Mom Gets Custody Despite Her Untruthful Statements

Tennessee law case summary on custody modification in family law from the Court of Appeals.

Channin S. Hughes v. Norman T. Hughes – Tennessee custody modification

Channin and Norman Hughes were married in 2008, and the mother had two daughters from a prior relationship.  During the marriage, the mother and father had two daughters, born in 2009 and 2010.  They separated in 2011, and the mother filed for divorce in Hickman County, Tennessee.   While the case was still pending, the father moved to Montana to accept a job there.

The mother requested an order of protection in 2011, after alleging that the father was placed in a Montana mental facility after threatening suicide.  She stated that she feared for her safety because the father had been released and was on his way back to Tennessee.  The order for protection was subsequently granted, and the father was ordered to stay away from the mother.  But the children were primarily residing with the father at that time.  However, after additional legal wrangling, temporary custody was granted to the mother.

The divorce trial was finally held in late 2012, when the daughters were two and three years old.  After hearing many conflicting accusations, the trial judge addressed the mother and stated that she had clearly lied to him, “as sure as the world.”    But the judge also stated that he did not believe every word of the father’s testimony.

But the judge finally concluded that the mother should be the primary residential parent, with the father having parenting time every other weekend and the entire summer break, with the exception of three weeks.  The judge also ordered that the children should have no contact with one of the wife’s male associates.

After the husband learned that this man was still having contact with the children, he sought to reopen the case.  But after hearing the evidence, the judge held that there had not been a material change of circumstances, and declined to change the parenting plan.  After the trial court issued its order, the father appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  He argued that the trial court had erred in granting custody to the mother in the first instance, and also in failing to modify after the new evidence came to light.

The trial judge had conceded that the decision was a difficult one, since both parents were similarly disposed in their parenting abilities.  But after weighing all of the evidence, including instances of questionable judgment by the mother, the trial court had ruled in her favor.  After examining all of the evidence, the appeals court agreed that the parenting arrangement ultimately decided upon was within the range of possible results.  For that reason, it affirmed the original order.

The appeals court then turned to the request to modify.

Once again, the appeals court carefully considered all of the evidence, and concluded that there was no error in the trial court’s resolution of this difficult case.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s rulings. And assessed the costs of appeal against the father.

No. M2013-01558-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 16, 2014).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans in Tennessee After Divorce.  See also Miles Mason’s book available on Amazon.com Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring actual examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases.