Riddick v. Riddick

• Decision Date: 07 February 1973
• Citation: 497 S.W.2d 740
• Parties: Betty Jane Neal RIDDICK (Terry), v. Danny Joe RIDDICK. Betty Jane TERRY, Appellant, v. Mr. and Mrs. D. J. RIDDICK, Appellees.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals

Page 740

497 S.W.2d 740

Betty Jane Neal RIDDICK (Terry), v. Danny Joe RIDDICK.

Betty Jane TERRY, Appellant, v. Mr. and Mrs. D. J. RIDDICK, Appellees.

Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Western Section.

Feb. 7, 1973.

Rehearing Denied March 5, 1973.

Certiorari denied by Supreme Court July 16, 1973.

Dwayne D. Maddox, Huntingdon, Edward Witt Chandler, McKenzie, for appellant.

W. H. Lassiter, Maddox, Lassiter & Jones, Huntingdon, for appellees.

MATHERNE, Judge.

The petitioner Betty Jane Riddick Terry seeks the custody of her two minor children, Diana, age 8 years and David, age 7 years, which children had previously been placed in the custody of their father, Dr. Danny Joe Riddick, who was killed in an automobile accident on May 26, 1972. The petition for change of custody was filed on June 1, 1972, in the original divorce action styled Betty Jane Riddick v. Danny Joe Riddick in the Chancery Court of Carroll County, Tennessee. On June 24, 1972, the mother also filed in the same chancery court a petition for writ of habeas corpus against Mr. & Mrs. D. J. Riddick, the father and mother of Dr. Danny Joe Riddick, deceased, which parties the petitioner alleged were illegally restraining her two minor children. A writ was issued to have the body of each child before the Court on June 24, 1972, at 10:00 a.m. At the June 24, 1972 hearing on the writ of habeas corpus, Honorable Aaron C. Brown, Chancellor recused himself, and requested of the Supreme Court of Tennessee the appointment of a chancellor to hear the matter on June 28, 1972, at 9:00 a.m. Chancellor Brown did commit the custody of the two children to the mother, Betty Jane Riddick Terry, until the date of the hearing on June 28, 1972, because of the change in circumstances since the final divorce decree entered in the original lawsuit of Riddick v. Riddick.

On June 28, 1972, Honorable Grooms Herron, Chancellor by interchange, consolidated the petition for change of custody and the hearing on writ of habeas corpus, and after a hearing on the merits did enter a decree vesting the custody of the two minor children in their paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Riddick, and dismissed the writ of habeas corpus. The Chancellor further decreed the petitioner would have reasonable visitation privileges with her children, but the petitioner was enjoined from having the children in the presence or company of Raymond Terry, Jr. at any time. The decree further provided for the establishment of a trust for the preservation of approximately $188,000 from certain life insurance policies on the life of Dr. Riddick. The petitioner on appeal attacks that part of the decree which denied her custody of the children and vested custody in the paternal grandparents.

The facts establish the original divorce decree was entered on December 1, 1969, which granted Dr. Riddick a divorce on the ground of adultery. The record further establishes the party with whom the petitioner, Dr. Riddick's wife, committed adultery was Raymond Terry, Jr. The petitioner testified in the present lawsuit that she and Raymond Terry, Jr., were married in the State of Mississippi in the month of January, 1970.

The petitioner presented proof from which it could be concluded that she and Raymond Terry, Jr. own a comfortable new colonial type home located on 150 acres of land in the Cedar Grove community of Carroll County. The parties have some money on savings, and are farming the land. The attorneys stated on oral argument that Mr. Terry is now employed as the manager of a restaurant, that having been his occupation prior to moving to the farm. The petitioner established to the satisfaction of this Court that she and Raymond Terry, Jr. have the means to financially support and care for the children. The petitioner also established to the satisfaction of this Court that she has conducted herself in a proper manner since returning to Carroll County with Raymond Terry Jr. in the summer of 1971. The petitioner has also satisfied this Court that she loves her children and that they love her.

Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Riddick, the paternal grandparents, are 63 and 64 years of age, respectively. Their home is at Humboldt, Tennessee, where Mr. Riddick is in the business of selling electrical appliances and furniture. These parties convince the Court they have the financial means to support the children, and they have the welfare of the children at heart. The Riddicks have lived in the home of their son, Dr. Riddick, at Huntingdon, Tennessee since January, 1972 for the purpose of Mrs. Riddick looking after the children. Mr. Riddick drives from Huntingdon to Humboldt to attend to his business. The record is not clear, but we conclude these parties plan to live in Humboldt with the children. The grandparents are people of good reputation and are competent physically, mentally and morally to have the custody of the children. We would observe that Mr. Riddick, the grandfather, displays a non-compromising, unforgiving attitude accompanied by a quick temper which is not appreciated by this Court in the light of the best interest of these children.

In lawsuits involving the custody of minor children, the determinative issue is the welfare of the children. Our Supreme Court in Smith v. Smith (1949) 188 Tenn. 430, 436, 220 S.W.2d 627, 629, stated: 'Under...