Case Name: Misty Shea Shepard HAMILTON, Appellant, v. James Ray HAMILTON, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1999-11-30
Citations: 755 So. 2d 528
Docket Number: No. 1998-CA-01905-COA
Parties: Misty Shea Shepard HAMILTON, Appellant, v. James Ray HAMILTON, Appellee.
Judges: BEFORE KING, P.J., DIAZ, AND IRVING, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 755
Pages: 528–533

Head Matter:
Misty Shea Shepard HAMILTON, Appellant, v. James Ray HAMILTON, Appellee.
No. 1998-CA-01905-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Nov. 30, 1999.
Barbara Miller Dollarhide, Grady F. Tollison, Jr., Oxford, Attorneys for Appellant.
Ben F. Horan, Horn Lake, Attorney for Appellee.
BEFORE KING, P.J., DIAZ, AND IRVING, JJ.

Opinion:
DIAZ, J.,
for the Court:
¶ 1. James Ray Hamilton sued for a divorce from Misty Shea Shepard Hamilton on the grounds of adultery. Misty then countersued . for divorce on the grounds of habitual, cruel and inhuman treatment of her or, in the alternative, mental abuse and under the statutory grounds of irreconcilable differences. The chancellor granted a divorce to James on the grounds of adultery. The trial judge awarded joint legal and physical custody to James and Misty which stated, inter alia, that James would have the children during the school year and Misty would have them during the summers. Misty filed a motion for reconsideration and/or to alter or amend judgment, or in the alternative for a new trial upon custody of the children only. After hearing additional evidence, the chancellor denied her motion. Misty has appealed the chancellor's findings and decision to award primary custody of the two children to James. We find that the chancellor failed to address each of the Albright factors in making his determination, and therefore, we reverse and remand for the purposes of considering these factors plus any substantial change in circumstances of the parents which arose during the interim.
FACTS
¶ 2. On June 3, 1994, Misty and James were legally married. From this union, they had two sons Forrest Lee Hamilton and Hudson Cole Hamilton. On July 7, 1998, the final divorce decree was filed.
¶ 3. Throughout the marriage, James worked different eight hour shifts. Misty attended community college two days a week. James or Misty cared for their children while the other was at work or in class. If a conflict arose, Debra Nix, a friend of the Hamiltons, kept the children.
¶ 4. At the divorce trial, both James and Misty testified that Misty stayed at home with the children. June Cook, Misty's mother, and Donna Hegwood, James's mother, testified that Misty was a good parent. Additionally, Ms. Nix, Christy Morgan, Christy Melton, and Tobie Runner testified that Misty is a good mother and maintained a clean, well kept home for the children.
¶ 5. After the separation, Misty kept the children in the family home during the day and when James returned home from work, she would spend the night at a friend's house. After a few weeks, James refused to let Misty see or talk with the children. Finally, James allowed Misty to babysit the children while he was busy, and she took them to live with her in Louisiana for nearly a month. After returning with the children to Mississippi, a hearing was held on the matter of temporary custody of the children. Pursuant to the agreement, James and Misty would have custody of the children for alternating weeks until the divorce trial.
¶ 6. Misty admitted that she had an adulterous relationship with Todd Stephan but claimed that it did not begin until after James asked her to move out in September 1997. James and Misty knew Todd from school and church. James accused Todd of giving Misty drugs; however, the only testimony regarding drugs was that Todd had some legal problems stemming from a forged prescription he uttered. After the trial, Misty and Todd married and from this union produced a daughter.
¶ 7. At the end of the trial, the chancellor rendered his opinion from the bench. He stated that before and after the separation James and Misty both tried to use the children to cause as much pain to the other party as possible. The final divorce decree set forth the parameters of the custody agreement including the award of joint custody of both children to James and Misty, with James maintaining physical custody of. the children during the entire school year from August until the end of May each year and Misty having the children the months of June and July. Misty had alternating weekends of custody with her children throughout the school year. Weekend, holiday, and special day visitation concerns followed the standard Farese Visitation Schedule.
¶ 8. Misty filed a motion for reconsideration and or to alter or amend judgment or in the alternative for a new trial upon the custody of children only. On November 30, 1998, a hearing was held on Misty's post-trial motion at which time additional evidence was presented. Misty testified that she and Todd married after her divorce from James, that she had a new baby, and was no longer working outside the home. She also testified that Hudson had diaper rash and other ailments after the divorce, and she claimed these were the result of James's deficient parenting skills. Notwithstanding this evidence, the chancellor denied Misty's post-trial motion. Feeling aggrieved, this appeal was taken.
DISCUSSION
WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN HIS DECISION TO
AWARD PRIMARY CUSTODY OF THE PARTIES' MINOR CHILDREN TO THE JAMES RAY HAMILTON BY NOT CONSIDERING AND ADDRESSING EACH ALBRIGHT FACTOR
¶ 9. The polestar consideration in a child custody case is the best interest and welfare of the child. Albright v. Albright, 437 So.2d 1003, 1005 (Miss.1983). Additionally, the Mississippi Supreme Court outlined the factors to consider in child custody cases:
[age of the child], health, and sex of the child; a determination of the parent that has had the continuity of care prior to the separation; which has the best parenting skills and which has the willingness and capacity to provide primary child care; the employment of the parent and responsibilities of that employment; physical and mental health and age of the parents; emotional ties of parent and child; moral fitness of parents; the home, school and community record of the child; the preference of the child at the age sufficient to express a preference by law; stability of home environment and employment of each parent, and other factors relevant tot he parent-child relationship.
Id.
¶ 10. A review of the record shows that the chancellor failed to consider each of the Albright factors in both his oral statement and written order. After discussing the age, health and sex of the children, he briefly addressed the factors of continuity of care and parenting skills. While announcing the judgment and determining child support payments, he discussed the employment of the parents and their job responsibilities. Other than these factors, the chancellor focused on morality and stability and did not specifically address the remaining Albright factors. It is for this reason that we reverse and remand for the purposes of addressing each of the Albright factors. The chancellor should also state specifically what day and the time of the day when the custodial period for each child begins and ends for the weekend and holiday visitations which are not addressed by the Farese Visitation schedule. Furthermore, it may be appropriate to consider any substantial change in circumstances of the parents which arose during the interim.
¶ 11. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CALHOUN COUNTY CHANCERY COURT IS REVERSED AND REMANDED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE TAXED TO THE APPELLEE.
KING, P.J., BRIDGES, IRVING, LEE AND THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR. SOUTHWICK, P.J., CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, MOORE, AND PAYNE, JJ.
. The Farese Visitation Schedule is a model originating from chancery districts in north Mississippi. While the schedule has been referred to Mississippi case law, Mixon v. Mixon, 724 So.2d 956, 960 (Miss.1998); Martin v. Coop, 693 So.2d 912, 915 (Miss.1997), chancellors are vested with the authority to use their discretion in regard to the circumstances of the parties and the nature of the case in fashioning visitation schedules. Miss.Code Ann. § 93-5-23 (Rev. 1994).