Court Opinion

ID: 9797088
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:13:00.795519+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:52:31.277203
License: Public Domain

*522LANDAU, P. J.,
dissenting.
In Meier and Meier, 286 Or 437, 446, 595 P2d 474 (1979), the Oregon Supreme Court cautioned that “in making the determination of the best interests of the child, the trial judge is in a far better position to weigh the various factors which enter into the problem, and his [or her] decision should not lightly be disturbed by a court on appeal.” We have echoed that same caution in any number of cases, particularly when a case presents a “close call.” See, e.g., Deffenbacher and Deffenbacher, 168 Or App 331, 335, 5 P3d 1190 (2000); Dominguez and Dominguez, 154 Or App 430, 434, 961 P2d 906 (1998). Of course, that does not mean that trial courts have carte blanche in child custody cases, which, after all, are subject to de novo review. ORS 19.415(3). But it means that, if we are going to reverse a trial court, we should have some very good reasons to do so. In this case, there are no such good reasons.
The record consists primarily of the report and testimony of the custody evaluator, Bonnevier. The custody evaluator interviewed mother, father, the parties’ three children, mother’s fiancé, mother’s sister, the paternal grandmother, a school counselor, a teacher, and family friends. She reviewed letters between the parties and various court orders and filings, as well as documents concerning school programs in Holland. She testified in some detail about her impressions of father, mother, the children, and the impact of the proposed move to Holland. In brief, she testified that both parents were loving, enthusiastic, and positive about the children. She testified that the children were very attached to their extended family, particularly the grandparents who had been caring for them on a full-time basis, as both parents worked.
Bonnevier concluded that separating the children from their father and the extended family “would be devastating for all of them.” She said that the move to Holland would impose additional disruptions and stresses on the family that would require sound emotional stability and coping skills, stresses that she explained were of particular concern because “these are not flexible and adaptable children who *523transition easily and look forward to big adventures or change.” She explained that
“relocation, albeit with the primary caregiver, would significantly harm the children and outweighs the harm to the children of divesting them [of] a daily relationship with their mother. They will need the support of extended family, friends, each other and familiarity, to have the best chance at adjusting to a positive and successful — to adjust in a positive and successful manner to their family’s continuing transition.”
Bonnevier acknowledged that mother was the primary caregiver and that mother intended to remain at home after the move overseas. She adhered to her recommendation, however, because of the special needs of the children, particularly P, who, she explained
“definitely has some special needs that it does not sound like the school has fully recognized or addressed them in ways that could have been helpful had he gotten some help a few years back when Mom was advocating for him. [P]’s emotional being and his ability to communicate and make friendships, I think, is the main issue, that that is really going to affect his ability to adjust; his ability to go through the grief and loss process. He’s not going to have anyone except Mom [and] Mom’s fiancé. Although they’re very supportive, he has those two people and his younger sister for the coping. And here he has a huge network to cope with the grief and loss.”
The key consideration, she emphasized, was the fact of the fragility of the children and the fact that they are not strong, resilient, or emotionally adaptable.
Mother, her father, and mother’s fiancé, Ritter, testified, albeit briefly. So far as I can tell, none contradicted anything that the custody evaluator said about the children, their special needs, or their relationships with their parents and their extended family.
At the conclusion of the testimony, the trial court announced its ruling with the following explanation:
“I’m certainly willing to hear argument, but I have to say that this case is not a difficult one for me to decide.
*524“I believe that it’s in the children’s best interest that they remain in the Portland metropolitan area, and if that means changing custody in order to accomplish that, I would grant the father’s motion to change custody.
“I can enumerate the reasons why. To begin with, the distance at which they would be from their now noncustodial parent, their father, would be extraordinary. Whether it’s a nine-hour plane ride, and that’s from Seattle which means leave here and go to the airport and hang out for an hour or two, and then go to Seattle and hang out for a little while, and presumably that’s the easiest way to get there. I’ve certainly flown, myself, as an adult to Europe and found it to be extremely exhausting and taxing.
“So the extraordinary distance and the number of times per year they would have the opportunity to see their father, coming here from — because of their school schedules over there, would be insufficient in my estimation to sustain the relationship that they currently have. And I think it would be particularly detrimental to [P] to suffer an upheaval of that sort. There are so many reasons why [P] should not be moved. He has special needs which have been worked on and identified by the mother.
“I have no concern that Mr. Ritter would not be — I think he’s an appropriate person; I think he has their best interests at heart. I certainly don’t believe that we know everything there is in the United States about schooling kids, and they may have a superior system, certainly, and I’m approval — I have approval of the multi-language situation they have and the cultural exchange, and all of that I think would be enriching and wonderful, but that’s not the most important thing for me to look at.
“I can look at a child who’s already in trouble and has problems and issues and is not doing well, and I think it would certainly exacerbate that for him to be uprooted and moved to another country and have to not only make the emotional adjustment but have to learn a new language. He already has learning difficulties, the ADHD which apparently isn’t being controlled by medication. It almost sounded like he was being described as having [Tourette’s Syndrome], I don’t know if they mentioned that, with the ticks and everything, but certainly there’s some issues there. And that is not a child that should be moved. I’m not *525sure he should even change schools or have too many disruptions.
* * * *
“I don’t know what else I can say except that, like I said, this is not a difficult decision. I certainly don’t want the children to lose their primary parent. But if it is your choice to move, then the children will be residing primarily with their father, and every time they have a visit — a vacation period, whether it be Christmas, spring break or summer, I would want them to have extended time with their mother.”
In making its decision, the court expressly took into consideration the fact that Bonnevier’s “experience as a custody evaluator is not as extensive as some people.” The court explained that, even taking that into account, Bonnevier
“had a certain maturity and insight that was, I think, well beyond the years that she’s been doing this sort of thing. And maybe it comes from her education; maybe it comes from her experience working in her other jobs along the way, but I certainly found her to be a very persuasive witness.”
In my view, the trial court carefully and correctly resolved the question whether it is in the best interests of the children to move with their mother to Holland. The court’s decision obviously was predicated, in significant part, on an evaluation of the demeanor of the witnesses, especially the custody evaluator. I can identify no good reason to second-guess that evaluation or the decision that resulted from it. Consistently with the caution that I quoted at the outset of this opinion that trial judges are in the best position to make such determinations, I would have affirmed the court’s decision. In fact, I would have affirmed it without opinion. I find the majority’s explanation for its decision to reverse the trial court unpersuasive, particularly in light of the custody evaluator’s uncontroverted testimony about the children, their special needs, and the “devastating” consequences of moving to Holland — testimony that the trial court took such pains to emphasize was “very persuasive.”
I respectfully dissent.