Opinion ID: 1777779
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Cameron's emotional needs

Text: The remaining factor alleged by Dr. Jones was that Ms. Jones had borderline personality disorder with a continuing mental and emotional problem that had caused Cameron to suffer emotional problems. The chancellor found that Ms. Jones's inability to provide for the emotional needs of the child was a material change in circumstances that justified modification of the original custody award. A judicial award of custody should not be modified unless it is shown that there are changed conditions that demonstrate that a modification of the decree is in the best interest of the child, or when there is a showing of facts affecting the best interest of the child that were either not presented to the chancellor or were not known by the chancellor at the time the original custody order was entered. Stamps v. Rawlins, 297 Ark. 370, 761 S.W.2d 933 (1988). The party seeking modification of the child-custody order has the burden of showing a material change in circumstances. Carter v. Carter, 19 Ark.App. 242, 719 S.W.2d 704 (1986). While an agreement of the parties regarding custody is not binding on the courts, it is of some importance as tending to show attitude at the time the original divorce suit was filed. Burnett v. Clark, 208 Ark. 241, 185 S.W.2d 703 (1945). In this case, at the time the original decree was entered, Dr. Jones agreed that Ms. Jones would have custody of Cameron. The chancellor recognized in his final order that both parties must have considered each other to be fit and proper persons to have custody of the child, and that the custody in Ms. Jones was what both parties felt to be in the best interest of the child at the time. Both parties agreed to communicate and correspond with each other regarding Cameron's health, education, and welfare. In violation of this agreement, Dr. Jones, giving no notice to Ms. Jones, took Cameron to see Dr. Ternes in April of 1992, then Dr. Harrison in August of 1992. One week after meeting with Dr. Jones and his attorney regarding Dr. Jones plans to change custody, Dr. Harrison faxed an ex parte letter to the chancellor claiming that an emergency existed necessitating that Cameron not be returned to his mother. At the request of Dr. Jones, Dr. Ternes composed a letter containing a similar recommendation and faxed it to Dr. Jones's attorney, who in turn delivered it to the chancellor along with Dr. Jones's verified petition and affidavit. After receiving this information from Dr. Jones and the experts he had employed, the chancellor granted his request for emergency ex parte relief. Professor Atkinson criticizes ex parte communication between an expert and the judge as improper. Atkinson, Modern Child Custody Practice, § 12.16 at 148 (Supp.1995). We agree. The letters from Dr. Harrison and Dr. Ternes were not under oath, see Ark.Code Ann. § 16-40-103(b)(Repl.1994), and should not have been considered by the chancellor. We are further troubled by the chancellor's second ex parte order, which gave Dr. Jones's expert, Dr. Harrison, the authority to modify Ms. Jones's weekday visitation if she found it was detrimental to the child. Professor Atkinson observes that, although a court may base its decision on the opinion of an expert, it cannot delegate to the expert the power to make a decision. Atkinson, Modern Child Custody Practice, § 12.15 at 687; see also Shapiro v. Shapiro, 54 Md. App. 477, 458 A.2d 1257 (1983). In Arkansas, chancery courts have subject-matter jurisdiction to decide the custody, support, and visitation of a child born of the marriage. McCormac v. McCormac, 304 Ark. 89, 799 S.W.2d 806 (1990). Not only did the chancellor delegate jurisdiction of the visitation question to Dr. Jones's expert in this case, Dr. Harrison exercised this extraordinary grant of power by way of her ex parte letter to the court stating that Ms. Jones's weekday visitation should be terminated. The chancellor entered a third ex parte order to this effect on January 4, 1993, thus denying Ms. Jones's weekday visitation. While it is permissible for the chancellor to base an award of custody or visitation after hearing the opinions of experts, we resolve that he cannot delegate this judicial function to someone outside the court, especially to an expert employed by one of the parties. After receiving a request from Dr. Jones that Dr. Wrenda Gallien be appointed to perform a psychological evaluation, the chancellor entered a fourth ex parte order appointing Dr. Gallien's firm, the Family Guidance Center, to compare parenting abilities of Dr. Jones, Diana Jones, and Christine Jones. While a comparison of parenting skills might well be appropriate in determining an initial award of custody, the chancellor's fourth ex parte order seems to gloss over the issue before himwhether a material change in circumstances and the best interest of the child necessitated a change in custody. The expert testimony presented at the final hearing on this alleged change in circumstances included the following. Dr. William Siegal treated Ms. Jones in 1987 and diagnosed her as having a borderline personality disorder. Dr. Avram Jeffrey Zolten of the Family Guidance Center examined Ms. Jones and observed that she exhibited paranoid behavior. However, he agreed that he and Ms. Jones encountered difficulties when Ms. Jones wanted to tape record the evaluation. While Dr. Zolten found no evidence that she was incapable of adequate parenting, he expressed concern regarding Ms. Jones's statement that, when she raised her voice to discipline Cameron, he would run to the corner and cry. Dr. Warren Douglas examined Ms. Jones nine times in 1993 and totally disagreed with Dr. Siegal's diagnosis that she had a borderline personality disorder. He observed that she was very stable, and had no concerns about her parenting abilities or skills. Dr. Harrison and Dr. Becky Porter treated Cameron and opined that he had been traumatized by a female authority figure. While neither doctor saw Ms. Jones, both testified that her home presented an unstable environment for the child. Dr. Wrenda Gallien, the court-appointed psychiatrist, testified that Cameron should remain with his mother. She opined that the child would suffer severe trauma if custody were changed because he would be taken from his mother, who had raised him for the two years since the divorce. Dr. Gallien also criticized Dr. Harrison's ex parte communication with the chancellor. According to Dr. Gallien, this conduct both constituted and resulted in a travesty of justice. Despite the many experts who testified at the final hearing, we note the absence of a disinterested evaluation of the minor child. We think it significant that the chancellor, through its second ex parte order, provided that, while Ms. Jones's weekday visitation was subject to review by Dr. Jones's expert, Ms. Jones could not take Cameron to any other psychologists or psychiatrists without court approval. While the chancellor specifically rejected Dr. Jones's contention that Ms. Jones suffered from borderline personality disorder, he made the following finding in his written order: While [Ms. Jones] has proven that she is able to function adequately and competently in most areas of her social and work life, the Court questions [her] ability to adequately provide an emotional, stable and wholesome home for the child. (Emphasis added.) The chancellor's finding that Ms. Jones had not proven that she was able to provide an emotional and stable home environment for Cameron convinces us that he erroneously shifted the burden of proof to Ms. Jones. The chancellor's repeated entry of ex parte orders, his reliance on ex parte communications from Dr. Jones's expert, Dr. Harrison, and his failure to appoint a neutral expert to examine the child, lead us to the conclusion that Dr. Jones was somehow relieved of the legal burden to prove that a material change of circumstances and the best interest of the child warranted modification of the initial custody order. We are mindful of the fact that, as a result of today's decision, Cameron, now age six, will face another change of custody. Yet to uphold the chancellor's shifting of the burden of proof in this case would be to undermine the very purpose of our elevated standard of proof in modification proceedingsto promote stability and continuity in the life of the child. In sum, when viewing together the repeated entry of ex parte orders, the erroneous shift of the burden to Christine Jones to prove her emotional stability, and the chancellor's faulty reliance on her move to Little Rock and Dr. Jones's remarriage as material changes in circumstances, we must conclude that the chancellor's decision to change custody to Dr. Jones was clearly erroneous. In so holding, it is unnecessary for us to address Ms. Jones's remaining arguments pertaining to the temporary-custody award. Vairo v. Vairo, 27 Ark.App. 231, 769 S.W.2d 423 (1989). Reversed and remanded with instructions to reinstate the original custody order.