Court Opinion

ID: 9843750
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:42:51.03171+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:54.032186
License: Public Domain

SANDSTROM, Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 20] I respectfully dissent.
[¶ 21] The majority asserts, at ¶ 13:
In denying Oppegard’s motion to relocate with the children, the trial court, in effect, punished her for allowing, either voluntarily or out of necessity, the children to exercise flexible, liberal visitation with Gessler.
(Emphasis added). In so stating, the majority reflects the view that the child belongs to the mother and that flexible, liberal visitation is hers to grant or withhold. I do not believe that the mother “owns” the child, nor do I believe that liberal visitation by the father is allowed only as a matter of “grace” from the mother (or the courts). Parents have a fundamental, natural right to their children, including the right of companionship. In re T.K., 2001 ND 127, ¶ 12, 630 N.W.2d 38; State v. Ehli, 2003 ND 133, ¶ 7, 667 N.W.2d 635.
Both custodial and noncustodial parents have a right to contact with their children. N.D.C.C. § 14-05-22(2).
[[Image here]]
The right of noncustodial parents to visitation is not just a statutory right — it is a right of constitutional magnitude. [Berg v. Berg, 2002 ND 69, ¶¶ 30-31, 642 N.W.2d 899 (Sandstrom, J., concurring in the result) ]. Unless restricted or forfeited by serious misconduct of the noncustodial parent, noncustodial-parent visitation rights must be enforced by court action if necessary. See id. at ¶ 32; N.D.C.C. § 14-09-06.6.
Sweeney v. Sweeney, 2002 ND 206, ¶¶ 28, 30, 654 N.W.2d 407 (Sandstrom, J., dissenting).
[¶ 22] The majority asserts, at ¶ 14:
*769The trial court failed to adequately consider Oppegard’s role as the children’s custodial parent and blended fourth factor considerations with the prospective advantages of the move under the first Stout factor. See Goff [v. Goff], 1999 ND 95, ¶ 14, 593 N.W.2d 768. Therefore, we conclude the trial court erroneously applied the law because it did not properly weigh the advantages of the move in the context of maintaining continuity and stability in the custodial family unit.
(Emphasis added). In so stating, the majority highlights that it is “re-weighing” and substituting its judgment for that of the trial court. In fact, the trial court clearly considered and fairly weighed the factors. The trial court wrote:
Of course, the advantage of keeping the family together is also considerable, with the family being defined as the plaintiff, her fiancé, and the boys, plus his children from a former marriage that live in the Brainerd area.
The disadvantages of the move are also considerable. The boys would be moved from the community, school, friends and extended family members that they have known all of their lives. It would also involve a change in churches, from the Sharon Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, to the Evangelical Free Church in Brainerd. The boys said in the interview that they did not feel comfortable in the Evangelical Free Church compared to the church home of Sharon Lutheran in Grand Forks, where they also had many friends whose parents were active in the music ministry of the church.
The boys would also be deprived of their ability to live close to Lauren, their sister, and they would lose the close contact with their father on an almost daily basis, and the contact with other extended family members. In other words, the stability of the boys’ social and educational infrastructure would be lost, as they know it. The boys would be faced with significant adjustments to make if they moved out of the community and the effect could be “huge”, in the opinion of one of the school counselors.
[¶ 23] The trial court clearly and carefully considered. .Oppegard’s role as the children’s custodial parent and considered both the advantages and disadvantages of the move. See also In re Marriage of Lamusga, 32 Cal.4th 1072, 12 Cal.Rptr.3d 356, 88 P.3d 81, 94 (2004) (“[T]here is nothing in the record before us that indicates that the superior court failed to consider the children’s ‘interest in stable custodial and emotional ties’ with their mother.”).
[¶ 24] I would affirm the well-reasoned decision of the trial court.
[¶ 25] Dale V. Sandstrom.