Court Opinion

ID: 9520118
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 01:31:40.504734+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:34.773076
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE McNAMARA, dissenting: The majority opinion finds that the wife is openly living with a man to whom she is not married, but holds that the trial court abused its discretion in concluding that such criminal conduct on her part constituted a material change of circumstances detrimentally affecting the welfare of the children and warranting a change in their custody. I rather think that the trial court would have committed manifest error if it had overlooked the wife’s criminal conduct and had not placed the children in the custody of the father. In Hahn v. Hahn (1966), 69 Ill. App. 2d 302, 216 N.E.2d 229, the trial court transferred custody of the minor children from the wife to the husband because the wife had begun living in open adultery with a married man. The trial court took this action despite the fact that at about the time the petition for change of custody was filed, the married man had moved to Wisconsin. In affirming the trial court’s action, this court stated at page 305: “While the trial court found in this case that the evidence showed no sign of lack of affection nor was there evidence of physical neglect, certainly Dale’s [the wife’s] conduct cannot be considered conducive to the proper moral training that children of tender years need. We agree with the trial court that the record here is void of evidence that would give any assurance that Dale intended to abandon her ways. In matters concerning the custody of infant children the court will not disturb the determination of the trial judge who has heard the evidence and has had an opportunity to observe the parties, unless it appears manifest injustice has been done.” Rodely v. Rodely (1963), 28 Ill. 2d 347, 350, 192 N.E.2d 347. In Gehn v. Gehn (1977), 51 Ill. App. 3d 946, 367 N.E.2d 508, the trial court transferred the custody of five minor children from the wife to the husband on the ground that the wife “became deeply involved in an affair with her boyfriend who was separated but still married to his wife.” This court affirmed the change of custody, stating at page 949: “The record in this case supports a finding that the plaintiff had no qualms in exposing and exhibiting to her children her illicit relationship with her boyfriend. The plaintiff admits her immoral conduct, but argues that no testimony was presented which would show that her conduct had any ill effects upon the children. It might be not only difficult but impossible to present evidence showing objective effects that such conduct would have on minor children. The effects may well be subjective ones that will raise their ugly heads and make their presence known at some future time. Certainly the conduct of the plaintiff cannot be regarded as good and wholesome moral training. We further note that the plaintiff utterly failed to display any degree of penitence as far as her conduct was concerned, but on the contrary assured the court that if she continued to have custody of the children she would persist in the overnight sojourns to her boyfriend’s house with her five children.” 51 Ill. App. 3d 946, 949. The majority dismiss the Gehn holding by stating that they decline to engage in speculation as to what effect plaintiff’s conduct in the present case will have on her children in the future. While I do not agree that the Gehn court was engaged in speculation, the present record clearly reveals that the trial court was justified in transferring custody. The wife testified that she had explained to the children that she believed there was nothing wrong about her conduct and further testified that she was permitting the children to develop their own set of values. When a mother teaches children that her own criminal conduct is proper, it is unlikely that she will be able to proscribe any future illegal activities of the children. The trial court correctly found a material change of circumstances affecting the welfare of the children. It properly transferred custody of the children to the husband. The trial court’s holding was not contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence, and I believe it should be affirmed.