Court Opinion

ID: 9515061
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:53:27.266243+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:24.404932
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(concurring specially).
[¶ 63.] Because I believe the best interest of the child should always be paramount, I would reverse and remand for a determination of this issue.8
[¶ 64.] A child’s welfare should be of utmost importance, even when evaluating a custody battle between a parent and non-parent. There is a plethora of cases in this state placing “the best interest of the child” on a pedestal above all other considerations in custody battles. See, e.g., In re W.G., 1999 SD 85, ¶ 22, 597 N.W.2d 430, 434 (stating “[t]he best interest of the children must always prevail.”); Zepeda v. Zepeda, 2001 SD 101, ¶ 13, 632 N.W.2d 48, 53 (stating “our brightest beacon remains the best interest of the child”). We should place the child’s interest upon such a pedestal in all custody cases, decreasing the emphasis on the fitness of the parent when a non-parent seeks custody. Cf. In re Guardianship of Sedelmeier, 491 N.W.2d 86, 87 (S.D.1992) (holding that unfitness of parent must be established before the best interest of the child can be addressed in a parent versus non-parent custody battle).
[¶ 65.] Although I do not disagree with a presumption of custodial entitlement on behalf of a biological parent, one should be able to trump that presumption with the best interest of the child. “[T]he welfare of the child is superior to the claim of the parent so that the right of the natural parent must yield where it clearly appears that the child’s welfare requires that custody be granted to another.” Doe v. Doe, 92 Misc.2d 184, 399 N.Y.S.2d 977, 982 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1977). If a child develops a secure, stable and continuing parent-child relationship with a third party who has become a psychological parent, then “the presumption that, absent extraordinary circumstances, a child should be in the custody of the natural parent should be rebuttable.” Id. See also, Fisher v. Fisher, 99 Nev. 762, 670 P.2d 572, 573 (1983) (stating that a growing number of cases focus on the best interest of the child, and citing Doe, supra, approvingly). Aso, in the case of In re Paternity of L.K T., 665 N.E.2d 910 (Ind.Ct.App.1996), the Indiana Court of Appeals was involved in a custody dispute between a parent and non-parent, and stated as follows:
In Turpen v. Turpen, 537 N.E.2d 537 (Ind.Ct.App.1989), this court rejected the “mechanical approach” ... in evaluating evidence in custody actions. The Turpén court recognized that preeminent in the court’s consideration is the best interest of the child, and that there might be reasons for preferring a non-parent over a parent ... This view, i.e., preeminence of the child’s best interest over other considerations, was impliedly reaffirmed in Atteberry v. Atteberry, 597 N.E.2d 355 (Ind.App.1992): ‘Our law clearly prefers to consider the best interest of the child over the presumption that custody must be in a natural parent.’ Id. (other citations omitted).
*473Id. at 912. I submit that South Dakota should also place the best interest of the child as the paramount factor in this type of custody dispute so that the presumption of custody for a natural parent is subordinate to the child’s best interest.
[¶ 66.] The case at hand did not involve the traditional “Leave It To Beaver” family where mom, dad and kids all ate supper together under the same roof each evening. In this case, the biological father was not living with his biological son. Importantly, the traditional “Cleaver” family is becoming less and less common in contemporary society. As society changes, some of our laws become antiquated and fail to provide just results. If a child’s best interest is with a non-parent, we should not permit outdated laws to prohibit such conduct.
This concept, of psychological parent-child relationship, has gained increasingly greater acceptance in the courts where the phenomena has been observed at close hand and where psychiatric experts have testified to its being well grounded. Where a psychological parent-child relationship has developed, disruption of this relationship can be even more traumatic and devastating on occasion than severing the tie with a natural parent.
Doe, 399 N.Y.S.2d at 982 (internal citations omitted). Thus, our custody laws should adapt to our changing social situations. A biological parent should not be deemed the proper custodian simply because they are a biological parent; rather, we must place our emphasis on what is best for the child.
[¶ 67.] This writing should not be interpreted as approving any conduct by the psychological parent, such as having the minor child on national television, having television cameras present at the time the child was transferred, or any other manipulative acts which cannot be construed as being in the best interest of the child. Therefore, this type of conduct is still to be considered by the trial court when determining what is in the best interest of the child.
[¶ 68.] In this case, the minor child has been thrust into an environment not necessarily of his choosing based on the conduct of the parents and Novotny. Therefore, I would remand for a determination on the best interest of the child so that this critical decision is not the mechanical act of plugging a peg in the right hole.

. We acknowledged this point in Meldrum v. Novotny (Meldrum I), 1999 SD 127, 599 N.W.2d 651, by remanding so that appointed counsel could represent the child’s best interest. In fact, we stated that the best interest of the child is "our brightest beacon” at “every stage in child custody proceedings” in Meldrum I. Id. at ¶ 10 (internal citations omitted).