Facts: When Mother and Father divorced, their agreed parenting plan designated Mother as the primary residential parent and allotted Father 140 days of parenting time.

At the time of divorce, both parents lived in Sevier County. Shortly thereafter, Mother moved to an apartment in Knoxville. She later remarried and moved into a home with her new husband, also in Knoxville.

Two years later, Mother petitioned to have Father found in contempt for not paying certain medical expenses and other matters.

Father counter-petitioned to change the parenting plan based, in part, on his claim that Mother moved over 50 miles from him without complying with the parental relocation statute.

Mother moved to dismiss Father’s petition because she had not moved over 50 miles from Father’s home. She attached to her motion a printout from Google Maps showing the radial distance between their homes is 39.04 miles, and there is a 49-mile driving distance between their homes.

The trial court found there was a material change of circumstances because Mother moved over 50 miles from her residence at the time of the divorce. The trial court changed the parenting schedule as Father requested.

Mother appealed.

On Appeal: The Court of Appeals found reversible error but affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

Tennessee’s parental relocation statute, found at Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-6-108(a), requires a parent desiring to move outside the state or over 50 miles from the other parent to notify the other parent at least 60 days before the move and, in some cases, obtain permission to move from the court.

Is the 50-mile threshold measured by driving distance or radial mileage, i.e., “as the crow flies”?

The Court addresses that question and the admissibility of Google Maps data:

The Google Maps attached to Mother’s pretrial motion and entered as trial exhibits show that the radial distance between Father’s address in Sevierville in Mother’s address in Knoxville is 39.04 miles, and also indicate that there is a 49-mile driving route between the two. Quite recently, we discussed the emerging consensus on the amenability of Google Maps to judicial notice, at least for the purpose of establishing distance between two points. On appeal, Father does not dispute the accuracy of the Google Maps calculation of radial distance or driving distance, both of which establish that Mother’s relocation was short of the statutory threshold. Consequently, the requirements and standards of [Tennessee’s parental relocation statute] are not applicable, and Mother was entitled to move from Sevierville to Knoxville without seeking Father’s or the trial court’s approval. We reverse the trial court’s finding that Mother moved in excess of 50 miles from her residence at the time of the divorce.

As for how to calculate a distance of more than 50 miles from the other parent within the state, we hold that such distance may be established by proof of radial mileage. Such distance may also be established by proof of driving distance that is 50 or fewer miles.

Even though the trial court’s finding that Mother moved over 50 miles away was reversed, the change of home environment caused by remarriage of both parents was sufficient to meet the low threshold for the material change needed to modify the parenting schedule. The Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment.

K.O.’s Comment: Because the radial distance will always be shorter than the driving distance, doesn’t the driving distance always determine whether the 50-mile threshold is met? If so, who cares what the radial distance is?

Chambers v. Chambers (Tennessee Court of Appeals, Eastern Section, February 4, 2021).

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