Case Title: Crary v. Curtis

Citation: 199 N.W.2d 319

Docket Number: 

State: iowa

Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Date: 1972-07-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
199 N.W.2d 319 (1972) Sue Evans CRARY, Appellee, v. Maury Wetzel CURTIS, Appellant. No. 55395. Supreme Court of Iowa. July 18, 1972. *320 Simmons, Perrine, Albright & Ellwood, Cedar Rapids, for appellant. Leff, Leff & Leff, Iowa City, for appellee. REYNOLDSON, Justice. On May 18, 1971, plaintiff mother filed application to modify divorce decree, seeking to secure custody of three children from defendant father. Defendant sought modification of other decree provisions, including visitation rights. Each party demanded the other be found in contempt of court and appropriately punished. Trial court on August 6, 1971, modified the decree, awarded plaintiff custody of the two younger children and child support, found defendant in contempt, and imposed no penalty. Both parties appeal. We modify in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions. These parties were married March 13, 1954. When the divorce was granted on July 1, 1970, custody of the three children, James, age 15, Lacy, age 13 and John, age 10 was awarded to defendant with extensive visitation rights accorded plaintiff. The decree incorporated by reference a detailed stipulation prepared by counsel for these parties, which provided plaintiff should foster and assist to restore the children's acceptance of the custody arrangement, and that she should refrain from all statements, conduct, or action influencing the children against their father. There was evidence to support defendant's claim this provision was necessary because plaintiff had partially alienated the children from him in the pre-divorce conflict. The defendant's payments to plaintiff of $4000 within seven days following the divorce, $3000 on July 15, 1971, and $3000 on July 15, 1972, were contingent upon plaintiff's good faith compliance with the letter and spirit of those provisions of the decree binding upon her. His failure to pay the second installment of this property settlement was the basis upon which trial court found him in contempt. Plaintiff's failure to comply with the provisions of the decree, including those set out above, furnished grounds for defendant's application to have her cited for contempt, and his assigned reason for failing to make payment. Plaintiff remarried ten days after the divorce; defendant remarried after this matter was submitted below. The parties stipulated the latter fact could be considered by trial court. I. It was plaintiff's burden to show by a preponderance of the evidence conditions had so materially and substantially changed since the decree that the welfare of these children made expedient or required their custody be awarded to her. Huffman v. Huffman, 176 N.W.2d 859 (Iowa 1970). We have held changed circumstances relied on to obtain modification must be such as were not within the knowledge or contemplation of the court when the decree was entered. Alex v. Alex, 161 N.W.2d 192 (Iowa 1968). The parent seeking to take custody from the other must show some superior claim based on his or her ability to minister, not equally, but more, effectively to the child's well being. Spotts v. Spotts, 197 N.W.2d 370 (Iowa 1972); Schulz v. Schulz, 195 N.W.2d 131 (Iowa 1972). An extended factual recital would serve no purpose. After carefully studying *321 the long record we conclude plaintiff did not sustain the burden imposed upon her. Certainly her remarriage was contemplated by the stipulating parties, and from the divorce testimony, by the court when custody was then awarded. Defendant's present wife is shown by the record to have a good rapport with the children. Trial court found both homes to be good from a material standpoint and neither one an unfit or improper place for the children. Plaintiff, apparently realizing no material change of circumstances exists, attacks the custody terms of the divorce decree (entered on recorded testimony and her stipulation), invoking our basic rule the first and governing consideration must be the best interest of the child. Raabe v. Raabe, 191 N.W.2d 551 (Iowa 1971); rule 344(f)(15), Rules of Civil Procedure. Particularly relevant in this factual setting is our language in Simpkins v. Simpkins, 256 Iowa 989, 992-993, 129 N.W.2d 723, 725 (1964): Plaintiff seeks all the advantages of the stipulation and decree secured for her by the same competent counsel representing her here. But from the beginning she obviously intended noncompliance with those decree provisions she thought burdensome. She initiated a campaign to undermine the discipline and routine in defendant's home. She sought to control the daily lives of these children in person and by lengthy daily telephone calls, exhibiting a solicitude not apparent when she left the children alone at night and for days at a time before the divorce. See McNamara v. McNamara, 181 N.W.2d 206 (Iowa 1970). She continually encouraged visitation in her home (in the same city) beyond the too-extensive visitation rights granted by the decree. She solicited the children's assistance in removing by stealth from defendant's home personal property awarded him by the decree. These endeavors resulted in the typical split-custody disadvantages noted in our prior decisions. In Smith v. Smith, 257 Iowa 584, 588, 133 N.W.2d 677, 679 (1965) we said: Neither party is faultless in this matter. Both have made harsh statements concerning the other in the presence of the children. As usual, the children are caught in the cross-fire. There is no indication the original custody award to defendant, absent plaintiff's decree violations, would not be for the children's best interest. Threading through the record are indications of the mother's immaturity, instability and disregard for truth and honesty, both before and after the divorce. She has since assumed, by adoption, the responsibility of rearing her present husband's three children. II. Plaintiff demanded defendant be held in contempt for alleged refusal to deliver certain items of personal property, refusal to permit her a two-week summer visitation, and failing to pay the 1971 $3000 property settlement installment. Trial court found defendant guilty of contempt in these particulars "by a preponderance of the evidence." The court found such failure *322 resulted in part from advice of counsel and in part from willful conduct. The burden of proof in contempt is not merely, "preponderance of the evidence." Proof of contempt must be clear, satisfactory and convincing. American Security Benev. Ass'n, Inc. v. District Court, 259 Iowa 983, 147 N.W.2d 55 (1966); Harkins v. Harkins, 256 Iowa 207, 127 N.W.2d 87 (1964). While we give weight to trial court's findings we are not bound by them. Huston v. Huston, 255 Iowa 543, 122 N.W.2d 892 (1963). This record does not support a finding by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence that defendant willfully failed to provide a two-week visitation in the summer of 1971 (such a visitation did occur) or that he refused to deliver personal property (it was tendered). His failure to pay the installment of $3000 followed plaintiff's willful refusal to cooperate in the custody, arrangement, which under the decree was a condition precedent to the payment obligation. While his decision to withhold payment without prior request for court approval or decree modification is not condoned, we do not find his conduct contemptuous under these circumstances. We cannot, however, approve conditioning property settlement payments upon plaintiff's compliance with trial court's decree. Respect for an order should not be the subject of litigant bargaining adopted by the court; nor should conformity be coerced by reward. We therefore modify the decree in this respect. III. On the other hand, plaintiff's willful failure to follow the terms of the decree is demonstrated by clear, satisfactory and convincing evidence. The personal property she removed and induced the children to remove from defendant's home was awarded to him, as she well knew. Even after her lawyer advised her it should be returned promptly, she refused to comply. Turning to the custody arrangement, she testified on cross-examination: The announced intention of plaintiff to violate the decree was implemented by her conduct, summarized above. She further testified, "I have kept in close contact with the children particularly Lacy, and have talked almost daily with her on the phone. A lot of these conversation were lengthy. I am sure Lacy sometimes would report to me after Mr. Curtis had talks with the children. * * * I have from time to time told the children directly what they should do rather than go through Mr. Curtis or his housekeeper." We find and hold plaintiff to be in contempt for willful failure to conform to the decree. IV. We hold, and it is ordered and adjudged: Modified in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions. All Justices concur, except REES, J., who takes no part.