Mom made non-emergency medical appointments, held in contempt
Tennessee case summary on custody in divorce.
Mother made non-emergency medical decisions for child and is held in contempt.
Matthew Adam Corenswet v. Samantha Marie Corenswet (Rain)
The parents in this Davidson County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2021. The permanent parenting plan for the two children made the father the primary resident parent. Each parent had custody on a weekly basis. The plan gave the father the power to make decisions about non-emergency health care matters. The mother accompanied her child and he was referred to a GI specialist for a follow up. The doctor’s office contacted the mother, who claimed that she had not made the appointment. She told them she would contact the father via e-mail. When the doctor called again, she made a follow-up appointment. When the doctor called again, she made the follow-up appointment.She later took the child to an urgent care clinic, which scheduled a follow-up appointment with a urologist.
The father filed a petition for criminal contempt for alleged violations of the parenting plan, calling them non-emergency medical appointments. He also claimed contempt because she refused to take her children to martial arts lessons, which was something he had the authority to decide.
After a hearing, the trial court found the mother guilty with respect to the gastroenterologist appointment, the clinic visit, and the urologist appointment.
The mother was sentenced to two days in jail, but this was later suspended pending appeal. The mother appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.The first argument was that her violations weren’t willful. The court, however, viewed it as a normal issue and stated that all that was at issue was whether or not she had the specific intention to schedule the appointments. The court stated that, even though the mother’s intentions were good, she still violated the order. The appeals court ruled that the mother’s contempt was causing the appointment to be made in the first instance. The mother stated that the child had been in severe pain for the previous night and was still in pain on the day of the clinic visit. The appeals court confirmed the contempt finding because this did not occur. The lower court made some modifications to a permanent parenting plan despite neither party having requested a modification. The appeals court ruled that the trial judge lacked jurisdiction to make such a change and reversed this decision.
The appeals court also denied the father’s request for attorney fees. The appeals court remanded this case to enforce the contempt judgement. M2023-00642-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. See original opinion for exact wording. Legal citations have been omitted.
To find out more, visit Child Custody Laws of Tennessee and watch our video, How does child custody in Tennessee work?
