Paula Jean Holley v. James Franklin Holley, III, 420 S.W.3d 756

July 2008 divorce in the Fourth Circuit Court for Knox County; permanent parenting plan gave Mother primary custody and Father 80 days of co-parenting time.
Mother moved to North Dakota; Father remained in Knoxville; children temporarily with Father for the 2009 school year.
June 2010 Father filed a petition to modify custody, alleging the children had developmental and behavioral issues and that Mother neglected their needs; ex parte order transferred custody to Father.
April 2012 Mother moved to dismiss, arguing the petition invoked exclusive juvenile court jurisdiction for dependency and neglect.
July 2012 Trial Court dismissed, holding juvenile court exclusive original jurisdiction over dependency/neglect claims; Father appealed.
Appellate court held the petition did not allege dependency and neglect as defined by statute and that the circuit court retained subject matter jurisdiction; case remanded to proceed consistent with the opinion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether petition invoked juvenile court jurisdiction for dependency/neglect	Holley contends petition alleges dependency/neglect.	Holley argues petition does not allege dependency/neglect and thus circuit court jurisdiction exists.	Petition did not allege dependency/neglect; circuit court had jurisdiction; reversed.

Brown v. Brown, 281 S.W.2d 492 (Tenn. 1955) (general principle re jurisdiction and void orders without subject matter jurisdiction)
SunTrust Bank v. Johnson, 46 S.W.3d 216 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000) (subject matter jurisdiction and court authority principles)
Staats v. McKinnon, 206 S.W.3d 541 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2006) (procedure for determining scope of subject matter jurisdiction)
Toms v. Toms, 98 S.W.3d 140 (Tenn. 2003) (definition and scope of subject matter jurisdiction)
Meighan v. U.S. Sprint Communications Co., 924 S.W.2d 632 (Tenn. 1996) (jurisdictional framework and proper court for certain actions)