Court Opinion

ID: 9776974
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 19:50:33.144053+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:45.717543
License: Public Domain

Ray Thorton, Justice. Thorton, Justice. The de novo review conduct review conducted in the prevailing opinion of the Court of Appeals discloses that there was some evidence to support a finding that a material change in circumstances existed, and that this material change in circumstances called for a change in custody in the best interest of the minor children. Unfortunately the chancellor did not make findings disclosing how he evaluated this evidence. Rather than making such findings, the chancellor expressed concerns about the children’s insecurity and stress shown both by words and actions of the children, and ordered a change in custody based upon those concerns. I want to affirm the chancellor’s decision because I am convinced that it was drawn from a careful and sensitive effort to advance the interest of the children. We defer to a chancellor on his findings of fact because the trial judge has the opportunity to evaluate the evidence and consider the credibility of the witnesses, and we should sustain those findings unless they are clearly erroneous or clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Nicholas v. Wray, 325 Ark. 326, 333, 925 S.W. 2d 785, 789 (1996). Here, we are not informed as to the particular findings of fact that may have led to the chancellor’s decision that the best interest of the children required a change of custody. If particular findings supporting the change of custody have been articulated by the chancellor, we should give great deference to those findings. Here, the chancellor appears to have concluded that it was in the best interest of the children to live with their mother based upon the desire of the eight-year-old son. That is not sufficient. Under these circumstances, while expressing my belief that the chancellor is entitled to deference, I reluctantly concur in the result reached by the majority because the chancellor did not make sufficient findings of fact upon which an appellate court could rest an affirmance. I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Arnold and Justice Brown join in this concurrence.