YONAS M. TESHALE v. FANCHAISAVANH LANEXANG - Articles

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YONAS M. TESHALE v. FANCHAISAVANH LANEXANG

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jan 6, 2026

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1: L. Jeffery Payne and Laurie Young, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Yonas M. Teshale.

Attorneys 2: George Travis Hawkins, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and David L. Scott, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellee, Fanchaisavanh Lanexang.

Judge(s): CLEMENT

This appeal concerns a father’s petition to modify the permanent parenting plan for his two children. After an evidentiary hearing, the juvenile court magistrate entered a plan that modified the residential parenting schedule and gave the mother sole decision-making authority over all educational and non-emergency health care decisions. The father argues that the magistrate did not maximize his participation in the children’s lives as required by Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-6-106(a) and that there was no basis for modifying the allocation of decision-making authority. We affirm the judgment in all respects. We have also determined that the mother, as the prevailing party, is entitled to recover her reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees and expenses incurred on appeal under Tennessee Code Annotated § 36-5-103(c), and remand for the trial court to make the appropriate award.

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