Tonya Ray vs. William Ray

This appeal involves a dispute over the custody of three-year-old twins between their biological father and the former husband of their biological mother. The biological father intervened in the divorce proceeding between the twins' mother and her husband in the Circuit Court for Davidson County seeking custody of the children. Following a bench trial, the trial court declared the parties divorced and awarded custody of the parties' two biological children to the mother's former husband. The trial court also concluded that the mother's former husband was comparatively more fit than the twins' biological father to have custody of the twins. In response to the biological father's Tenn. R. Civ. P. 59.04 motion suggesting that it had applied the wrong legal standard when it determined the custody of the twins, the trial court found that placing the twins with their biological father would expose them to a "substantial risk and danger of great harm." On this appeal, the twins' biological father takes issue with the evidentiary foundation of the trial court's refusal to grant him custody of his children. We have determined that the record does not contain clear and convincing evidence to support the trial court's conclusion that placing these children in their biological father's custody will expose them to substantial harm. Accordingly, we vacate the portion of the decree awarding custody of the twins to their biological mother's former husband.