Disengaged TN Dad Gets Only Limited Parenting Time
Tennessee child custody case summary in divorce.
Evon Kay Creger v. Daniel William Creger
The mother in this Rutherford County, Tennessee, case filed for divorce in 2019. The parties were married in 2005 and had two daughters. She asked to be named primary residential parent. She later sought an order for protection.
The father filed an answer in which he requested to be named primary residential parent.
After many pretrial disputes, the case finally went to trial in 2022. The trial court made findings as to the father’s behavior, such as that he had chased the mother and children down the highway with his vehicle, and that he had violated pretrial orders by texting the children. It also found that he had violated court orders by buying a vehicle, withdrawing $100,000 in marital funds, and interfering with an ordered sale of property.
The trial court ruled that the mother should be named primary residential parent, with the father having 55 days of parenting time. It also found that he was voluntarily unemployed and set his earning capacity at $92,000, resulting in a child support obligation of $1005 per month.
The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. After addressing property issues, the appeals court turned to the issue of custody.
The appeals court, like the lower court, looked at the statutory factors, and how they applied to the case. Both courts placed much weight on the testimony of counselors who had worked with the father and the children. According to one of them, the father had made disparaging remarks to the children about the mother. The counselor also testified that the children felt fearful and threatened by the father. The other counselor agreed, and noted that the father’s bond with the children was very weak.
The mother had also testified that for a couple of years, the father was disengaged from the children, seemed depressed and angry, and destroyed property in the house.
After reviewing the evidence, the Court of Appeals agreed that the lower court had acted within its discretion in applying the statutory factors. Therefore, it affirmed the lower court’s ruling.
After addressing some evidentiary issues, the Court of Appeals went on to award the mother her attorney’s fees for the appeal, and remanded the case for purposes of computing the amount.
No. M2022-00558-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 16, 2023).
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.
