Title: In Re Marriage of Quirk-Edwards

State: iowa

Issuer: Iowa Supreme Court

Document:

509 N.W.2d 476 (1993) In re the Marriage of Lori A. QUIRK-EDWARDS and Kirk R. Edwards. Upon the Petition of Lori A. Quirk-Edwards, Appellant, And Concerning Kirk R. Edwards, Appellee. No. 93-09. Supreme Court of Iowa. December 22, 1993. Richard H. Zimmerman of Zimmerman Law Office, Iowa City, for appellant. John Wunder, Muscatine, and Kirk R. Edwards, pro se, for appellee. Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and LARSON, CARTER, SNELL, and TERNUS, JJ. SNELL, Justice. This appeal is from a modification of a dissolution decree whereby the physical custody of the parties' child was changed from the mother to the father. We affirm. In this equity action, involving the modification of child custody, our review is de novo. Iowa R.App.P. 4. Lori A. Quirk-Edwards and Kirk R. Edwards were married on June 22, 1990. In March 1991, their child Bryce was born. The marriage was dissolved by the court's decree entered on January 31, 1992. During the hearings on the dissolution of marriage, considerable animosity between Kirk and Lori was evident. A disagreement on naming their child culminated in a decision by our court filed on August 25, 1993. See In re Matter of Quirk, 504 N.W.2d 879 (Iowa 1993). The dissolution court awarded joint legal custody and gave physical custody to Lori *477 Quirk, subject to reasonable visitation rights reserved to Kirk Edwards. The court further found as follows: Less than four months after the decree, Kirk was notified through Lori's attorney that she was moving from Muscatine, Iowa, to Colorado. On learning of Lori's plans to leave the Iowa jurisdiction, Kirk wrote to her attempting to set up his extended visitation for June 2, 1992 to June 7, 1992. That visitation was thwarted by Lori citing Bryce's seizures, hospitalization and a misunderstanding. On June 9, Lori moved to Colorado taking with her Bryce and Brianna, her child by another father. Kirk then filed the application for modification of custody considered here. Judge James R. Havercamp in hearing the matter extensively reviewed the evidence and findings of Judge John A. Nahra, who ruled in the decree of dissolution. He noted that Judge Nahra expressed concern about Lori's past motives in restricting parental contact with the two minor children in her physical custody. He noted her continuing reluctance to cooperate as a joint custodian with the other noncustodial parent in making decisions. In resolving the issue of physical custody, Judge Nahra had said: Regarding the week visitation period requested by Kirk for June 2 the parties dispute the reasons for its not being effected. On May 28 Bryce suffered two seizures from a high fever, was taken to and released from the hospital. No restrictions were placed on his activities. Lori notified Kirk of the problem and Kirk was present at the hospital. Lori had not objected to the planned visitation starting on June 2 either before the seizures occurred or at the hospital. However, when Kirk arrived on June 2 to pick up Bryce for one week, he claims Lori refused to relinquish Bryce because of medical complications. He declined her offer of limited daily visitation fearing that to accept would cost him his right to a week of custody later. Lori asserts that Kirk was ambivalent about taking Bryce when he was ill and so declined to exercise the week long visitation. Kirk's application for a finding that Lori was in contempt was rejected by Judge Havercamp, who believed it was not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Lori deliberately and wilfully disobeyed the court's visitation order. Lori left Iowa on June 9 arriving in Colorado on June 12, approximately one week after the prior planned visitation would have ended. She was advised by her doctor that the seizures were probably the result of fever from an ear infection and were unlikely to *478 recur. Bryce had no medical problems from the trip. On June 15 and 18 Bryce was seen by doctors at hospitals for recurrent febrile seizures. He was put on medication and Lori was told there was probably no significant medical problem. On June 19, Kirk drove to Thornton, Colorado to visit Bryce for his regularly scheduled weekend visitation. He made no call in advance; Lori was surprised to see him about 7:00 p.m. Lori told Kirk that Bryce was too ill to be seen then. Kirk was able to exercise three hours visitation the next day. While in Colorado Kirk notified all doctors and hospitals providing treatment for Bryce of his name and address and that he had insurance coverage for his son in the name of Bryce Edwards, the name determined by the trial court. Lori submits claims for medical care in the name of Bryce Quirk, the name chosen by her and says that Kirk has failed to provide medical insurance as ordered by the court. Welfare thus pays Bryce's expenses in Colorado. Judge Havercamp viewed this as an example of Lori's concern for herself rather than for Bryce's welfare. Dr. Ruth Evans, who holds a Ph.D in child psychology, testified at both the dissolution and modification hearings. At the time of the initial divorce hearing, she recommended physical custody of Bryce, then eight months old, remain with Lori. She qualified this by suggesting a review in six months when she thought some very basic unknowns would be determined. Her concerns were that Lori's dependency needs, possessiveness, and somewhat negative focus represented compromised parental capacity on her part. She recalled these concerns at the modification hearing: However, at the modification hearing she recommended a change of custody to the father, noting: Dr. Evans stated that she had no reservations about Kirk's ability to be the primary caregiver for Bryce. Reinforcement of the analysis that Lori rejected Kirk's involvement in Bryce's life came from Lori's own therapist. She thought that Lori perceived the father of her children as harmful to them. Dr. Evans viewed Lori's original naming of Bryce as Quirk, rather than the surname Edwards, and her resistance to Kirk's attempt to change the name, as an indication of Lori's efforts to minimize the father's involvement with Bryce. Related to this issue is the stance taken by Lori toward the father of her older child, Brianna. When the trial court awarded joint legal custody and visitation rights to Brianna's father, Lori appealed on both issues. She argued that the parties' inability to communicate justified a denial of joint custody and the visitation granted was excessive. The Iowa Court of Appeals rejected both of these claims in an unpublished opinion. In considering custody matters we follow the directions of the legislature in Iowa Code section 598.41 (1991). Subsection 1 includes the following prescription: *479 When joint legal custody is considered, a statutory factor under section 598.41(3)(b) is: "Whether the psychological and emotional needs and development of the child will suffer due to lack of active contact with and attention from both parents." Section 598.1(1) defines "best interest of the child" as follows: There are several important factors we consider in determining whether removal of a child from the jurisdiction by the custodial parent should be prevented. They include "the reason for removal, location, distance, comparative advantages and disadvantages of the new environment, impact on the children, and impact on the joint custodial and access rights of the other parent." In re Marriage of Frederici, 338 N.W.2d 156, 160 (Iowa 1983). In concluding that there were insufficient grounds to deny removal in Frederici, our court emphasized that there was no hint in the record that the move by the custodial mother was motivated by a desire to defeat the father's visitation rights or undermine his relationship with his children. Id. Citing these guidelines, Judge Havercamp found that Lori's apartment in Thornton, Colorado, was large enough, well furnished, and adequate for a family of three. However, Lori was not employed, did not attend school, and had no family except a brother or friends located in the area. She receives less AFDC in Colorado than she received in Iowa. Although Kirk was a joint legal custodian of Bryce, Lori failed to immediately notify him of her address in Colorado or her telephone number where she could be located. There is no assertion made in this case that Lori has not adequately provided care for Bryce. The sole issue is the legal effect of Lori's conduct regarding the contact between Bryce and his father through visitation rights. Judge Havercamp, analyzing Lori's motivations, found: In seeking physical custody of Bryce, Kirk showed he has available a comfortable two-bedroom, story-and-a-half home on three *480 acres in Letts, Iowa. Next door is a day care center and school facilities are near by. Kirk is employed as a county jailer and has extensive emergency medical training. He testified he would allow Lori liberal visitation rights and also afford her parental and extended family contact with Bryce. Judge Havercamp recognized that a change of custody would create some problems, particularly because of Bryce's good relationship with Brianna, his half-sister. Siblings in dissolution actions should be separated only for compelling reasons. See In re Marriage of Gonzales, 373 N.W.2d 152, 155 (Iowa App. 1985); In re Marriage of Mayer, 347 N.W.2d 681, 684 (Iowa App.1984). The principle has also been recognized as having application to half siblings. See In re Marriage of Hunt, 476 N.W.2d 99, 102 (Iowa App.1991); In re Marriage of Orte, 389 N.W.2d 373, 374 (Iowa 1986). Notwithstanding these authorities the trial court found that Lori's continued physical custody and attempts to limit Bryce's contact with his father adversely effects her ability to properly parent Bryce. We have considered the adverse effect of the custodial parent's interference with the rights of the noncustodial parent in other contexts. In re Marriage of Udelhofen, 444 N.W.2d 473, 474-75 (Iowa 1989) (custody changed to father based on outrageous conduct by mother disparaging father to his child); In re Marriage of Leyda, 355 N.W.2d 862, 866 (Iowa 1984) (custody changed from mother to father based on proof of alienation of child from father); In re Marriage of Wedemeyer, 475 N.W.2d 657, 659 (Iowa App. 1991) (campaign of vindictiveness against father to alienate children justified change of custody). Claims of denied visitation rights have usually been included with other charges of misconduct by the custodial parent. See, e.g., In re Marriage of Vrban, 359 N.W.2d 420, 425-26 (Iowa 1984) (credibility of witnesses weighed heavily in finding evidence insufficient to change custody although custodial parent isolated children from their father and moved to Colorado, given the mother's greater parenting skills); Langner v. Mull, 453 N.W.2d 644, 649 (Iowa App. 1990) (refusal to cooperate in ensuring visitation rights and criminal behavior and violence of husband of custodial parent provided grounds for change of custody); In re Marriage of Downing, 432 N.W.2d 692, 694-95 (Iowa App.1988) (interference with noncustodial parent's relationship with child, removal from state, loss of special program for child and remarried father's more stable home justified changing custody). In contrast, we here have a situation where we are considering only the impact of interference with the visitation rights of the noncustodial parent on the child. If visitation rights of the noncustodial parent are jeopardized by the conduct of the custodial parent, such acts could provide an adequate ground for a change of custody. In re Marriage of Gratias, 406 N.W.2d 815, 817-18 (Iowa App.1987) (future interference, even after initial custody decision, with the development of normal, healthy relationships between father and his daughters may serve as grounds for modification of custody). Judge Havercamp concluded the evidence was overwhelming that Lori willfully sought to deprive Kirk of court-ordered visitation and there was no evidence that she had any interest in changing or improving this condition. Based on this alone, the court determined by a preponderance of the evidence that a permanent material change of circumstances occurred adversely affecting Bryce which required a change of physical custody of Bryce from Lori Quirk to Kirk Edwards. The court so ordered with reasonable and liberal visitation rights reserved to Lori Quirk. Our de novo review leads us to the same conclusion as the trial court. The decision is affirmed. AFFIRMED.