Jade Ashley Center (Now Tankersley) v. Kendra Renea Center

── Jade Ashley Center (Now Tankersley) v. Kendra Renea Center ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: May 20, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 340 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION III No. CV-25-671 JADE ASHLEY CENTER (NOW Opinion Delivered May 20, 2026 TANKERSLEY) APPEAL FROM THE OUACHITA APPELLANT COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 52DR-23-13] V. HONORABLE RYAN PHILLIPS, KENDRA RENEA CENTER JUDGE APPELLEE AFFIRMED WENDY SCHOLTENS WOOD, Judge Jade Tankersley (Jade) appeals a custody and visitation order of the Ouachita County Circuit Court regarding Minor Child (MC) (DOB 07/27/21), who was born during Jade’s marriage to Kendra Center (Kendra). Jade raises four points on appeal. The first is that the circuit court’s order includes clearly erroneous findings, and the second is that the circuit court clearly erred in issuing a custody order that materially modified the parties’ initial custodial roles. Jade also argues two points in her challenge to the circuit court’s denial of her motion for new trial: the court wrongly concluded that the parties had not filed the schedule for possession, and it awarded custody without all the necessary parties. We affirm. I. Facts  Jade and Kendra married in October 2019. MC, who was conceived through artificial insemination, was born on July 27, 2021. Both parties are identified as parents on MC’s birth certificate—Jade as “MOTHER” and Kendra as “PARENT II.” On January 10, 2023, Jade filed a pro se complaint for divorce, which stated that the parties had “voluntarily entered into a verified Marital Settlement Agreement, dated the 19th day of November, 2022 . . . . [that] provides for the settlement of all of the issues related to their marriage, including support, custody, and parenting time for their minor child[.]” The marital settlement agreement is actually a document titled “PROPERTY SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT” (PSA). One month later, on February 21, 2023, the circuit court entered an agreed divorce decree that incorporated and merged the PSA into the decree by reference. Relevant sections of the PSA parenting plan provides the following: VII. PARENTING PLAN: JOINT LEGAL CUSTODY WITH PRIMARY PHYSICAL CUSTODY: Jade Ashley Center and Kendra Renea Center shall each share jointly the legal custody and care of our minor child(ren) with Jade Ashley Center to have the primary physical custody of [MC]. .... Jade Ashley Center shall be the primary custodial parent for [MC]. The primary custodial parent shall have sole right to establish the primary residence and further shall have the following exclusive rights and duties to: the power to consent to the marriage, to medical, dental, and surgical treatment involving invasive procedures, and to psychiatric and psychological treatment; the power to represent the child(ren) in legal action and make other decisions of substantial legal significance concerning the child(ren), except when a guardian of the child’s estate or a guardian or attorney ad litem has been appointed for the child(ren), a power as an agent of the 2  child(ren) to act in relations to the child’s estate if the child(ren)’s action is required by a state, the United States, or a foreign government. Kendra Renea Center, as the non-custodial parent shall have the right to physical possession of the child(ren), AT ALL TIMES MUTUALLY AGREED upon by the parties and failing agreement, at such specific times and places as are set