Court Upholds Mother’s Parental Rights

The Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a trial court’s ruling that termination of a mother’s parental rights was not in the best interest of the children. In 2002, a Bradley County couple divorced and entered into a parenting plan for their two minor children. The mother was incarcerated in 2003 after pleading guilty to attempted second degree murder of the father. The mother and father entered into an amended parenting plan stipulating that they would follow the original plan upon the mother’s release from prison. In 2009, the father remarried and sought to terminate the mother’s parental rights. The Supreme Court reversed a Court of Appeals ruling that the father and stepmother established clear and convincing evidence that the termination was in the best interest of the children.