Opinion ID: 2521462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Gender as Basis for District Court's Ruling

Text: [¶18] The governing statute is clear without equivocation in this regard: § 20-2-201. Disposition and maintenance of children in decree or order; access to records. (a) In granting a divorce, separation or annulment of a marriage or upon the establishment of paternity pursuant to W.S. 14-4-401 through 14-2-907, the court may make by decree or order any disposition of the children that appears most expedient and in the best interests of the children. In determining the best interests of the child, the court shall consider, but is not limited to, the following factors: (i) The quality of the relationship each child has with each parent; (ii) The ability of each parent to provide adequate care for each child throughout each period of responsibility, including arranging for each child's care by others as needed; (iii) The relative competency and fitness of each parent; (iv) Each parent's willingness to accept all responsibilities of parenting, including a willingness to accept care for each child at specified times and to relinquish care to the other parent at specified times; (v) How the parents and each child can best maintain and strengthen a relationship with each other; (vi) How the parents and each child interact and communicate with each other and how such interaction and communication may be improved; (vii) The ability and willingness of each parent to allow the other to provide care without intrusion, respect the other parent's rights and responsibilities, including the right to privacy; (viii) Geographic distance between the parents' residences; (ix) The current physical and mental ability of each parent to care for each child; (x) Any other factors the court deems necessary and relevant. (b) In any proceeding in which the custody of a child is at issue the court shall not prefer one (1) parent as a custodian solely because of gender. (c) The court shall consider evidence of spousal abuse or child abuse as being contrary to the best interest of the children. If the court finds that family violence has occurred, the court shall make arrangements for visitation that best protects the children and the abused spouse from further harm. (d) The court shall order custody in well defined terms to promote understanding and compliance by the parties. Custody shall be crafted to promote the best interests of the children, and may include any combination of joint, shared or sole custody. (e) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the noncustodial parent shall have the same right of access as the parent awarded custody to any records relating to the child of the parties, including school records, activities, teachers and teachers' conferences as well as medical and dental treatment providers and mental health records. (f) At any time the court may require parents to attend appropriate parenting classes, including but not limited to, parenting classes to lessen the effects of divorce on children. [Emphasis added.] [¶19] Custody matters are committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. The welfare and needs of the children are to be given paramount importance. We will not overturn the decision of the trial court unless we are convinced that it constitutes an abuse of discretion or violates some legal principle. Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria. It means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so arbitrarily or capriciously. Our review includes an evaluation of the evidence to support the trial court's decision, and we afford the prevailing party every favorable inference while omitting any consideration of evidence presented by the unsuccessful party. We cannot sustain findings of fact that are not supported by the evidence, contrary to the evidence, or against the great weight of the evidence. An abuse of discretion is present when a material factor deserving significant weight is ignored. Consideration of gender is not prohibited in a custody determination. The governing statute simply prohibits gender from being the sole basis of a custody award. Every case requires careful weighing of relevant factors, looking to the unique and individual family relationships, in order to reach a resolution that is in the best interests of the children. To determine whether a district court has abused its discretion, we must rely upon the district court's articulation of the factors that were considered and how those factors support its conclusions. Pace v. Pace, 2001 WY 43, ¶¶9-13, 22 P.3d 861, ¶¶9-13 (Wyo. 2001). We have held that a gender based, maternal preference in custody awards is a mistake of law, requiring reversal. Basolo v. Basolo, 907 P.2d 348, 355 (Wyo. 1995). [¶20] Father's contentions in this regard are founded in the district court`s description of the roles played by the two parents during their marriage. Mother, was a stay at home mom who bathed, dressed, and fed the children. She maintained the home, prepared the meals and did all other housework. She read to the children, helped them with basic educational skills, took them to the park, and provided transportation to their extracurricular activities. Father was a very engaged parent and helped Mother with most of the child rearing tasks. He more naturally fit into a traditional fatherhood role. He worked forty (40) plus hours a week. He traveled to attend seminars, training sessions, and worked on special projects toward enhancing his experience and career, with [Mother] staying at home with the kids. The difficult decision that the district court confronted is captured in this excerpt from its decision letter: Perhaps one of the most difficult decisions is the determination of custody and visitation when both parents display qualities of propriety and fitness that these parties demonstrate. This is not a situation where one parent wins and the other parent loses. To the contrary, they remain the parents of [the children], and they are obligated to act in their best interests at all times. Regardless of the outcome, [the children] will win if their parents determine to make this Court's decision work and if they set aside their own differences in favor of the children. [The children] will lose if their parents do otherwise. Neither is this a matter where the Court is called upon to determine that one parent is better than the other. Both parties love their children. Nevertheless, the Court must make a determination as to custody and visitation. The evidence indicated that [Mother] has served as [the children's] primary caretaker since their births. This is not, of course, determinative, but it is a consideration that the Court bears in mind. [The children] have good relationships with both parents, and both parents care deeply for them. Both presently are capable of caring for [the children], and both are willing and eager to accept that responsibility. When the children are with their father, the evidence demonstrated a positive, rewarding experience for both father and children. Likewise, the kids do equally well with their mother. Any unusual behavior exhibited by either child after a transfer from one party to the other is probably in the nature of a temporary, situational issue rather than any sort of long-term fundamental problem. [The children] are both intelligent, happy children who seem to be adjusting to their parents' separation. The parties agree that if they were to reside in the same city, now or in the future, a shared or joint custody arrangement would be possible. Obviously, since [Father] is in Laramie and [Mother] is in Casper, this is an infeasible solution. Therefore, each party has asserted the desire for primary custody with liberal and frequent visitation available to the other. Both parents have excellent relationships with their children. Both parents are fit and competent to provide adequate care, physically, emotionally, mentally, culturally, spiritually, and educationally, to these children. [Mother] cannot be faulted for geographically relocating to Casper, while [Father] cannot be faulted for staying in Laramie or opting not to move to Casper upon retirement. Both parties have indicated they plan to stay in their current locations. Both [Father] and [Mother] have exhibited good moral behavior and positive lifestyles crucial to the healthy upbringing of these children. [Father] had friends, family and day-care providers attest on his behalf. [Mother] likewise had family and child care providers testify as to her fitness as a person and a mother. However, when considering the totality of the situation and the overall best interests for these children, the Court finds the children need stability which mimics the traditional parenting roles these parents have held in [the children's] lives rather than focusing on the physical location of the parties. [Mother] has been the need provider, [Father] has been the wants provider. Each has and can perform the other's role. However, the Court finds the best interests of these children would best be served by [Mother] continuing to be the primary caretaker during the week, while permitting [Father] the ability to continue offering all of the enhancements and opportunities for growth and happiness to the children which he has done in the past. While the Court is cognizant that each parent would prefer more time with their children than any separation will allow, the children's time is now best served in a fashion similar to that which the children are accustomed. [Emphasis in original.] While [Father] has argued that his home in Laramie would better suit such a situation, the Court disagrees. Marce Nesslinger, a licensed counselor, met with the children at the request of [Father]. Ms. Nesslinger testified either parent could adequately be the primary caretaker, so long as the children had a home-base for purpose of stability. She stated the physical building was not what comprised the home base, but rather where the children felt comfortable, safe and nurtured and able to foster their relationships with both parents. The evidence indicated [Mother's] residence adequately furnishes the physical needs for the children. [The children] are well situated, aside from typical adjustments needed after visitations and travel occur. The children have become comfortable residing in Casper due in large part to [Mother's] diligence. The GAL, likewise, recommends such an arrangement. [¶21] The district court's decision letter is ten pages long. We are unable to discern in it a decision based solely on gender. Indeed, while to some extent described in gender-specific nouns, the district court is very clear that the roles he discusses are not peculiar to one sex or the other; rather, it is strictly a matter of function. The decision reached by the district court is not a violation of § 20-2-201(b). The district court relied upon objective criteria in reaching its decision and did not act arbitrarily or capriciously. We have carefully reviewed the evidence in its entirety and, when we view that evidence in a light most favorable to Mother, we are compelled to sustain the district court's decision. The district court's findings are fully supported by the evidence, and the district court neither considered an impermissible factor, nor did it fail to consider any factor material to a resolution of this case.