Appeal by plaintiffs from order entered nunc pro tunc 25 January 1995 by Judge Kimberly S. Taylor, in Davidson County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 4 December 1995. Theodore M. Molitoris for plaintiff appellants. The central issue on this appeal is whether the trial court applied the proper legal standard in a custody modification decision.
Defendants are the biological parents of the children at issue.
Defendants voluntarily relinquished physical custody of the children in 1989, and legal custody in 1992, to plaintiffs. During the span of plaintiffs' custody, plaintiffs and the children have resided together as a family unit. In 1994, defendants moved the trial court to modify custody, based on alleged material and substantial changes of circumstance. While the trial court has correctly cited the rule from Petersen, it has incorrectly applied Petersen to the instant set of facts. Since the Supreme Court's Petersen ruling, we have interpreted Petersen narrowly.