Florida District Courts of Appeal, 2017

Kemberly McAlister, Former Wife v. Mark Paul McAlister, II, Former Husband

Kemberly McAlister, Former Wife v. Mark Paul McAlister, II, Former Husband
Florida District Courts of Appeal · Decided July 14, 2017 · Thomas, Osterhaus, Winsor
221 So. 3d 791; 2017 WL 2988992; 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 10178 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Kemberly McAlister, Former Wife v. Mark Paul McAlister, II, Former Husband

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED.

B.L. THOMAS, C.J., and OSTERHAUS, J., CONCUR; WINSOR, J., CONCURS WITH OPINION.

Concurring Opinion

WINSOR, J;,

concurring.

When Kemberly and Mark McAlister divorced, they could not agree on a custody arrangement for .their six-year-old daughter. The task of resolving that issue was left to the trial judge, who conducted a bench trial. After hearing all the evidence, the trial judge decided that the parents would share time with the daughter equally. The mother appealed, claiming the trial judge should have, given her a greater share.

Among other things, the mother argues it was she who primarily cared for the *792child during the parties’ lengthy separation, it was she who took the child to school every day during the marriage, and it was she who is now better suited to parent the child. From this, the mother concludes that the trial court was wrong to split timesharing equally.

In this case, as in so many more, the trial court faced a difficult decision. Both sides presented legitimate points and arguments. Ultimately, the trial court’s careful consideration led it to the result challenged here. Perhaps other judges facing the same legitimate points and arguments would have reached different conclusions. Perhaps not. But the • law gives judges making these decisions broad discretion, see Hudson v. Hudson, 209 So.3d 656, 658 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017); Witt-Bahls v. Bahls, 193 So.3d 35, 38 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016), and we cannot conclude that the trial judge here abused that discretion. The mother has not met her burden on appeal, so we affirm.

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