Court Opinion

ID: 9699175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 20:12:18.995433+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:46.509345
License: Public Domain

LEVINE, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I concur in the majority’s resolution of the issues of property division and spousal support. I dissent from affirming custody in the non-primary caretaker parent.
The majority recognizes that the trial court was faced with a difficult decision on a close question of which parent should have custody of the children. For the reasons stated in my dissent in Gravning v. Gravning, 389 N.W.2d 621, 624 (N.D.1986) (Levine, J., dissenting), I believe the primary caretaker rule should be applied to resolve close questions of child custody.
One reason for applying the primary caretaker rule is that it is in the best interest of the child to preserve the bond that develops between the child and the primary caretaker. See generally Chambers, Rethinking the Substantive Rules for Custody Disputes in Divorce, 83 Mich.L.Rev. 477, 527-38 (1984). This vital bonding is created by the intimate interaction of the primary caretaker with the child. See Pikula v. Pikula, 374 N.W.2d 705, 711 (Minn.1985). See generally Chambers, supra; Klaff, The Tender Years Doctrine: A Defense, 70 Cal.L.Rev. 335, 344-47 (1982). Equally important are the rule’s benefits of increasing both predictability of custody decisions and evenhandedness in negotiations. See Gravning at 625.
In third-party custody disputes this court has recognized the importance of the bonding that exists between children and their psychological parents and the harm that disrupting such a relationship may cause children. See Daley v. Gunville, 348 N.W.2d 441 (N.D.1984); Mansukhani v. Pailing, 318 N.W.2d 748 (N.D.1982). So too in custody disputes between two parents, no less than in parent-third-party disputes, there is something unique in the relationship between the primary caretaker and the child worthy of special weight in making decisions about placement. See Chambers, supra at 537.
The trial court found that both Pamela and David are fit and proper parents. The older child, Rachael, age nine, expressed a preference to live with her mother. I assume that the trial court gave little, if any, credence to Rachael’s preference, because she is too young to know what is in her best interest. Accordingly, I would apply the primary caretaker rule to the facts of this case.
The trial court found that Pamela was primarily responsible for the care of the children until the court awarded David temporary custody of the children on April 11, 1986. David’s primary caretaking role since April 11, 1986 is not relevant. The determination of which, if either, parent is the, primary caretaker is keyed to the time the divorce proceeding was commenced. See Pikula v. Pikula, 374 N.W.2d 705, 714 (Minn.1985). The time the divorce proceeding was commenced is that point in time when the family relationships were physically disrupted by events leading to the dissolution of the marriage, e.g., at the time of the parties’ separation or the interruption of the functioning full family unit. Pikula, supra at 714, n. 3. Because the trial court found that Pamela was the primary caretaker at the time the parties separated and that Pamela is a fit and proper parent, I would apply the primary caretaker rule and reverse the award of custody to David.