Mom Not Finding Steady Employment Means No Relocation to NJ
Tennessee child custody case summary on parent relocation.
Jessica Marcel Broadnax v. Quentin Elliott Lawrence
The mother and father in this Hamilton County, Tennessee parental relocation case were divorced in 2012. Under the parenting plan, the mother was named the primary residential parent, and the father was awarded 104 days of co-parenting time per year.
In 2014, the mother gave the father notice that she intended to relocate with the child to Pennsylvania because of a potential job opportunity. She later amended the notice to include New Jersey as a possible place of relocation. The father opposed the proposed relocation. The trial court held that the purpose of the relocation was unreasonable, and the mother brought a first appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. In 2015, the Court of Appeals remanded the case, and ruled that the lower court should have considered the best interests of the child.
Another hearing was held, at which time the child was six years old. The child had lived with the father since the lower court’s prior order.
At the hearing, evidence was presented that the father had moved to Chattanooga when the child was about four years old to be closer. He also testified that he had provided for the child’s health care since birth. He also testified that he believed the daughter should remain in Chattanooga to be close to both families.
After hearing testimony from the parties and others, the trial court made its ruling that the move to New Jersey was not in the child’s best interest. Therefore, it once again named the father the primary residential parent. The mother again appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals first noted that the review was de novo, but there was a presumption of correctness of the lower court’s factual findings. The Court of Appeals reviewed the evidence and the statutory factors to be applied, and affirmed the lower court’s ruling. It noted that the mother had not been able to find steady employment in New Jersey, holding three jobs during her time there.
After reviewing all of the pertinent factors, the Court of Appeals concluded that the lower court had not erred in its findings, and affirmed the lower court’s decision.
No. E2016-01176-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 8, 2017).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Tennessee Parent Relocation Statute Law.
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.
