residential Parent of Infant + Relocation Granted
Tennessee law case summary on relocation law and custody in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
State of Tennessee ex rel. Suzanna R. Phillips (Bobbitt) v. Anthony Phillips – Tennessee divorce custody to father and relocation allowed
The husband and wife were married in 2009 in North Carolina. The husband was a military veteran, worked as an optical technician, and later became the part owner of a small bar and worked construction. The couple met when the wife was hired to sing karaoke in the bar. They moved to Nashville for the wife to pursue a musical career. They had a son in December 2009. They had no family in the Nashville area, and both had relatives in and around Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2010, the husband filed an emergency motion for temporary custody in Rutherford County, Tennessee. He alleged that the wife had indulged in violent rage in the child’s presence, that she had neglected to care for him while intoxicated, that she had left him in urine-soaked diapers, and that she had failed to appear for scheduled exchanges.
The Court granted the husband’s motion, and granted him temporary custody. The mother was granted three hours visitation twice per week, with the exchanges to take place at the Smyrna Police Department. The husband then filed a complaint for divorce. He alleged that the wife was an alcoholic who neglected the child, and that she was mentally unstable. He testified that he doubted the wife’s willingness to adequately care for the son. On one occasion, the wife reported that the son had fallen. He left work and took the child to the hospital. Fortunately, the child was not injured. The husband testified that he did the housework on his days off, and that on days when he worked, he would return home to find the wife intoxicated. He also reported finding marijuana in her makeup bag. On one occasion, he testified that the wife said, “the devil is telling me to harm the child.” The wife had also been taking an antidepressant, and the husband wondered whether the combination of that drug and the alcohol and marijuana had been causing the mental symptoms.
The wife gave more optimistic testimony, but the trial court agreed that there were “serious problems” with her and that the husband should be named the primary residential parent. Furthermore, the trial court ordered that any overnight visitation be supervised by a relative in North Carolina, and that all visitation should be supervised until such time as there were no drug or alcohol issues and that she could maintain a safe environment.
Because she would have to pay travel expenses to North Carolina, the wife was excused from paying any child support. The trial court also ruled that after six months, the courts of Wake County, North Carolina, would have jurisdiction of the case. The wife appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals first noted that the factual findings are reviewed de novo, but have a presumption of correctness unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. It also noted that the parenting plan must be adopted in the best interest of the child. The wife argued that the case should be remanded because the trial court had not specifically addressed all of the statutory factors. The Court of Appeals, however, disagreed. Even though the court is required to consider all of the factors, it is not required to specifically list all of them. In this case, the Court of Appeals noted that the transcript of the proceedings contained more than enough evidence to support the trial court’s findings. Specifically, the mother’s testimony showed that her priorities were elsewhere, and she took a very casual attitude toward the child’s well-being. For example, on one occasion she dropped the child, but “she didn’t feel it was any big deal.”
In this case, the husband had been the primary caregiver, a factor that the Court of Appeals considered very important.
The Court of Appeals also found that relocation to North Carolina was proper. There was evidence that the husband had a home available there, had relatives who could help, and had better prospects of employment there. The Court of Appeals also held that the restrictions on the wife’s visitation were proper under the circumstances.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court.
No. M2011-01580-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 6, 2013).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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