## Facts

- Anthony Keith Eldridge (father) and Julia Edith Eldridge (mother) divorced in 1992 and agreed to joint custody of their minor daughters, Andrea and Taylor.
- In 1994, the mother sought a structured visitation schedule; the father responded by seeking sole custody.
- The mother was in a live-in same-sex relationship with Lisa Franklin during the post-divorce proceedings.
- In July 1995, the trial court awarded the father sole custody and appointed Dr. James Granger as Special Master to counsel the family and recommend visitation terms.
- Dr. Granger reported counseling was unsuccessful in producing a visitation agreement.
- The trial court appointed a guardian ad litem, who recommended that regular visitation with the mother was essential and supported progressively expanded weekend visitation.
- The trial court ultimately ordered unrestricted overnight visitation for the mother with Taylor and did not bar the presence of the mother’s partner.
- Only the visitation arrangement for Taylor remained disputed in the appellate proceedings.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by ordering unrestricted overnight visitation with the mother, including in the presence of her same-sex partner.
2. Under Tennessee law, whether restrictions on a parent’s visitation based on sexual orientation or cohabitation may be imposed without specific evidence of adverse impact on the child.

## Decision

- The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the trial court’s visitation order.
- The Court held the record did not support a finding that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting unrestricted overnight visitation.
- The Court concluded the Court of Appeals improperly reweighed the evidence and substituted its judgment for the trial court’s fact-intensive determination.
- The Court found no evidentiary basis to restrict visitation based on the mother’s relationship or the partner’s presence absent proof of harm or likely harm to Taylor.

## Legal Principles

- Visitation decisions are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard; a trial court’s ruling is upheld so long as reasonable minds can disagree about its propriety.
- A trial court abuses its discretion when it applies an incorrect legal standard, reaches an illogical conclusion, relies on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence, or uses reasoning that causes injustice.
- Restrictions on a parent’s visitation must be supported by evidence that the conduct at issue adversely affects the child’s welfare.
- A parent’s sexual orientation or cohabitation, standing alone, is not a sufficient basis for imposing restrictive visitation conditions absent proof of detriment to the child.

## Conclusion

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated unrestricted overnight visitation, holding that appellate courts must defer to trial courts’ visitation determinations absent an abuse of discretion and that visitation limits tied to a parent’s same-sex relationship require evidence of adverse impact on the child.


Eldridge v. Eldridge, 42 S.W.3d 82 (Tenn. 2001)