Tennessee Mom Can’t Move to Florida After Parentage Action
Tennessee law case summary on custody and relocation in divorce and family law from the Court of Appeals.
Clint Dewayne Graham v. Nycole Alexandria Vaughn – Tennessee divorce custody and relocation
Clint Graham and Nycole Vaughn were the parents of a daughter who was born in 2004. After the girl was born, they lived together for about six months, but then separated. In 2012, the father filed a petition in Trousdale County, Tennessee, to legitimate the child. At that time, he also asked to be named the primary residential parent. He also asked the court for an order to prevent the mother from moving out of Tennessee or more than a hundred miles from Trousdale County. After a hearing, the court ordered the mother, who had moved to Florida, to either return to Tennessee or allow the court to determine custody. The court ordered the mother to be named as primary residential parent, but ordered parenting time for the father. The mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Because of the unusual procedural posture of the case, the Tennessee Parental Relocation statute did not apply. Therefore, the Court of Appeals first determined that the real issue was whether the lower court had correctly determined that she must remain in Tennessee as a condition of being designated primary residential parent. The lower court had based its determination on the fact that the girl had gone to school mostly in Tennessee and had significant family contacts in Trousdale County.
The Court of Appeals agreed that the evidence supported the lower court’s findings. The girl had a meaningful relationship with the father, as well as with both sets of grandparents, all of whom lived in Tennessee. The father and his parents had provided a safety net to the girl, and the court took special note of the mother’s instability over the years.
The father had also been ordered to pay $2,500 in attorney’s fees, and he appealed this ruling. The appellate court looked at the evidence and noted that most of the proof was in the form of unsworn statements by the mother, and the father had little opportunity to review the documentation. Therefore, the Court of Appeals remanded the case for a redetermination of the amount of fees required. The Court of Appeals also denied the mother’s request for attorney’s fees for the appeal.
For these reasons, the court remanded the case to the Trousdale County court.
No. M2012-01982-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 30, 2014).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
The Miles Mason Family Law Group handles Tennessee divorce, child support, alimony, child custody, and parent relocation. Download our free e-Book, Your First Steps: 7 Steps Planning Your Tennessee Divorce. A Memphis divorce lawyer from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help. To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.
