Armstrong v. Armstrong
Armstrong v. Armstrong
Opinion
This is a child custody modification case.
The parties were divorced in February 1985 with the parties being awarded joint care, custody, and control of their six-year-old daughter. Primary care was granted to the mother. The father filed his original motion to modify child custody in October 1985, and the motion was held without service in the clerk's office at the father's request. On May 27, 1986 the father amended his petition, and service of the original petition and of the amended petition was had upon the mother on May 29, 1986. Therein, the father sought the modification of the divorce judgment by an award to him of the exclusive custody of the child on the alleged ground that the mother cohabited with one Carswell while the minor child was in the home. A lengthy ore tenus trial was conducted before the trial court and a judgment was entered in November 1986 which dismissed the father's motion for modification. His timely appeal was only recently submitted to us for our decision. He raises two issues.
We have carefully studied the entire record and find therefrom that the trial court would have been fully justified by the mother's testimony in deciding that the sexual indiscretions of the mother did not have a substantial detrimental effect upon the welfare of the child. Custody will not be modified because of evidence of indiscreet conduct, sexual or otherwise, by a custodial parent unless that conduct had a substantial detrimental effect upon the *Page 29
welfare of the child. Wester, 500 So.2d at 1107; Smith v.Smith,
Additionally, there was evidence of improvements which had been made in the child's development while she has been in the mother's primary care since the divorce. Briefly, it consisted of testimony that the child was an all-A student in the second grade, that she had perfect attendance at school that year, that the daughter has developed emotionally in a positive manner, and that she is considerably more mature. She possesses above average intelligence for an eight-year-old third grader. The minor daughter is happy with her mother. The father's discipline of the child is lax, while the mother reasonably disciplines her. In short, tendencies of the evidence were to the effect that a change in custody would neither materially promote the child's best interests nor would any positive good which might be occasioned by granting exclusive custody to the father offset the disruptive effect of uprooting the child. While there was conflicting evidence as to some factual issues, there was evidence before the trial court which supported its decision. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to modify the child custody provisions of the divorce judgment, and we find no fault with that holding.
We affirm.
The foregoing opinion was prepared by Retired Circuit Judge EDWARD N. SCRUGGS while serving on active duty status as a judge of this court under the provisions of section
AFFIRMED.
All the Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John W. Armstrong v. Regina Armstrong.
- Cited By
- 6 cases
- Status
- Published