Opinion ID: 1697830
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Stability of Home Environment, Employment of Each Parent and Other Factors Relevant to Parent Child Relationship.

Text: ¶ 55. Jane contends that the chancellor erred in making his finding as to the stability factor by misstating facts and/or overlooking other relevant evidence. She claims that the statement that she lived in three difference residences from 2001 to 2002 is inaccurate. She notes that she testified to living at 1190 Kenny Hill in Tunica from the time she separated from Tom in 1998 until she moved to 1102 Round Street for a period of roughly eight months before moving back to the Kenny Hill address where she has continued to live up to the present time. She claims that these are the only two addresses where she has lived since 2001, yet her assertions are rebutted by Jackie Tucker, who testified at the hearing on July 17, 2002, that Jane had spent a period of time living in Jabbo Beard's house at the Tunica cut-off. Based on this testimony, the chancellor has sufficient evidence before him to find that Jane did in fact reside at three different addresses during the period in question. ¶ 56. Jane also complains that the chancellor's finding that [u]nder the care of Wife, [Catherine] does not stay with Ms. Connell [a day care provider], but instead the evidence has led this Court to believe that [Catherine] was left with an individual who, by wife's on [sic] testimony, used illegal drugs is a mis-characterization of the facts which unfairly caused him to weigh the stability factor in favor of Tom. She admits that the finding is factually correct but argues that the period of time in which she let drug-using friends babysit or take care of Catherine was no more than nine months prior to the July 17, 2002 hearing, and the chancellor's failure to make mention of the fact that she is currently drug free leaves the unfounded impression that she still leaves Catherine in the care of questionable people. Testimony introduced at the final hearing did reflect that Jane would now leave Catherine with her (Jane's) father when she had to work and Catherine was in her custody, she no longer had contact with former drug-using friends, and Tom even admitted that many of his previous concerns regarding Jane's custodial care of Catherine had subsided. While this additional testimony tends to show that Jane has gotten better since the initial hearing, the record also reflects that she was using drugs and leaving Catherine with questionable babysitters prior to the nine-month time frame in which she has admitted to drug use. Jackie Tucker testified on October 28, 2002, that Jane was using drugs in June of 2000 when he returned to Tunica from boot camp and that Catherine was left at Jane's house with her drug using friends at that time. Despite Jane's protestations to the contrary, the evidence before the chancellor is sufficient to find that Tom has provided a more stable environment for Catherine than Jane. ¶ 57. Jane also takes issue with the chancellor's finding under this Albright factor because the chancellor made no mention of how extended family affected the stability in Catherine's life. She points out that Tom has no extended family close by, as both of Tom's parents are dead and his stepmother lives in Texas. On the other hand, the testimony clearly reflected that Jane's parents lived in Tunica and were involved in both Jane's and Catherine's lives, especially when Catherine was in Jane's custody. She contends that this is pertinent information that the chancellor should have considered in weighing this factor because the presence of extended family is a legitimate factor to support awarding custody to a parent. See Messer v. Messer, 850 So.2d 161, 167 (Miss.Ct. App.2003). ¶ 58. While this information may have been pertinent to the chancellor's analysis, his failure to include it in his findings does not undermine his ultimate finding as to which parent provides a more stable environment for Catherine. As the evidence shows, Tom has lived at the same address and been employed in the same job since he returned to Mississippi in 2001. He has had custody of Catherine from the fall of 2001 until the present, except for a seven-month period when he and Jane had custody of Catherine on an alternating two-week basis. Tom has also dated the same girlfriend, Kim Swindoll, from the time of the initial hearing until the present time, and the two have plans to marry. Though the fact that Jane's parents live in Tunica and are willing and able to help support both Jane and Catherine may weigh in her favor, there is more than ample evidence in the record to support the chancellor's finding that Tom can provide a more stable home environment for Catherine. Therefore, we find that the chancellor did not abuse his discretion in making this finding. ¶ 59. Regarding the above Albright analysis, Jane has introduced some evidence to show that the chancellor may have erred in making some of his individual factual determinations. However, we find that the chancellor's ultimate findings under each Albright factor are supported by credible evidence in the record, so his decision to award Tom physical custody of Catherine does not reflect an abuse of discretion and must be affirmed.