Joint Custody TN Mom Granted Primary Parent Then Granted Relocation
Tennessee parental relocation law case summary in Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. Mother allowed to relocate with children from Lexington to Murfreesboro.
Watson v. Watson – Tennessee Parent Relocation Granted
Stephanie and Timothy Watson were divorced in 2001 on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. At the time, they lived in Lexington, Tennessee. They agreed to joint custody, and the child alternated between parents on a daily basis. In 2002, the mother remarried and moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She petitioned the court to be named primary residential parent, and for permission to move the child to Murfreesboro. The father objected, and asked to be named primary residential parent.
The trial court ruled that it was in the child’s best interest to move to Murfreesboro, and named the mother the primary residential parent. The father appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals affirmed. The mother had stated that she was relocating to Murfreesboro to accept a significantly better paying job. She had searched unsuccessfully in Lexington for a job for over a year. She had selected a neighborhood in Murfreesboro based upon internet research which revealed that the schools in the area were good.
The Court first noted that the trial court’s determination had a presumption of correctness. Therefore, the Court of Appeals could not challenge factual findings without evidence preponderating against them.
The trial court had listened to some testimony that went beyond the factors in the Parental Relocation Statute. The father argued that the judgment should have been reversed for this reason. But the Court of Appeals pointed out that the trial court had properly applied the statute, and it would not reverse on that ground. Similarly, the Court refused to reverse merely because the trial court had heard some evidence of matters that took place prior to the original parenting plan was adopted.
The Court also ruled that the trial court had not committed error by allowing into evidence the mother’s internet research about the quality of schools in Murfreesboro. The Court held that this was within the trial court’s discretion to allow.
Finally, the Court agreed that the trial court had given proper weight to the child’s preference to stay in his current area. For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court and allowed the mother to relocate.
196 S.W.3d 695 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2005).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, buy Miles Mason, Sr.’s book, Tennessee Parent Relocation Law (available on Amazon and Kindle), see Tennessee Parent Relocation Statute Law | Modifying the Parenting Plan, and our Tennessee Family Law Blog with more detailed cases sorted by relocation cases granted and denied.
Memphis divorce lawyer, Miles Mason, Sr., JD, CPA practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC, which handles Tennessee family law matters including contested relocation matters.
