Parents Awarded Equal Parenting Time

The parents in this Sumner County, Tennessee, case met on Instagram and dated briefly before breaking up.  But after the breakup, the mother learned that she was pregnant.  The father filed a petition to establish parentage.  After numerous motions were heard, the trial court adopted a parenting plan granting equal parenting time.  The father was named the primary residential parent with sole decision-making authority for major decisions.  The father brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, raising a number of issues, including whether he should have been granted more parenting time.

The appeals court began by noting that parenting arrangement decisions are factually driven, and the trial court has a great deal of discretion, since the trial judge is able to observe witnesses and make credibility determinations.

The father argued that a 50/50 split of parenting time was not appropriate in the case.  But the appeals court reviewed the trial court’s rulings on the various statutory factors and agreed with them.  The father cited a 2020 case which held that equal parenting time was inappropriate, and the father argued that his case was similar.  But the appeals court pointed out that most of the statutory factors in this case were equal, and the same number of factors favored both parents.  Therefore, it held that case was not applicable.  Under the facts of the case, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court had acted within its discretion.

The husband also argued that the trial court had miscomputed the mother’s income for purposes of determining child support.  But the trial court found that the lower court had acted properly.

The father testified that he wanted the child on the Juneteenth holiday each year.  This request was granted, but the mother was granted custody every 4^th of July holiday.  The father wanted alternating visitation because “he is an American.”  The trial court said it struggled with this, because it didn’t want to send a message that one holiday was African American, and the other holiday was a white holiday.  But it still divided them as it did.  The Court of Appeals found that the result was “neither illogical, illegal nor unjust,” and affirmed.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court and assessed the costs of appeal against the father.

No. M2023-01735-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 21, 2025).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee and our video, How is child custody determined 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.