Anton v. Anton

• Decision Date: 24 January 2023
• Docket Number: A-22-101
• Parties: Lance Anton, appellee, v. Jennifer Anton, now known as Jennifer Leonard, appellant.
• Court: Nebraska Court of Appeals

Lance Anton, appellee,
v.
Jennifer Anton, now known as Jennifer Leonard, appellant.

No. A-22-101

Court of Appeals of Nebraska

January 24, 2023

THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PERMANENT PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY NEB. CT. R. APP. P. § 2-102(E).

Appeal from the District Court for Lancaster County: Robert R. Otte, Judge.

Eddy M. Rodell for appellant.

Andrea Finegan McChesney, of M|F Law Omaha, for appellee.

Pirtle, Chief Judge, and Riedmann and Arterburn, Judges.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL

Riedmann, Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Jennifer Anton, now known as Jennifer Leonard, appeals from the orders of the district court for Lancaster County finding her in contempt and modifying the parenting plan related to the children she shares with her former husband, Lance Anton. Finding that Jennifer willfully violated the court's prior orders, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Jennifer and Lance are the parents of two children, who were age 10 and 8 at the time of the hearing on the order to show cause. A 2016 parenting plan gave the parties joint legal custody of the children, with Jennifer having primary physical custody. The plan provided that the children's principal residence was with Jennifer, whose residence was in Lincoln. The parenting plan provided Lance parenting time every other week from Saturday at 9 a.m. until Wednesday at

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5 p.m. and one evening a week from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. However, Lance testified his parenting time ended at 6 p.m. and that his evening parenting time occurred on Wednesdays beginning at 12 p.m.

The parenting plan required the parties to freely discuss the children's education, religious upbringing, and medical needs in an effort to reach a consensus on those issues, but in the event of an impasse, Jennifer would have final say. The plan also stated that if either party moved from their current residence and relocated to another, they were required to give notice to the other party immediately upon learning the new address.

Though not in our record, at some point prior to a January 24, 2020, hearing, Lance filed a complaint for modification. This led the district court to enter an order on April 6, finding that Jennifer had delayed vaccinations for the children and ordering the children to immediately be vaccinated in compliance with the vaccination schedule promulgated by Lincoln Public Schools (LPS). A December 22 stipulated supplemental order stated that Jennifer discovered she had misunderstood part of the LPS vaccination requirements, and that she would follow the appropriate guidelines regarding the vaccination at issue.

On September 3, 2021, Lance filed an application for an order to show cause, alleging that Jennifer had failed to comply with the April 6, 2020, order requiring the children be vaccinated according to the LPS requirements. He also alleged that Jennifer had changed the residence of the children without informing him until after they moved, that she refused to provide accurate information regarding their whereabouts, that based on conversations with the children, he believed the children were residing with Jennifer in a commune setting, and that Jennifer made the unilateral decision to homeschool without discussing it with him. He further alleged that Jennifer had been withholding parenting time from him. At a hearing on the application for an order to show cause, the following testimony was adduced.

At some point in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties came to an informal agreement that Jennifer would keep the children home with her for isolation because Lance's job put him at high risk of exposure and both Lance and Jennifer had relatives at high risk. In May, the children stopped attending in-person classes at the public school, but it was Lance's understanding they were doing virtual classes. The parties mutually agreed the children would be homeschooled for the 2020-2021 school year. There was no formal agreement as to when the children would resume in-person contact with Lance. During this time, Lance regularly spoke with the children on the phone.

After Lance received his COVID-19 vaccinations in the spring of 2021, he contacted Jennifer about resuming parenting time. Although Lance requested that visits resume on May 5, Jennifer told Lance he could have visitation from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., on May 19 and June 2. Other than that, she indicated the children's schedules were not open. Lance suggested alternate days or that he be included in the children's activities, but ultimately he received only the days Jennifer initially offered.

While Jennifer was homeschooling the children, Lance was not allowed to pick up the children until 3 p.m. on his Wednesday parenting time. According to Jennifer, the children were being schooled until that time. Lance disputed this because the children spent substantially less time on their studies when they were with him.

Jennifer stated she was caught off guard by Lance's request to resume parenting time, that she was unable to resume parenting time right away but offered some dates that worked, and that

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it felt like Lance demanded parenting time immediately. She stated that when the parties mutually agreed that Lance would not exercise parenting time in 2020, there was never a date discussed as to when it would resume. Lance believed that prior to Easter, he had mentioned getting his vaccination and wanting to resume parenting time.

It was Lance's understanding that the children would return to school at LPS in August 2021 because they did not have a conversation about continuing homeschooling into the 2021-2022 school year. In accordance with the parenting plan, Jennifer notified Lance that she would take the children the week prior to school starting. Lance complied, believing that the children would be returning to school at LPS the following week.

Lance received telephone calls from the school on August 16 and August 17, 2021, inquiring why the children were not in attendance. Lance called Jennifer, but she did not answer. At 5:25 p.m. on August 17, Jennifer sent Lance a text message providing a new address for the children in Auburn, Nebraska, and informing him that she would be homeschooling the children that year. This was Lance's first notification that the children were moving and that the homeschooling would continue.

Lance did not agree with the...