Court Opinion

ID: 9843739
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:42:38.284667+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:53.754630
License: Public Domain

MARING, Justice,
concurring in the result.
[¶ 26] I concur in the result only. I continue to be of the opinion that when applying factor (d), a trial court must examine not only past stability of environment, including a consideration of place or physical setting, but a consideration of the prior family unit and its lifestyle as part of that setting. See Stoppler v. Stoppler, 2001 ND 148, ¶¶ 26-31, 633 N.W.2d 142 (Maring, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). This includes consideration of the continuity of the relationship with the parent who had cared for the children on a daily basis. Id. at ¶28.
[¶ 27] I also continue to be of the opinion that factor (e) “deals with future prospects for permanence as a family unit.” Id. at ¶ 9. As we stated in Stoppler, “the trial court must weigh all the facts bearing on which parent can best provide their child ‘the benefits of a custodial home that is marked by permanence, as a family unit.’ ” Id. (citation omitted). In Stop-pler, we voiced our concern when the trial court in applying factor (e) spoke to place and the continuity of physical environment rather than the nature of the family unit of the proposed custodial home and the likely relative permanence of the family unit. Id. at ¶ 11. I continue to be troubled by the emphasis on the continuity of the child’s physical setting over the importance of the continuity of the parent-child relationship in both factors (d) and (e). I am concerned we still have vestiges of the philosophy that the parent who receives the home where the children have grown up will get custody of the children.
[¶ 28] Despite the fact that I believe the trial court erred on its application of factor (e), I cannot say its ultimate decision based on all the facts of this case was clearly erroneous.
[¶ 29] I, therefore, concur in the result.
[¶ 30] MARY MUEHLEN MARING, J.