Court Opinion

ID: 9659158
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 21:33:25.670839+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:04.552886
License: Public Domain

BARHAM, Justice
(dissenting).
I am of the opinion that the majority has made a grave error of law in its determination in this case, and that its reasoning, the jurisprudence, and, even more important, the Code do not support the result it reaches.
The mother and father of two small children separated in fact on December 30, 1963. When the mother filed for legal separation, she was apparently granted the provisional custody of the children, and the judgment of separation of February 25; 1964, maintained that custody as did a divorce judgment rendered on May 4, 1965. Each judgment of custody was uncoijtested by the defendant, and the resolution of other matters ancillary to the separation and the divorce were resolved amicably.
On March 27, 1966, the plaintiff mother voluntarily surrendered the custody of the children to the defendant father, who had meanwhile married his second and present wife. On joint motion of both parties that voluntary surrender by the mother was *30given the form of a judgment of court by which the custody of the two minor children was transferred to the father until such time as the mother could provide a proper home for them. It is conceded that the mother was without moral fault, but that because of work, absence from home, and other such circumstances she felt the children would be better cared for by the father.
On August 5, 1967, a little more than a year later, the mother married her present husband, and it was apparently recognized by the Court of Appeal and the trial court that, from that point on, whatever disability she had at the time of the surrender of the children had disappeared. However, as the Court of Appeal found, she waited two more years before she filed this rule to have custody returned to her. She explained that her delay in bringing the action was caused by her unwillingness to have the children change schools in the fall of 1967, by the birth of a child to her in the summer of 1968, by her second husband’s illness in the winter of 1968, and by the unavailability of her lawyer in the spring of 1969.
It is to be noted that when the rule for change of custody was heard, the minor children were then aged ten and eight, and that they had been in their father’s custody for over three years in a home where his second wife provided the mother figure and a child born of that second marriage offered another sibling relationship. As noted previously, the mother- was at that time remarried and also had a child of her second marriage.
The trial court and the Court of Appeal found that both sets of parents offered good, comfortable, moral, and secure homes. The trial court, after deciding that there was no difference in the parental relationships and other qualities which could be offered in either home, determined that the consent decree of 1966 “must be given full force, weight and effect”. The Court of Appeal believed the trial judge committed manifest error in awarding custody on this basis. That court was correct in holding that a consent judgment changing ^ a judgment of permanent custody should not be accorded such dignity as was given it-by the trial court. The trial court made, no finding of fact which shows that the best interest of the children would be served by a change of custody in this case, but simply concluded that the ultimate best interest of the children would be served by returning them to their mother. The majority opinion reverses the Court of Appeal judgment and reinstates the trial court judgment.
The majority totally errs in citing one of the propositions it quotes as determinative of the issue before us. That quote speaks *32of the paramount right of the mother in the cases where change of custody is sought from the mother to the father, and is here inapplicable. The other three legal principles cited by the majority are correct, but they would support a determination contrary to that made by it. Although our Civil Code provides in Article 146 that the mother is preferred over the father when the “provisional keeping is claimed by both”, once custody is adjudicated on a permanent basis our courts have said repeatedly, as the majority has recognized, that the paramount consideration in the determination of custody is the best interest of the child. It is not to overstate the proposition to say that the sole concern of a court in determining change of custody is the consideration of what will best serve the interest of the minor children.
I am in complete agreement with the majority’s statement of law that after a trial court has determined permanent custody, “ * * * the party seeking the change bears a heavy burden of proving that the continuation of the present custody is so deleterious to the children as to justify removing them from the environment to which they are accustomed”. (Emphasis here and elsewhere has been supplied.) Children should not be uprooted and removed from a loving and secure environment afforded by one parent unless there are exceptional and substantial reasons advantageous to the welfare of the children for making the change. In deciding what are the good and substantial reasons for change of child custody, if there is any legal advantage with either parent it is with the one in whose custody the children have been for some time.
I would also agree with the majority’s legal proposition that when the trial judge determines upon evaluation of the evidence what will serve the best interests of the child, his determination is entitled to great weight. However, as the Court of Appeal found and as the majority must note, the trial court here made no evaluation to support its decision that removal from the father’s home to the mother’s home would serve the best interest of the children. The majority falls into legal error under the facts of this case in its statement: “ * * * The courts should apply the usual presumption that the interest of the children of tender years [ten and eight] is; best served by granting the mother the custody of the children of the marriage.” The literally Janus-tongued part of the opinion is this: The majority recognizes, that a party seeking to change permanent custody “bears a heavy burden to justify such change” as being in the children’s, best interest, which would place that burden on the mother here; but in the next paragraph the majority says, shifting the burden to the father: “There is no showing that, because of this temporary custody [three years with the father], the chil*34dren’s ultimate best welfare is not better served by returning them to their mother’s care in accord with the initial custody determination and in accord with their [whose?] justified expectations.” The majority then discusses the appellate court’s interference with “the trial court’s considered determination of custody * * * after it has applied correct principles of law”. As I have previously noted, these are the two failings of the trial court: It erred as a matter of law, and it made no factual evaluation which would warrant a change of custody under the correct legal principles.
Neither the trial court nor the majority has given one single reason why the ultimate best welfare of these children will be served by removing them from an ideal home situation where they lived happily and securely over three years. Both have simply decided that because the mother is woman, some superior right rides with her. The preference of the mother under Civil Code Article 146 when “provisional keeping is claimed by both” has been carried far beyond its purpose, which is simply to-resolve the difficulties of child custody in the immediacy of the breakup of a marriage. In this day and time there is less and less reason for granting preference to-the mother. The physiological basis which once existed for very young infants has almost disappeared. For infants not nursing there is no physiological basis. The social basis for favoring the mother which once existed because the mother was the homemaker and child-tender while the father was the breadwinner has almost totally disappeared.*
In the recent case of Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71, 92 S.Ct. 251, 30 L.Ed.2d 225, the statutory preference accorded the father as administrator of his minor’s estate was struck down by the United States Supreme Court. The court held that the discriminatory classification on the basis of sex was a denial of equal protection, saying: «* * * jjy pr0viding- dissimilar treatment for men and women who are thus similarly situated, the challenged section violates the Equal Protection Clause.”
*36The trial court here found that the father had for over three years provided, and was at the time of trial providing, excellent care and environment for the children. The record reflects that the children had even blossomed and improved in many respects during this custody. There was absolutely no showing that the children needed to be removed. Moreover, there was no showing that removal would be beneficial to the children. The trial court stated not one advantage which would obtain in the mother’s custody. There was no basis for changing the custody of these children. The Court of Appeal was correct in reversing upon finding manifest error.
For the reasons stated I respectfully dissent.

 Time Magazine, January 28, 1972, quoting from a number of sources states: “Though many state laws make sex irrelevant in determining custody, judges have traditionally taken the view that only mothers can give youngsters the attention they need. The theory has been that mothers are inherently better fit to provide care and are at home regularly enough to ensure that the children get it. These days, however, Women’s Lib has led many men and'women to question eonventional notions of sex roles. Increasing numbers of wives have simply abandoned home and hearth, leaving husband and children to fend for themselves (TIME, Dec. 20). There are other factors too. Since increasing numbers of women work, the traditional rationale for giving women custody now applies to fewer eases. Ralph Podell, chairman-elect of the American Bar Association’s family law section, reports that more men are asking for custody and more judges are granting it.”