Brossoit

Dee Anna M. Brossoit, the mother of the two children who are the subjects of this proceeding, appeals from an order declining to exercise jurisdiction over her motion to modify child custody. She contends the trial court erred in leaving it to the courts of Tennessee, where her children now live with their paternal grandparents, to determine the merits of the custody issue.

Statement of the Case and Facts

The marriage of appellant and Lawrence Brossoit was dissolved on March 24, 1987. The judgment of dissolution ordered joint legal custody of the couple’s two minor sons, with primary physical custody to the husband and reasonable visitation rights to appellant. Since 1987, the children have lived with their paternal grandmother, Marion Brossoit, who assumed their care.

In 1991, appellant filed an application for an order to show cause for modification of child custody, seeking to obtain physical custody of the children, and obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting the grandmother from removing the children from the state. The grandmother did not leave the state and the matter was apparently not pursued.

On March 12, 1993, appellant filed another application…