Parenting Schedule Changes When Dad’s Job Location Moves
Tennessee child custody case summary on changes in custody and child support.
Father’s change of work location necessitated parenting schedule change.
The parents in this Benton County, Tennessee, Juvenile Court case were the parents of a child born in 2013. They had an on-again off-again relationship, and after a break-up in 2017, the father filed a petition to establish a permanent parenting plan. They came to agreement, and the mother was named the primary residential parent with 255 days of parenting time. It required the mother to move closer to Benton County so that the child could go to school there.
There was one dispute, but the parties reconciled in 2019. When they separated again in 2020. The mother homeschooled the child, over the father’s objection, during COVID. In the 2021-22 school year, she refused to enroll him in Benton County. The father asked for the mother to be held in contempt, but the trial court refused.
The father also asked to modify the parenting plan, due to his job changing locations. He alleged that this made the parenting schedule unworkable, and the trial court agreed. The father’s child support was set at $653, and the mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
On the change in parenting plan, the appeals court noted that the trial court had found a material change of circumstances. It agreed with the lower court that the change in work schedule made the existing parenting plan unworkable. It went on to agree with the lower court that a change in schedule was in the child’s best interest. It noted that the child had a good relationship with both parents, and it was in the child’s best interest to have a schedule maximizing time with both.
The appeals court also affirmed a lower court ruling ordering the mother to communicate proactively with regard to matters such as extracurricular activities.
The appeals court also reversed the lower court’s calculation of child support. The mother had failed to object so some of the evidence introduced, and it held that she could not raise these objections on appeal. It did, however, find that the lower court had incorrectly computed income, and remanded the case for a correction. It also remanded the case for reconsideration of the award of the tax exemption for the child to the father.
No. W2023-00140-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 9, 2024).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?
To learn more, see Child Support Modification in Tennessee | How to Modify Child Support.
