he child’s mother, the child’s biological father, and the mother’s former husband who believed himself to be the child’s biological parent for the majority of her life. After the mother disclosed the child’s parentage to both men, the biological father filed a petition to be named the child’s parent and for a parenting plan to be established. The mother agreed with his petition in all respects. But the mother’s former husband soon intervened with a petition to be awarded stepparent visitation pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 36-6-303. Following the filing of the stepparent visitation petition, the mother and the biological father, who at this point had never had any unsupervised or overnight visitation with the child, executed an agreed parenting plan in which they would share joint custody and equal parenting time with the child, as well as waive child support. After a joint hearing on both petitions, the trial court adopted the mother and biological father’s proposed parenting plan, except that the former husband was granted stepparent visitation with the child every other weekend and over the summer holiday; the former husband’s weekend visitation only occurred during the time that the proposed plan would have allotted to the mother. The mother now appeals this decision. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings.
Case Number
M2024-00541-COA-R3-JV
Originating Judge
Judge Gerald L. Ewell, Jr.
Date Filed
Download PDF Version