Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: Visitation issue

This question is a bit incoherent, and if the answer here fails to address everything, simply give me a call at my office, but that said, under Tennessee law, the grandparents have no right to visitation they can enforce against you in court.

In fact you might want to specifically prohibit visitation with the grandparents so long as their disruptive comments/behavior continues, though the father would certainly have authority to allow such contact during the time when he is exerciseing his visitation.

The fact that the Marital Dissolution Agreement (which is what I think you are talking about when you mention the "contract" between you and your ex) says visitation will be at his mother's does not really allow you to deny him visitation. You will need to decide whether you are goign to allow him to see the kids someplace OTHER than his mother's or you will need to allow the kids to go to his mother's and put up with his mother's comments.... OR go back to court to have the court amend the Order regarding visitation.... OR face the prospect of having him take YOU to court for contempt for denying visitation (and he is almost certain to win). Also, don't dismiss this possibility as meaningless, since a court can consider denying visitation as a factor in CHANGING custody.

Most judges would put restrictions on the father regarding having the kids around the new girlfriend.... IF you take the issue back to court, or you and the father could prepare an Agreed Order that the judge would likely sign, but you don't get to make these changes all on your lonesome.

Jes Beard

Jes Beard, Attorney at Law

737 Market St., Suite 601