Tennessee Mom Loses Custody After Unilateral Parenting Schedule Change

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

In re Lauren S. – Tennessee divorce custody modification

In 2009, a Tennessee court entered an order establishing that the father and mother were Lauren’s natural parents, and named the mother as the primary residential parent.  The father was awarded parenting time, and the parents agreed to a proposed parenting plan which was never approved by the court.  In 2010, the court updated the plan and awarded the father 130 days of parenting time per year.  At that time, the father lived with his parents in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and the child and mother lived with the mother’s parents in Union City, Tennessee.  It was anticipated that the girl would attend preschool and school in Obion County.

In 2013, the father made a petition to modify the prior orders.  He alleged that there had been a change of circumstances, and that he should be awarded equal parenting time.  A hearing was held at which various family members and a former teacher testified.

By 2013, the mother was living on her own in an apartment.  When she went to get Lauren from her grandparents’ house, she announced to everyone that Lauren “wouldn’t be seeing Daddy as much,” and that she wanted to spend more time.  They reverted to the earlier plan under which the father had parenting time on alternating weekends.  The girl’s former kindergarten teacher testified that there was a change in her behavior for the worse about this time.

The trial court denied the father’s petition to modify the parenting schedule, and he appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  He argued that he had established a material change of circumstances and that the parenting schedule should have been modified.  He argued that the lower court applied a much more stringent standard than required by the Tennessee statute.

The appeals court agreed and noted that a child’s needs might change over time.  Lauren was only two years old when the original plan was put into place, and was five at the time of the hearing.  Even her enrollment in preschool could be a change of circumstances, which the trial court refused to consider.  The appeals court agreed that the lower court had applied the wrong standard, and remanded the case for purposes of making the correct determination.

The appeals court also agreed with the father that the mother’s failure to adhere to the prior parenting plan constituted a change of circumstances, and reversed for that reason as well.  The appeals court noted that this constituted a change of circumstances, given the low threshold required by that test.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals remanded the case, and assessed the costs of appeal against the mother.

No. W2013-02760-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Aug. 5, 2014).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Tennessee Child Custody Law.  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.