Custody Case Sent Back to Lower Court When One of Two Children Turns 18 While Appeal Pending
Tennessee child custody modification case summary.
The parties in this Greene County, Tennessee, case were married in 2003 and divorced in 2017. They were parents of two children, born in 2004 and 2007. Under the original parenting plan, the mother was named the primary residential parent, with the father having only 52 days per year of parenting time. This was based upon the father’s apparent lack of emotional attachment, anger management issues, and work schedule.
In 2018, the father came back to court asking for a modification. He asserted that he had taken significant steps to improve himself.
A hearing was held, at which one daughter testified that she did not feel comfortable with her father. The other daughter testified that she mostly enjoyed her time with father, but that she had witnessed disagreements between the father and his live-in girlfriend.
After hearing all of the evidence, the trial court held that there had been a material change of circumstances, based upon the father’s new work schedule. The trial court made no specific findings of fact, other than to note that the best interest factors warranted an increase from 52 to 90 days, with the added time being during the summer months.
The father brought an appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, which remanded the case to the lower court for detailed findings of fact.
In early 2022, the trial court held another hearing, after which it issued its findings of fact. Its conclusion remained the same, with the father receiving only 90 days parenting time. The father then filed another appeal.
The appeals court started its analysis by noting that a best interest determination is always fact intensive. It then listed the statutory factors to be applied in such cases.
In making its decision, the trial court had placed great weight on the sibling relationship of the two daughters. However, it also noted that during the pendency of the appeal, the older daughter reached the age of majority, and she was no longer subject to the custody orders.
Because of this change while the appeal was pending, the Court of Appeals held that another remand was appropriate, under which the lower court would consider only the best interests of the younger daughter. The appeals court encouraged the parties to work together to come up with a schedule that would maximize each parent’s participation, and also be in the best interests of the daughter.
For these reasons, the lower court vacated the trial court’s order and remanded the case. Costs of the appeal were taxed equally to both parents.
The opinion of the Court of Appeals was authored by Judge John W. McClarty.
No. E2022-00217-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 17, 2022).
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?
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.
