Court Opinion

ID: 9884764
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:11:03.607651+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:40:55.315664
License: Public Domain

WOZNIAK, Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the trial court’s placement of child custody with respondent.
The majority dutifully recites the supreme court’s pronouncement in Pikula v. Pikula, 374 N.W.2d 705, 712 (Minn.1985), that, when both parents seek custody of a child too young to express a preference for a particular parent and one parent has been the primary caretaker of the child, custody should be awarded to the primary parent absent a showing that the parent is unfit to be the custodian. The majority also notes that in this case the primary caretaker determination was to be based on the parent/child relationship as it existed at the time of separation (or the interruption of functioning of the full family unit). See id. at 714.
However, the majority then proceeds to affirm the trial court’s finding that neither party was the primary parent in the face of overwhelming evidence in the record that appellant (Allen) was the primary parent *814and that the bond between him and Joshua was very strong.
At the hearing for temporary custody during the separation proceeding, both parties essentially testified that each was the primary parent. However, respondent’s (Jackie’s) parents also testified as to whom they believed to be the better parent. Chester Hasbargen (Jackie’s father) testified that “In my opinion, I would say A1 would be the better parent,” and that he thought appellant (Allen) was more able to care for the day-to-day needs of the child. Lois Hasbargen (Jackie’s mother) testified that there was a “very, very strong bond” between appellant and Joshua, that appellant could provide a more secure home for the child, that he could better meet the day-to-day needs of the child, and that respondent “cannot handle full responsibility, or the pressure of taking care, or full charge of the child.”
Approximately one year later, the hearing for permanent custody was held. In the meantime, respondent had between 40 and 50 counseling sessions with Dr. John Husted. At the hearing, Husted testified that in the past respondent had been something other than healthy, stable, and normal, and that her prior two marriages were a reflection of her lack of stability. Her MMPI showed some abnormalities. Hust-ed testified that he saw appellant for marital counseling and that his MMPI was normal. Husted testified that his perception of the family when he first knew them (shortly after the separation hearing) was that appellant was the primary keeper of the children, that he would wake them, change the diapers, feed them, and put them to sleep and take care of them. Husted made no other observations as to who was the primary parent at the time of separation.
At the final custody hearing, respondent’s mother again testified and stated that her opinion about her daughter had changed in the past year. However, Lois also read from some notes she had written shortly before the temporary hearing. In those notes, she stated that appellant was the better parent, that there was a strong, loving bond between father and son, and that he was always there for the children. Lois stated that her daughter was very unstable, that she did not put her children first, that she could not take full responsibility for the children, that she is unwilling to accept blame for anything, that she threatens people to get her way, and that she does not face the reality of what she does to others.
This is a very hard thing for us to do, meaning my husband and myself, but we cannot sit by and sit — Jackie doing to her children and husband Number 3. We love her very much but we feel we cannot stand by and see this pattern of her past life be repeated.
* *. * Jackie is very unstable as she goes from one thing to another. She is dissatisfied in everything she does. * * It seems animals seem to come first. We feel her children don’t come first. * * * Jackie likes running around, going out at night a lot, and she likes to sleep in late. She doesn’t like to get up and take care of the children until she feels like that.
* * * She gets bored with everything very easily and she always likes to leave the children when other things are more important to her.
Lois testified that the notes were the truth at the time they were written.
Also at the final custody hearing, many other friends and neighbors testified that appellant was the primary parent and that there was a very strong bond between him and Joshua. Many persons testified that appellant was also the primary parent for Jason, respondent’s son from a prior marriage.
In its post-hearing order denying a new trial, the trial court made the finding that, at the time of the separation hearing, neither party was the primary parent. In light of all the evidence, that finding is clearly erroneous. The evidence is overwhelming that appellant was the primary parent at the time of separation.
The trial court apparently reached its conclusion by considering the changes that *815occurred between the separation and the final custody hearing. That was an erroneous application of Pikula, which requires the trial court to make its primary parent determination based on the facts as of the time of separation.
Since it is very unlikely that a record could be more conclusive that the father was the primary parent, I must suggest that fathers have in effect lost all rights to custody notwithstanding the statutory mandate that a court “shall not prefer one parent over the other solely on the basis of the sex of the parent.” Minn.Stat. § 518.-17, subd. 3 (1984).
Because the evidence is clear that appellant was the primary parent at the time of separation and because there is no evidence that appellant is unfit to be the custodian, the trial court abused its discretion in awarding permanent custody to respondent. I would reverse the trial court and award custody to appellant.