Court Opinion

ID: 9615357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:35:34.816816+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:47.302947
License: Public Domain

WALKER, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion affirming the trial court’s modification of child custody and the support obligation.
*530A determination that there has been a substantial change of circumstances to warrant modification of child custody is a legal conclusion which must be supported by adequate findings. Garrett v. Garrett, 121 N.C. App. 192, 464 S.E.2d 716 (1995). In determining whether to modify a child custody order, the trial court must focus on the effect on the child. Browning v. Helff, 136 N.C. App. 420, 524 S.E.2d 95 (2000). “[W]hen the court fails to find facts so that this Court can determine that the order is adequately supported by competent evidence and the welfare of the child subserved, then the order entered thereon must be vacated and the case remanded for detailed findings of fact.” Crosby v. Crosby, 272 N.C. 235, 238-39, 158 S.E.2d 77, 80 (1967) (citation omitted); see also Quick v. Quick, 305 N.C. 446, 290 S.E.2d 653 (1982).
Here, the trial court found that “there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the entry of the Order in this cause on October 5, 1999, affecting the welfare of the minor child.” Although labeled as a finding, the determination that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred affecting the welfare of the child is a legal conclusion and must be supported by adequate findings. However, the trial court focused only on the parties’ conduct and failed to make any findings as to how this conduct constituted a substantial change in circumstances and affected the child’s welfare.
The trial court found the plaintiff had violated the consent order by cohabitating with her boyfriend as support for a substantial change in circumstances. However, the trial court also found that defendant was cohabitating with his girlfriend during the same time period, also a violation of the consent order. Conveniently, the trial court seems to disregard defendant’s violation of the consent order as it noted the defendant and his girlfriend planned their wedding for the day after the custody hearing. I can only speculate whether the trial court’s ruling would have been different if plaintiff had offered similar evidence that she was to be married immediately following the custody hearing.
One of the cardinal principles of child support is that the obligor is required to pay the child support obligation even though visitation privileges cannot be exercised as required by the trial court’s order. See Appert v. Appert, 80 N.C. App. 27, 41, 341 S.E.2d 342, 350 (1986) (stating that “the duty of a parent to support his or her children is not dependent upon the granting of visitation rights, nor is it dependent upon the parent’s opportunity to exercise visitation rights”); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 52C-3-305(d) (2001). Here, for no apparent reason, the *531trial court failed to enforce defendant’s child support arrears which were due to plaintiff. Instead, the trial court provided the plaintiff with a “credit” against any future child support obligation she may incur. Again, the trial court’s modification of the child support arrears seems to be premised on its disapproval of plaintiff’s conduct relating to defendant’s visitation with the child contrary to the law of this State. If, however, the trial court based the modification of the support obligation on a substantial change in circumstances using the factors which may be considered under our law, it should make this basis apparent in its findings and conclusions.
Because the trial court’s order is devoid of findings as to how the parties’ conduct affects the child’s welfare so as to constitute a substantial change in circumstances, I conclude the modification of child custody and the support obligation is not supported by adequate findings. Thus, I would vacate the order and remand this matter for a new hearing as to whether there has been a substantial change in circumstances and how such a change in circumstances affects the welfare of the child so as to warrant a modification of custody and the child support obligation.