Kristina Eileen Codino v. Christopher John Codino

The parties to this appeal were divorced in Virginia, and the divorce decree provided that
they would alternate parenting time with their young child every three weeks. The mother
moved to Tennessee, and the father later moved to Minnesota. After residing in Tennessee
for ten months, the mother filed a petition in Tennessee seeking to have the Tennessee
court enforce the Virginia divorce decree with respect to her allegations of contempt and
modify the Virginia decree to name her primary residential parent. The father subsequently
sought to register the Virginia decree in Minnesota. After a hearing, the Tennessee court
found that Virginia had lost exclusive continuing jurisdiction because all parties had left
that state and that Tennessee now had jurisdiction to modify the divorce decree because it
qualified as the child’s home state. However, the Tennessee court declined to exercise its
jurisdiction upon finding that Minnesota would be a more convenient forum for the
litigation, primarily based on the fact that the Virginia divorce decree contained an
agreement of the parties stating that the child would be enrolled in school in Minnesota
upon reaching school age if the father was still residing there. The trial court dismissed
the petition and awarded the father a portion of his attorney fees. The mother appeals,
arguing, among other things, that the trial court erred in its analysis of the statutory factors
under the inconvenient forum statute, erred by dismissing her request for enforcement of
the Virginia decree, and erred by granting the father his attorney fees. We agree and reverse
the trial court’s order of dismissal and its award of attorney fees. This matter is remanded
for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.