Court Opinion

ID: 9634554
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:16:57.094384+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:05.298907
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, J.,
dissenting.
I would affirm the judgment of the Appellate Division essentially for the reasons stated in its opinion. A judicial order for joint custody of children by divorced parents may be appropriate under some circumstances. However, I do not consider it “the preferred disposition” in custody cases as the majority opinion, despite some restrictive language, seems to suggest. Certainly, on the undisputed facts of this case it is not in the best interests of the children involved.
These young girls, who are now entering the age of puberty with its accompanying physical and physiological changes, should be permitted to continue to live with their mother rather than forced (as is the case) to rotate between the only home they know and their father’s present residence on a joint custody basis, as was ordered by the trial court. In addition, the security of home life and the stability of environment are of great importance to the physical and emotional well-being of young children. Shuffling them, their clothing and possessions between two homes every four months is not the way to resolve the problem of custody.
I would leave the children with the mother whose care of them was found to be more than adequate and, as the Appellate Division held, afford plaintiff reasonable rights of visitation.
*503For reversal and remandment — Chief Justice WILENTZ, and Justices PASHMAN, CLIFFORD, SCHREIBER, HANDLER and POLLOCK — 6.
For affirmance —Justice SULLIVAN — 1.