Court Opinion

ID: 9938203
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 19:02:46.726371+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:49.484266
License: Public Domain

A change of custody "may be made only where the evidencediscloses an obvious and overwhelming necessity for change." Exparte Peppers, 703 So.2d 299, 302 (Ala. 1997). While the "overwhelming-necessity" standard recognized in Peppers
has been criticized (see Smith v. Smith,865 So.2d 1207, 1212-13 (Ala.Civ.App. 2003) (Murdock, J., concurring in the result)), inferior courts are bound by decisions of the Alabama Supreme Court (see, e.g., SouthTrust Bank v. Fairhope SingleTax Corp., 698 So.2d 777, 779 (Ala.Civ.App. 1997)). In my view, no substantial evidence was adduced in this case to demonstrate an "overwhelming necessity" for a change in the trial court's previous custody judgment such that the trial court's judgment modifying custody can be reconciled withPeppers, and on that basis I concur in the main opinion.