Mom Serves Jail Time for Contempt But Allowed to Relocate Child

The parents in this were married in 2010 and had one child.  When the child was one year old, they divorced in Kentucky.  The judgment was subsequently registered in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

From 2017 through 2021, the father’s parenting time was limited to three six-hour blocks per month, but that was modified in 2021 to give him a total of 90 days per year.  That visitation was to be supervised by his parents.

In July of that year, the father returned the child to the mother after a week of vacation time.  The very next day, the mother and her husband relocated with the child to Delaware.  The next visitation didn’t happen because the mother reported reasons beyond her control.  A few days later, the wife’s lawyer notified the father by e-mail that the mother would be relocating, but provided no details.

In August, the father went to court to modify the parenting plan and to object to the relocation.  It wasn’t until December that the mother filed a petition asking for permission to relocate.

A three-day trial was held before Judge Adrienne Gilliam Fry, who was critical of the mother, noting that she deprived the father of knowledge of the child’s location and delayed the matter as long as possible.  But ultimately, she held that relocation to Delaware was in the best interest of the child.

The permanent parenting plan kept the father’s visitation time at 90 days, but removed the supervision requirement.  The mother was ordered to bear transportation costs.

The court also ruled on the contempt motion, and found that the mother did not have any confusion or misunderstanding as to her obligations.    It found her in contempt and sentenced her to 30 days in jail.  Ten days was suspended, on the condition that the mother fully complied with court orders for the next five years.  After some post-trial motions, the father appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The appeals court first cited the the Tennessee Parental Relocation Statute, with which the mother had failed to comply.  The father argued that compliance with the notice requirements was a prerequisite to a parent getting the right to relocate.  The appeals court agreed that she had completely failed to comply.

But the appeals court noted that even in the absence of compliance, the court was required to determine whether relocation was in the child’s best interest.  In particular, it found that making the best interest analysis contingent upon notice added language to the statute.

The appeals court then reviewed the best-interest analysis of the lower court and concluded that while some factors strongly favored the father,  other factors weighed in favor of the mother.  Therefore, the appeals court affirmed the modification of the parenting plan.

The father also argued that the mother faced insufficient consequences for her violation of the statute.  The appeals court agreed that the mother’s behavior showed a flagrant disregard for the notice requirements of the statute.  But again, it found that the critical factor in crafting a parenting plan was the best interests of the child.  It also noted that the mother did face consequences, namely, being jailed for contempt for twenty days.

The mother used the appeal to argue for additional child support, but the appeals court pointed out that she had not properly raised this issue.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

No. M2023-01015-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 31, 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?

To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?

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.