Czapranski v. Czapranski

• Decision Date: 11 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. 00-471.,00-471.
• Citation: 2003 MT 14,63 P.3d 499,314 Mont. 55
• Parties: In re the Marriage of John CZAPRANSKI, Petitioner and Respondent, v. Julie CZAPRANSKI, Respondent and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

63 P.3d 499

2003 MT 14

314 Mont. 55

In re the Marriage of John CZAPRANSKI, Petitioner and Respondent, v. Julie CZAPRANSKI, Respondent and Appellant.

No. 00-471.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs December 28, 2001.

Decided February 11, 2003.

John L. Hollow, Helena, Montana, for Appellant.

Mark P. Yeshe, Jacqueline T. Lenmark, Helena, (Guardian ad Litem), for Respondent.

Justice JIM RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 The Respondent, John Czapranski (John), filed a petition for dissolution of his marriage to Appellant, Julie Czapranski (Julie), in the First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, on February 26, 1998. Following nine days of trial, the District Court entered its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decree of Dissolution. Julie now appeals the District Court's Final Parenting Plan. We affirm.

¶ 2 We address the following issues on appeal:

¶ 3 1. Should this Court adopt a heightened standard of review when reviewing a district court's custody decision in a dissolution proceeding?

¶ 4 2. Did the District Court err or otherwise abuse its discretion when it ordered in its Final Parenting Plan that John be the primary residential parent?

BACKGROUND

¶ 5 The parties were married on June 5, 1992, in Helena, Montana, and have been separated since February 1998. At the time that John filed the petition for dissolution, the parties had three children, Zachary, born October 3, 1992; John, born October 10, 1994; and Jacob, born June 20, 1996. Subsequent to initiating this appeal and filing her brief, the parties' son, Zachary, died while competing in the Governor's Cup race in Helena in June 2001. This decision will not, therefore, address matters raised in Julie's brief concerning Zachary.

¶ 6 John filed his petition for dissolution on February 26, 1998. On that same day, the District Court entered an ex parte order placing the children in the temporary custody of John and giving him possession of the family home. The interim parenting plan obtained by John also required that Julie's contact with the children be supervised. Also, at the end of February, Julie entered into inpatient treatment at St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula for a period of approximately three weeks. The requirement that Julie contact with the children be supervised ended in May 1998, and unsupervised visitation continued through the time of trial.

¶ 7 The District Court conducted a trial over nine days during the period of February 1999 through April 1999. It entered its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Parenting Plan in January 2000. In ordering the Final Parenting Plan, the District Court did not follow the recommended plans of Dr. Phillip H. Bornstein, Ph.D (Dr. Bornstein), or the guardian ad litem, both of whom testified at trial and both of whose plans recommended sharing time approximately 50/50, but with different lengths of time with each parent. The District Court determined that neither recommended plan was in the best interests of the children, but rather, concluded that the best interests of the children would be served by designating John as the primary parent and granting Julie less than 50 percent of time with the children.

¶ 8 In so ordering, the District Court concluded that the recommended plans demanded cooperation and communication between the parties of which they are incapable. The District Court stated that, "given the hostility between the parties, neither of the recommended plans would provide stability for the children, particularly during the school year."

¶ 9 Julie now appeals the District Court's Final Parenting Plan, challenging its appropriateness in light of the recommended plan of Dr. Bornstein and the recommend plan of the guardian ad litem and challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the parenting plan adopted by the District Court.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 10 Because the district court is in a superior position to weigh the evidence, we will not overturn the court in child custody matters unless we determine that there has been a clear abuse of discretion. In re Marriage of Bukacek (1995), 274 Mont. 98, 105, 907 P.2d 931, 935 (citing In re Marriage of Bolt (1993), 259 Mont. 54, 58, 854 P.2d 322, 324). When reviewing the court's discretionary decision, we review its findings of fact to determine whether they are clearly erroneous. In re Marriage of Fishbaugh, 2002 MT 175, ¶ 19, 310 Mont. 519, ¶ 19, 52 P.3d 395, ¶ 19 (citing In re Marriage of McKenna, 2000 MT 58, ¶ 14, 299 Mont. 13, ¶ 14, 996 P.2d 386, ¶ 14).

¶ 11 A district court is required to determine child custody matters in accordance with the best interests of the child, taking into consideration a variety of statutory factors including, but not limited to, the parents' wishes, the interaction and interrelationship of the child with the child's parents, continuity and stability of care, and whether the child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents. Section 40-4-212(1), MCA; Fishbaugh, ¶ 20. While a court must consider the factors enumerated in § 40-4-212(1), MCA, it need not make specific findings relating to each. Fishbaugh, ¶ 20 (citing McKenna, ¶ 15, 996 P.2d 386).

DISCUSSION

¶ 12 1. Should this Court adopt a heightened standard of review when reviewing a district court's custody decision in a dissolution proceeding?

¶ 13 Julie argues that the above-stated standard of review should be reexamined and heightened, requiring that a district court's discretion be bound by the statutory factors for determining the best interests of the children as set forth in § 40-4-212, MCA (1997) [currently codified under the same title, chapter and section]. That statute provides in part:

40-4-212. Best interest of child. (1) The court shall determine the parenting plan in accordance with the best interest of the child. The court shall consider all relevant parenting factors, which may include but are not limited to:

(a) the wishes of the child's parent or parents;

(b) the wishes of the child;

(c) the interaction and interrelationship of the child with the child's parent or parents and siblings and with any other person who significantly affects the child's best interest;

(d) the child's adjustment to home, school, and community;

(e) the mental and physical health of all individuals involved;

(f) physical abuse or threat of physical abuse by one parent against the other parent or the child;

(g) chemical dependency, as defined in XX-XX-XXX, or chemical abuse on the part of either parent;

(h) continuity and stability of care;

(i) developmental needs of the child;

(j) whether a parent has knowingly failed to pay birth-related costs that the parent is able to pay, which is considered to be not in the child's best interests;

(k) whether a parent has knowingly failed to financially support a child that the parent is able to support, which is considered to be not in the child's best interests;

(l) whether the child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents, which is considered to be in the child's best interests unless the court determines, after a hearing, that contact with a parent would be detrimental to the child's best interests. In making that determination, the court shall consider evidence of physical abuse or threat of physical abuse by one parent against the other parent or the child, including but not limited to whether a parent or other person residing in that parent's household has been convicted of any of the crimes enumerated in 40-4-219(8)(b).

¶ 14 Julie argues that this Court should adopt a standard of review that would focus the analysis of a district court, requiring the court to make specific findings pertaining to each factor listed in the statute, findings regarding the developmental needs of the children and findings regarding how the court-adopted plan meets those needs, especially in light of any expert testimony or proposed parenting plans submitted by experts. She states:

For instance, where case specific, expert testimony was given regarding the needs of the children, it should be incumbent upon the trial Court to refer to the evidence of the needs of the children, to refer to any evidence that rebuts those as being the needs of the children, and to state the reasons why the Court disregarded those needs or thought its plan addressed those needs.

Citing In re Marriage of Brown (1978), 179 Mont. 417, 587 P.2d 361, Julie contends that this Court's standard of review should require a district court's findings to include evidence as to the children's wishes and any reasons why a court adopted a Final Parenting Plan that may be inconsistent with those wishes.

¶ 15 Citing a number of parent-child termination cases, Julie contends that this Court uses a higher standard of review in termination cases, requiring that a party seeking to terminate parenting rights has a burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence each of the statutory criteria. See, e.g., In re Custody and Parental Rights of D.T., 2002 MT 232, ¶ 10, 311 Mont. 463,

¶ 10, 56 P.3d 859, ¶ 10 ("[t]he party seeking to terminate an individual's parental rights has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the statutory criteria for termination have been met") (citation omitted). Julie questions that, if this is true, "why should this Court's standard of review permit a District Court in a parenting plan proceeding specifically [sic] address few or no criteria in MCA Section 40-4-212, and still be upheld."

¶ 16 John responds that the standard of review is higher in termination cases because of the impact upon the parent-child relationship and contends that the District Court in this case cannot be held in error for following the law as it has been consistently proclaimed by the Supreme Court.

¶ 17 The arguments proffered by each party in this matter reveal a basic misunderstanding of this Court's standard of review on appeal as opposed to the burden of...