Neither Mother nor Dad Can Drink in Entrance of Youngsters

Tennessee little one custody case abstract on parenting restrictions.

Thomas Stephen Goughenour, Jr. v. Marion Michelle Goughenour

Neither the daddy nor the mom was allowed to devour any alcohol throughout their parenting time.

The mom and father on this Rutherford County, Tennessee, case had been married in 2011 and had one little one.  In 2020, the daddy filed for divorce and in addition sought an order of safety in opposition to the mom.

The court docket discovered that the mom had a critical alcohol downside and an evaluation really helpful she search remedy.

In the end, the daddy was named major residential mother or father, however each dad and mom had been awarded equal parenting time.  The court docket additionally ordered that neither the daddy nor the mom was allowed to devour any alcohol throughout their parenting time.  The daddy appealed to the Tennessee Courtroom of Appeals.

The daddy first argued that the trial court docket discredited an alcohol evaluation performed by one physician who testified at trial, however as a substitute thought-about one other evaluation that had not been submitted into proof. However whereas the decrease court docket had talked about this report at one level, there was no indication that this proof had affected the court docket’s judgment.  Due to this fact, it dominated in opposition to the daddy on this level.

The daddy subsequent argued that the decrease court docket shouldn’t have positioned a restriction on his alcohol consumption.  Right here, the appeals court docket identified that trial courts have broad discretion in setting such circumstances.  It pointed within the document to incidents the place the daddy was intoxicated within the little one’s presence and was yelling at one other particular person.  After reviewing the proof, the appeals court docket held that the decrease court docket had acted inside its discretion.

The daddy subsequent argued that the equal parenting time ordered by the decrease court docket was improper.  However the appeals court docket famous that the decrease court docket had utilized the entire statutory elements, and that the daddy’s argument on the contrary was unavailing.

Each events requested lawyer’s charges for the attraction.  For the reason that mom prevailed and in mild of the opposite related elements, the appeals court docket decided that she must be awarded her charges.

For these causes, the Courtroom of Appeals affirmed the decrease court docket and remanded the case for a dedication of the mom’s lawyer charges.

No. M2022-00297-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Might 5, 2023).

See authentic opinion for precise language.  Authorized citations omitted.

To be taught extra, see Little one Custody Legal guidelines in Tennessee and our video, How is little one custody decided in Tennessee?

See additionally Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family that includes examples of parenting plans and little one help worksheets from actual instances accessible on Amazon.com.