The Indiana Court of Appeals sided with Jill A Nabors, denying her ex-husband Scotty G Nabors’s bid to take their son to Virginia. The ruling, issued Thursday, stands firm on two fronts: it grants Jill sole legal custody and primary physical custody, while forcing Scotty to cover her $4,000 in attorney fees. For the father, who built a 26-year career at Cummins, this isn’t just a parenting loss. It’s a geographic exile from his child.
The split stems from a chaotic 2025. Scotty lost his $350,000-a-year job in March, a termination he blames on photos Jill allegedly sent to his employer. She argues his drinking caused the firing. He admitted to drinking 1.75 litres of Jack Daniel’s every one to two weeks but denies doing so on the clock. Unable to find a comparable role in Indiana, he took a $280,000 position at American Woodmark Corporation in Stephens City, Virginia, moving there in August 2025.
Jill moved to Fairmount, Indiana, to be near family. She enrolled their son, born in July 2014, at Park Elementary without Scotty’s consent. The court noted the boy adjusted quickly. He made friends, kept a close buddy from Columbus, and scored all A’s and one B-minus in his first semester. Scotty claimed his grades slipped. The judges disagreed, seeing no reason to uproot the child from his new school and social circle.
The parents’ relationship deteriorated sharply. In May 2025, Scotty pulled the boy out of school without telling Jill or the staff. When she couldn’t reach him, she called police for a welfare check. Scotty later admitted the error. The appeals court reviewed this conduct alongside the income disparity—Scotty earns roughly $5,384 weekly compared to Jill’s $825—to justify the legal fee award. The trial court’s March 2026 decision now holds.
Scotty can no longer fight the custody split or the fee order. He retains revised parenting time, but the boy stays in Indiana. The next step involves implementing the court-approved visitation schedule, with no further appeals available on these specific grounds.