Grandparents Can’t Get Visitation When Ex-Son-In-Law Allows Visitation

Tennessee child custody case summary on grandparent visitation.

June C. Horton, et al., v. Erin E. Cooley

The grandmother and grandfather in the Rutherford County, Tennessee, case brought an action against their daughter seeking visitation with their 4-year-old grandson.  The child was born in 2012, and shortly thereafter, the parents moved in with the grandparents.  After a 2014, the mother was named the primary residential parent, with the father having parenting time on alternating weeks.

In 2016, the mother remarried, over the grandparents’ objection.

In the meantime, the grandparents’ relationship with their former son-in-law, the child’s father, flourished.  Things came to a head in 2017 when the mother cancelled a visit with the grandparents at the last minute.   They continued, however, to see the child on weeks that he was with their former son-in-law.  The mother’s new husband called the grandparents and gave an ultimatum:  They would not be allowed to see the child during the mother’s residential time if they continued to see the father.

After they were unable to resolve the impasse, the grandparents headed to court, where the case was decided by Judge J. Mark Rogers.  After a three day trial, the court concluded that court-ordered visitation was not warranted.  In particular, the court noted that there had not been a severe reduction in the grandparents’ visitation.  In particular, the court noted that the grandparents were able to see the child during their former son-in-law’s parenting time.  For that reason, it held that the mother’s actions did not result in any danger of harm to the parents.  For that reason, the lower court dismissed the action.  The grandparents then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

After noting the relevant standard of review, the appeals court turned to the merits of the case.  It first noted that the case had a constitutional dimension, since a parent’s child-rearing decisions are protected by the Tennessee Constitution, as long as there is no substantial danger to the child.  For a grandparent to prevail, they must show that there was a substantial reduction in visitation such as would result in substantial harm.

The appeals court agreed that there had been no severe reduction in visitation.  It reviewed the lower court’s findings and held that the evidence did not preponderate against them.

The appeals court also agreed that there was no risk of substantial harm to the child.  While there was a significant relationship with the grandparents, there was no evidence to show that this relationship would be harmed.   Again, the court pointed out that there was still a significant amount of contact with the child.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment and remanded the case.  It assessed the costs of the appeal against the grandparents.

No. M2019-00945-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 26,  2020).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Grandparent Visitation Rights Law 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.