Mom’s Disdain For Dad Means She Can’t Relocate with Child
Tennessee child custody case summary on parent relocation.
Dominique Nance v. Mark Franklin
The child in this Davidson County, Tennessee, parental relocation case was born to unwed parents in Alabama in 2011. The father moved to Tennessee, and the mother followed with the child shortly thereafter. After a domestic violence incident, they separated in 2015. The mother filed for an order of protection, but the case was ultimately dismissed.
The mother took on the primary parenting responsibility, and the father had occasional visitation. In 2017, the father petitioned for co-parenting time and exercised it regularly since then.
In 2018, the mother married, and two children were born from that relationship. The mother and stepfather made plans to move to Alabama, and in 2018, the mother sent a notice of intent to relocated by certified mail. That letter came back unclaimed, and her attorney sent another certified letter. The mother then filed a petition to relocate, and the father filed an opposition.
The case was heard by the juvenile court magistrate in 2019. The magistrate denied the mother’s petition, and the father was awarded equal co-parenting time. The mother sought rehearing before a juvenile court judge, and a hearing was held in late 2020.
At the hearing, the mother testified that she was originally from Alabama, as was the stepfather. They had family there, and the father was employed there and had secured living arrangements.
The father testified as to his involvement with the child and the child’s school. He testified that the mother didn’t communicate with him and tended to “run the show.”
The child, who was nine years old at the time of hearing, also testified and expressed his desire to remain in Tennessee. The juvenile court denied the mother’s motion to relocate, and she appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The mother first argued that the trial court should not have even considered the father’s opposition, since it was more than 30 days after her notice of intent to relocate. But the appeals court agreed with father that the first notice was deficient, and he had replied within 30 days of the second notice.
Turning to the merits, the appeals court first noted that the mother’s brief failed to adequately make references to the record. But the court elected to address the merits despite this deficiency.
The court listed the statutory factors, and noted that the lower court had made a detailed order with findings in support of each factor. In particular, it noted that it would be difficult to preserve the child’s relationship with the father, given the mother and stepfather’s disdain for the father. It also noted a pattern of conduct on the part of the mother limiting or preventing the father’s co-parenting time. For these reasons, the lower court concluded that relocation was not in the best interests of the child, and the appeals court found that the evidence supported this finding.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed and taxed the costs of appeal to the mother.
No. M2021-00161-COA-R3-JV (Tenn. Ct. App. Sep. 15, 2022).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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.
