J. STEVEN STAFFORD, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which DAVID R. FARMER, J., and HOLLY M. KIRBY, J., joined.
This is a divorce case involving issues related to the permanent parenting plan and the division of marital property. The trial court adopted Mother's proposed permanent parenting plan, which provided that the child would attend preschool, against Father's wishes, even though prior to trial Father had been the primary caregiver
Plaintiff/Appellee Katie J. Rountree and Defendant/Appellant Joshua Rountree were married on June 26, 2001. Mr. Rountree was injured in an accident prior to the parties' marriage and is confined to a wheelchair. Because of the pain associated with his injuries, Mr. Rountree was prescribed narcotics, including Oxycodone, and later, Methadone.
The parties' only child, a daughter, was born on June 16, 2008, while the parties were living in Texas. After the birth of the child, Ms. Rountree stayed home with the child for eight weeks and then returned to work as a paralegal. Prior to the birth of the child, Mr. Rountree worked as a legal assistant in his brother's law office; however his brother closed the office to seek a new profession and Mr. Rountree did not seek further employment. Instead, the parties agreed that Mr. Rountree would serve as the primary caregiver of the child in order to allow Ms. Rountree to work.
At some point, Ms. Rountree informed Mr. Rountree that she wanted to return to Tennessee, where both her parents and Mr. Rountree's parents resided. Mr. Rountree agreed and the parties attempted to sell their home. In April of 2009, while the home was still on the market in Texas, Ms. Rountree moved back to Tennessee with the child to pursue a career opportunity. Mr. Rountree stayed behind in Texas for the purpose of selling the parties' home. While in Tennessee, Ms. Rountree and the child lived with Ms. Rountree's parents, who cared for the child during the day after Ms. Rountree took a full time job with a law office. Although the home in Texas sold in July of 2009, Mr. Rountree remained in Texas until September because he did not want to stay in Ms. Rountree's parents' home, which was not wheelchair accessible.
After Mr. Rountree moved to Tennessee, the parties moved into their own apartment. Per the parties' previous arrangement, Mr. Rountree returned to taking primary responsibility for the child during the day while Ms. Rountree worked. After Ms. Rountree came home from work, she would care for the child until bedtime, and Mr. Rountree would care for the child throughout the night.
This arrangement worked for approximately one month; however, on October 20, 2009, an incident occurred that caused Ms. Rountree to question Mr. Rountree's ability to care for the child. This incident occurred after a weekend where Mr. Rountree returned to Texas to refill his Methadone prescription. According to Ms. Rountree, Mr. Rountree became panicked because no local physicians would provide him a Methadone prescription. In order to obtain Methadone, Mr. Rountree traveled back to Texas on a weekend when Ms. Rountree was scheduled to undergo a cancer screening. The cancer screening made Ms. Routnree ill and rendered her unable to care for herself for a number of
Based on this incident, Ms. Rountree filed for an ex parte order of protection on October 22, 2009, asking that Mr. Rountree be restrained from "taking, interfering with or otherwise depriving Petitioner from exercising custody and control of the Parties' minor daughter." The order of protection was granted on the same day, with a hearing scheduled for October 26, 2009. According to the record, no hearing was ever held.
On January 28, 2010, Ms. Rountree filed a complaint for divorce, alleging that Mr. Rountree was guilty of drug or alcohol abuse and inappropriate marital conduct. The complaint asserts that Mr. Rountree "is an able bodied person capable of contributing to the financial support of the minor child of the Parties," and asks that Ms. Rountree be named primary residential parent of the child. Accordingly, Ms. Rountree sought both pendente lite and permanent child support.
On the same day as the filing of the complaint, the record contains an agreed order scheduling Ms. Rountree's motion for pendente lite support and Mr. Rountree's motion to set visitation for hearing. Neither of these motions is contained in the record. Interestingly, the agreed order also states that the cause was heard on January 27, 2010 although no order was subsequently entered on either motion.
The parties entered into another agreed order on April 5, 2010, wherein Mr. Rountree agreed to be restrained from "taking, interfering with or otherwise depriving Petitioner from exercising custody and control of the Parties' minor daughter." However, the agreed order further states that:
According to later testimony, the parties eventually agreed to allow Mr. Rountree to spend parenting time with the child, provided that the visitation was supervised by Ms. Rountree's parents.
The parties appear to have reached another informal agreement in July of 2010 regarding parenting time. This agreement is not memorialized by an order of the court. According to later testimony of the parties, the agreement provided that Mr. Rountree would care for the child on weekdays while Ms. Rountree was at work. Ms. Rountree cared for the child at night and on the weekends. Although the parties were apparently able to come to this agreement without court intervention, later mediation, on October 26, 2010, proved unsuccessful.
A trial was held on November 24, 2010. During this trial, Ms. Rountree testified that she had become concerned by Mr. Rountree's drug use, which she said prompted her to leave Mr. Rountree and move in with her parents. Ms. Rountree admitted, however, that Mr. Rountree's drug usage was under control since the separation and that she no longer questioned Mr. Rountree's ability to care for the child. Ms. Rountree testified that she works approximately forty hours per week at a law firm. Even though she acknowledged that Mr. Rountree resumed caring for the child while she was at work prior to the trial, Ms. Rountree testified that she wants the child to attend preschool when she turns three years old. Ms. Rountree explained that the child needs the socialization and education that preschool can provide. Ms. Rountree also submitted a parenting plan that would allow Mr. Rountree to care for the child during the day until she turns three, at which time she would be enrolled in a preschool. The proposed parenting plan further provides that major decisions regarding education, medical issues, and religion would be made jointly by both parents.
In her testimony, Ms. Rountree also detailed the marital assets, including the cars and retirement accounts, and the debts of the parties, including various medical expenses. Ms. Rountree testified that the child had been receiving social security benefits since the separation. In addition, the child had been awarded a considerable sum for benefits that she should have been receiving since her birth. Ms. Rountree testified that she used that sum to pay off certain debts of the parties, including a $500.00 AT & T bill. In addition, Ms. Rountree testified that, after the sale of the parties' Texas home, the parties received approximately $10,000 in profit. Ms. Rountree testified that she was never aware of what happened to that money, but that it had been put into Mr. Rountree's savings account, over which he maintained exclusive control.
Mr. Rountree, on the other hand, testified that he considers himself the primary caregiver of the child because, even when the child was primarily with Ms. Rountree, Ms. Rountree's parents cared for the child during the day. Mr. Rountree testified that he would like to continue keeping the child during the day because he was concerned that a preschool was really nothing more than a daycare and that "there's nothing she is going to learn in preschool that I haven't already taught her, or will teach her." Mr. Rountree also testified that he would like to spend more time with the child on the weekends, to take her to places like church, although regarding
Mr. Rountree explained that his liabilities each month exceed his assets. One reason his monthly bills are so high is due to his apartment. Mr. Rountree remained in the apartment the parties rented during the separation because the parties had signed a one-year lease. However, when the lease expired, that he was unable to find suitable wheelchair accessible housing and had to sign another year's lease for the three bedroom apartment. Mr. Rountree further testified that the $10,000.00 profit made on the Texas home was used by the parties to pay marital expenses and moving costs.
At the conclusion of the proof, the trial court declared the parties divorced and ordered that they continue with the agreed parenting plan they were currently using. The trial court filed its Memorandum Opinion on December 7, 2010, naming Ms. Rountree primary residential parent and incorporating Ms. Rountree's parenting plan verbatim, with the exception that, instead of giving the parties joint decision making authority with regard to educational and extracurricular decisions, the court found that Ms. Rountree should have sole decision making authority on those issues. The parenting plan provided that Mr. Rountree would have visitation with the child Monday through Friday while Ms. Rountree was at work and overnight visitation on Wednesday nights. The parenting plan further provided that, once the child turned three and was enrolled in preschool, Mr. Rountree's visitation would be Friday evening through Sunday morning every other weekend and from Wednesday morning until Thursday when Ms. Rountree leaves work.
The court also adopted Ms. Rountree's marital property division, which, among other things, allocated the allegedly missing $10,000.00 profit on the Texas home to Mr. Rountree and assigned Ms. Rountree's attorney fees in the amount of $6,080.00 to her as a marital debt. The trial court further found that, in considering Mr. Rountree's prayer for rehabilitative alimony, he does have a need for alimony; however, because Ms. Rountree's expenses exceed her income by over $400.00 per month, the court found that Ms. Rountree did not have the ability to pay. Accordingly, the trial court denied Mr. Rountree's request for alimony. On December 21, 2010 the trial court filed a Final Decree of
On January 19, 2011, Mr. Rountree, having retained a new attorney, filed a motion under Rule 59 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure, to alter or amend the judgment or, in the alternative, for a new trial. In the motion, Mr. Rountree asserted that there was no proof in the record to support the trial court's conclusion that preschool was in the best interest of the child, and that there was no evidence to suggest that Mr. Rountree's prior narcotic use or current physical condition in any way affected his present ability to care for the child. A hearing was held on March 25, 2011. During the hearing, the trial court emphasized that its decision to allow the child to attend daycare was not based on any finding that Mr. Rountree's past narcotic use negatively affected his ability to care for the child, but was due to Mr. Rountree's desire to keep the child to the exclusion of "everybody else in the world." The trial court stated:
On May 3, 2011, the court denied the Rule 59 motion, noting that Mr. Rountree's issues were best determined by an appeal to this Court. Indeed, Mr. Rountree filed his notice of appeal on May 19, 2011. On August 11, 2011, the parties participated in a conference call over an alleged ambiguity regarding the parenting plan. Ms. Rountree asserted that the plan's provision allowing Mr. Rountree visitation from Wednesday morning until Thursday afternoon conflicted with the court's order that Ms. Rountree would have sole decision-making authority over the child's educational decisions, including the decision to put her into preschool. The trial court, by order of August 12, 2011, agreed with Ms. Rountree and ordered that Mr. Rountree would have visitation every other Wednesday from when the child left school, until the child went to school on Thursday morning. The trial judge did not modify Mr. Rountree's weekend visitation. On August 29, 2011, Mr. Rountree filed a motion to supplement the record on appeal to include the August 12, 2011 order. Ms. Rountree filed a motion in opposition on September 2, 2011. This Court granted the motion to supplement the record by order of September 7, 2011, expressly reserving judgment regarding relevance pending oral argument and submission of the case for a decision.
Mr. Rountree raises the following issues for review, which we rephrase:
Because this case was tried by the court sitting without a jury, we review the case de novo upon the record with a
Mr. Rountree first takes issue with the trial court's adoption of Ms. Rountree's parenting plan, as well as the court's modification to provide that only Ms. Rountree may make educational and extracurricular decisions. Mr. Rountree argues that nothing in the record supports the trial court's determination that a parenting plan allowing Mr. Rountree to continue caring for the child during the day was not in the child's best interest. To support his argument, Mr. Rountree argues that the record does not support the trial court's finding that Mr. Rountree "has a great need for the company of his child through the day due to his inability to be gainfully employed and that Father dreads separation from her." From the record, we agree.
In fashioning parenting plans, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 36-6-401 advises courts that:
Recently our legislature amended the child custody statute to include a statement emphasizing this policy. See 2011 Pub. Acts, ch. 433, § 1 (effective June 6, 2011). Tennessee Code Annotated Section 36-6-106(a) now provides, in pertinent part:
Accordingly, Tennessee courts must now fashion custody arrangements so as to give each parent the maximum amount of time possible with the child, in accordance with the child's best interests.
In determining the child's residential schedule, the court must consider the factors set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated
Mr. Rountree first argues that the trial court erred in finding that both parents were the child's primary caregivers. Mr. Rountree points out that, even when Ms. Rountree had custody of the child after the separation, Ms. Rountree's parents primarily cared for the child while Ms. Rountree was at work. The testimony of the parties shows that both parents intended to share caregiver responsibilities and that each parent was the caregiver of the child for approximately half her life (fourteen months for Mr. Rountree and sixteen months for Ms. Rountree). Accordingly, the evidence does not preponderate against the trial court's finding that both parents were the child's primary caregivers.
The largest point of contention between the parties is what course of action best provides for the emotional, developmental, and social needs of the child. Ms. Rountree testified that the child would benefit from the socialization of a preschool environment as she is an only child and has had little opportunity to socialize with children her own age. In contrast, Mr. Rountree hoped to care for and educate the child at home until she went to kindergarten. The trial court found that Mr. Rountree "dreads separation from the child" and characterized Mr. Rountree's desire to care for the child during the day as self-serving.
We note that the trial court made no adverse credibility findings against Mr. Rountree. The only evidence in the record regarding Mr. Rountree's desire to keep the child during the day are the following statements made by Mr. Rountree:
From these statements, the trial court imputes to Mr. Rountree a self-serving motive for keeping the child out of preschool, specifically that he needs the companionship of the child due to what the court deems his "inability to be gainfully employed."
From our review of the record, there is no evidence to support the trial court's finding that Mr. Rountree's motive in keeping the child from preschool is due to his need for the companionship of the child. Considering his testimony as a whole, Mr. Rountree appears to be a loving, though perhaps overprotective, father. The evidence is undisputed that the child is exceptionally intelligent for her age and Mr. Rountree's testimony shows that he actively works to provide the child with stimulation. Mr. Rountree testified that the child knows her alphabet and numbers extremely well for a child of her age, which Ms. Rountree did not dispute. From our review of the record, Mr. Rountree's desire to care for the child himself stems from his belief that the child's best interests are served by continuing the education she receives with him rather than placing her in a preschool.
Ms. Rountree's only explanation for her desire that the child attend preschool states:
Other than this testimony, Ms. Rountree submitted no evidence showing how preschool would be in the best interests of the child, nor did Ms. Rountree introduce any evidence of the proposed preschool. Accordingly, there is no evidence to rebut Mr. Rountree's assertion that he can educate the child as well as a preschool. Considering Ms. Rountree's assertion that the child lacks socialization, the evidence shows that, while the child is not provided with a multitude of playmates, she does interact with other children at parties, church, and the park.
From our review of the evidence, the record contains no evidence that Mr. Rountree "dreads separation from the child" or that Mr. Rountree's motive in keeping the child from preschool is in any way due to Mr. Rountree's "inability to be gainfully employed." Indeed, Mr. Rountree was employed prior to the birth of the parties' child and there is no evidence that he does not have the ability to be employed in the future.
The issue of whether a child should be enrolled in preschool "is largely a matter of fact finding, and requires a determination of what is in the best interest of this child." Curry v. Curry, No. M2007-02446-COA-R3-CV, 2008 WL 4426895, at *15 (Tenn.Ct.App. Sept. 18, 2008). We recognize that "[i]t is not the function of appellate courts to tweak a visitation order in the hopes of achieving a more reasonable result than the trial court." Eldridge v. Eldridge, 42 S.W.3d 82, 88 (Tenn.2001). The Tennessee Supreme Court has stated that in reviewing parenting plans, the appellate court should not reverse unless "the trial court's ruling falls outside the spectrum of rulings that might reasonably result from an application of the correct legal standards to the evidence found in the record." Id. In this case, however, the trial court based its ruling on facts unsupported by the record. As discussed above, there was no basis for the trial court to restrict Mr. Rountree's parenting time so as to accommodate preschool, especially given the express legislative preference that parents receive the maximum time possible with their children. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-6-106(a); see also Hogue v. Hogue, 147 S.W.3d 245 (Tenn.Ct.App.2004) (noting that the "right of the non-custodial parent to reasonable visitation is clearly favored").
From our review of the trial court's order, the decision to adopt Ms. Rountree's proposed permanent parenting plan was based almost exclusively on the trial court's unsupported conclusion that Mr. Rountree has a self-serving motive for his desire to keep the child out of preschool. This Court has previously discussed the duty of the court in fashioning a parenting plan, stating:
Shofner v. Shofner, 181 S.W.3d 703 (Tenn. Ct.App.2004) (internal citations omitted). Despite the requirement that trial court focus on the best interests of the child rather than the frailties of the parent, the trial court's decision to adopt Ms. Rountree's parenting plan focuses almost entirely on Mr. Rountree's alleged need for the companionship of the child, rather than the issue of whether the child's best interests are furthered by enrolling her in preschool.
Mr. Rountree next argues that the trial court erred in its classification and division of marital property.
Mr. Rountree argues that, because he is disabled, is unable to obtain substantial gainful employment and has a low relative
We first conclude that the trial court erred in assigning to Ms. Rountree her $6,080.00 in attorney fees as marital debt. Attorney fees incurred by each party are not marital debt. Hoover v. Hoover, No. 01A01-9706-CV-00245, 1998 WL 97279, *3 (Tenn.Ct.App. March 6, 1998). If the trial court believes that an award of fees is justified after considering the relevant factors provided by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 36-5-101(d)(1) and the parties' ability to pay, then a separate award may be made. Id. We note, however, that, while both Ms. Rountree and Mr. Rountree requested attorney fees in their pleadings, no affidavits were filed to support their claims. Issues may be waived on appeal by the failure to present them at trial. See Waters v. Farr, 291 S.W.3d 873, 918 (Tenn.2009). From our review of the record, we find no stipulation between the parties providing that the issue of attorney fees is to be decided after the resolution of the other actions in this case. See Seals v. Life Investors Ins. Co. of America, No. M2002-01753-COA-R3-CV, 2003 WL 23093844, at *4 (Tenn.Ct.App. Dec. 30, 2003) (noting that the issue of attorney fees was not waived by the party's failure to submit an affidavit of fees during trial only because the parties "stipulated the proof of attorney's fees could be submitted by affidavit after resolution of the [substantive] issue"). Therefore, we conclude that both parties' requests for attorney fees are waived. See also Lyons v. State, 2011 WL 3630330 (Tenn.Crim.App. Aug. 18, 2011) (quoting Brimmer v. State, 29 S.W.3d 497, 530 (Tenn.Crim.App.1998) (noting that an issue is waived "because of a failure to present proof")).
In addition, Ms. Rountree's chart, which was adopted in toto by the trial court, contains a marital debt of $500.00 for an AT & T bill.
Id. at 442. Nothing in the record leads us to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to consider these debts. In addition, Mr. Rountree does not argue that the trial court erred in not considering the debts in the argument section of his appellate brief, nor does he cite any authority to show the that the trial court abused its discretion. The failure "to cite to any authority or to construct an argument regarding [a] position on appeal" constitutes a waiver of the issue on appeal. Newcomb v. Kohler Co., 222 S.W.3d 368, 401 (Tenn.Ct.App.2006); see also Bean v. Bean, 40 S.W.3d 52, 55-56 (Tenn.Ct.App. 2000) ("Courts have routinely held that the failure to make appropriate references to the record and to cite relevant authority in the argument section of the brief as required by Rule 27(a)(7) constitutes a waiver of the issue."). Accordingly, this issue is waived.
In order to determine if this division is equitable, we must also consider the marital assets assigned to each party. Mr. Rountree argues that the trial court erred in not including in the property awarded to Ms. Rountree a $2,000.00 savings account. From the record, it appears that Ms. Rountree did testify that she has $2,000.00 in a savings account; therefore, the evidence preponderates against the trial court's decision to disregard this account in the division of marital property. Accordingly, Ms. Rountree's asset award is increased to $11,285.77.
Mr. Rountree also takes issue with the trial court's award of $10,547.29 to him as profit from the marital home. According to Ms. Rountree this money was deposited in Mr. Rountree's savings account and she did not know what became of the money. However, Mr. Rountree testified that he used the money for living and moving expenses and that he no longer had the money. Again we note that the trial court made no adverse credibility findings against Mr. Rountree. Based on the testimony that Ms. Rountree was unaware of what happened to the money and Mr. Rountree's explanation of how the money was used, we find that the evidence preponderates against the trial court's finding that Mr. Rountree retained the property. Therefore, this amount should not have been awarded in the marital property division. Accordingly, the corrected amount of assets awarded to Mr. Rountree total $22,760.00.
Considering the amount of assets and liabilities properly awarded to each party in the divorce, Mr. Rountree receives a net gain of $2,616.33. Based on a miscalculation
The judgment of the Chancery Court of Maury County is affirmed in part, reversed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. Costs of this appeal are taxed equally to Defendant/Appellant Joshua Rountree, and his surety, and Plaintiff/Appellee Katie J. Rountree, for all of which execution may issue if necessary.