Court Opinion

ID: 9849396
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:39:31.024436+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:21.894705
License: Public Domain

Judge Martin
dissenting.
I would reverse the judgment of the District Court. It is well-settled law that the welfare of the child is the paramount consideration which must guide the judge in cases involving custody of children. Blackley v. Blackley, 285 N.C. 358, 204 S.E. 2d 678 (1974). A prior custody decree may be modified only upon findings of fact based on competent evidence that there has been a substantial change in condition affecting the welfare of the child. Id.; Clark v. Clark, 294 N.C. 554, 243 S.E. 2d 129 (1978).
Neither the evidence presented at the 9 August 1984 hearing, nor the court’s findings in its order of 17 August 1984, disclose a material change in circumstances affecting the welfare of the minor child in this case. The evidence offered by plaintiff tended to show that although she had made laudable progress in overcoming her alcoholism, she was separated from her second husband and was considering a third marriage. She was steadily employed but continued to reside with her parents. Although she earned more than $20,000 per year and paid no rent, she made no contribution to the support of the minor child. She conceded that her daughter was well cared for while in defendant’s home and that the child’s grades in school had improved while in defendant’s custody. On the other hand, the defendant’s evidence indicated that the minor child had lived in a stable environment *604during the year in which he had had custody of her. The court’s order simply chronicled the plaintiffs progress and found that she had adequate facilities to care for the child. The court found that both plaintiff and defendant were fit and suitable parents, “but the accomplishments of the child’s mother . . . constitute a material change in circumstances affecting welfare of the child ... it being in the best interest of the child that she be returned to the mother’s custody. . . .”
In my view, the only change in circumstances disclosed by the evidence and found by the court affected the welfare of the mother, rather than the minor child. The record discloses no change in circumstances affecting the welfare of the child sufficient to justify a modification of the prior order awarding custody to the defendant father.
I likewise believe the majority misapprehends the Supreme Court’s decision in Spence v. Durham, 283 N.C. 671, 198 S.E. 2d 537 (1973). In that case, the finding that the plaintiff mother had become emotionally stable was only one of a number of factors which the trial court found in modifying a custody decree to award custody to the mother rather than the grandparents. Other factors relied upon by the court included findings that the mother had supported the children and provided them with a good home; was attending to their schooling, religious education and social life; that she had arranged her affairs so as to be with the children when they were not in school; and that, due to the grandparents’ age, she was better able to respond to the daily needs of the children than were the grandparents. These findings, concluded the Supreme Court, were sufficient to support the trial court’s holding that the best interests of the children required a modification of custody.
The evidence and findings in the case sub judice fall far short of Spence, and fail to justify a modification in custody. The judgment of the District Court should therefore be reversed.