Court Opinion

ID: 9543973
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:51:03.307051+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:11:37.805679
License: Public Domain

Judge NEY
dissenting.
I dissent.
I agree with the majority that the trial court, in attempting to resolve this extremely difficult problem, spoke “with eloquence and empathy ... and applied the best interests of the child standard.” However, I believe that, under the circumstances here, the appropriate legal standard is provided by § 14-10-131(2), C.R.S. (1987 Repl.Vol. 6B). I would therefore reverse and remand the matter for the application of that standard.
The opinion of the majority is founded primarily upon its reading of In re Marriage of Wall, 868 P.2d 387 (Colo.1994). There, the court was considering a change from sole to joint custody which did not involve any change of residential custody. That clearly is not the circumstance before us.
Here, in the event of the mother’s move from Colorado, the trial court ordered a change from her sole custody to joint custody. However, the primary thrust of the order was to change the residential custodian of the children. In this it is distinguishable from Wall, supra. Thus, in my view, it is governed by § 14-10-131(2), C.R.S. (1987 Repl.Vol. 6B), which provides:
The court shall not modify a prior custody decree granting custody to one party unless it finds, upon the basis of facts that have arisen since the prior decree or that were unknown to the court at the time of the prior decree, that a change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or his custodian and that the modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. In applying these standards, the court shall retain the custodian established by the prior decree unless:
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(e) The child’s present environment endangers his physical health or significantly impairs his emotional development and the harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is outweighed by the advantage of a change to the child.
I believe that a fair reeding of Wall, supra, emphasizes that in that case no change of residential custodian was being made and that, therefore, the more restrictive requirements of § 14-10-131 for change of custody were not required. In contrast, I conclude that the intent of the General Assembly to promote stability requires that a change of residential custodian must be based upon the standards set forth in § 14-10-131.
The trial court’s finding that the change of environment “would significantly impair [the children’s] emotional development” is eharac-*363temed by the majority as one of “endangerment.” However, because I conclude that this finding is unsupported by the record, and because the trial court unequivocally based its order on the best interests of the children, thereby rejecting the standards contained in § 14-10-131, this finding does not alternatively support the trial court’s order.
I find no authority to support an award of residential custody contingent upon hypothetical effects resulting from possible future actions which the trial court has chosen to discourage by giving the mother the choice of pursuing a concededly sensible career without her children or maintaining custody of the children by abandoning or postponing that career.
Finally, I believe that the majority’s approval is tantamount to giving trial courts in changes of residential custody unbridled discretion, which is clearly contrary to the express will of the General Assembly.
Therefore, I would remand for a determination of custody based upon § 14-10-131.