Heinrich W. Oberkirsch v. Janis L. Oberkirsch

This appeal stems from the change of a nine-year-old child's custody. The child was removed from his mother's custody after animal control officers, responding to complaints of animal abuse, discovered deplorable conditions in her home caused by a menagerie of cats. The father filed a petition for change of custody in the Chancery Court for Rutherford County. Following a bench trial, the court granted the father's petition and designated him as the primary residential parent. We agree with the trial court that there was a material change in circumstances warranting modification of the initial custody determination and that it is in the child's best interests for the father to be the primary residential parent.