Mom Retains Power to Make Medical Decisions in Hotly Contested Case
Tennessee child custody modification case summary.
Ashleigh Suarez Smallman v. William H. Smallman
The lower court had given the mother the responsibility for making all non-emergency medical and dental appointments.
The mother and father in this Davidson County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2019, and they agreed to a permanent parenting plan for their two children, who were seven and twelve at the time. The mother was a stay-at-home homemaker during the marriage, and the father was a real estate professional. Under the parenting plan, the mother was named primary residential parent with 232.5 days per year of parenting time. In turn, the father was awarded 132.5 days. They agreed to joint decision making authority, but with the mother having tie-breaking authority on non-emergency medical decisions.
The father’s income was found to be over $100,000 per month, and child support was set at $3200 per month. The father was also to pay uncovered medical expenses up to $25,000 per year, as well as the first $5000 per child for extracurricular activities.
Starting shortly after the divorce, conflicts arose. In particular, the father insisted on being part of every action relating to healthcare providers. The daughter also started having problems at school, and the mother began looking for a new school. The father, however, refused to consider any other possibility. But the mother unilaterally made application to a new school. She also made motions to modify the parenting plan in 2020. Ultimately, the father agreed to the new school, and the mother filed an amended petition to modify the parenting plan. The father filed a response. He requested the tie-breaking vote on medical issues, for more parenting time, and other changes to the decision-making provisions.
The trial court found that there was no material change of circumstances warranting a change. It awarded the mother $50,000 in attorney’s fees, and denied the father’s requested relief. The father then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The father argued that the trial court erred, because it did make some changes to the decision-making rules, even though it had found that there was no material change of circumstances. But the Court of Appeals quickly dealt with this issue by pointing out that the father had misconstrued the order. While the lower court found no material change of circumstances relevant to the parenting schedule, it did find a change of circumstances relevant to the decision-making provision. In particular, the lower court had found that the health problems the daughter faced were made worse because of the existing decision-making provisions, and they needed some modification.
Having addressed that issue, the appeals court turned to the specific changes made to the decision-making provisions. For example, the lower court had given the mother the responsibility for making all non-emergency medical and dental appointments. The only restriction was that they couldn’t be scheduled during his parenting time, without his written permission. The father argued that this went too far, especially since his parenting time covered 132.5 days of the year.
The appeals court noted that such details are normally within the discretion of the lower court. And after examining the evidence, the Court of Appeals concluded that the lower court had acted within its discretion.
The father also argued that the lower court should have reduced his child support obligation. But the appeals court held that the calculation of the father’s income, as well as the ultimate award, were correctly done by the lower court. The appeals court also affirmed the award of attorney’s fees.
It also found that the mother was entitled to her attorney’s fees on appeal, and remanded the case for computation of the amount she was due.
No. M2022-00592-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 13, 2023).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Modifying Custody & Parenting Plans 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.
