Dyar v. Stovall, 27882
| Decision Date | 31 May 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 27882,27882 |
| Citation | 230 Ga. 653,198 S.E.2d 679 |
| Parties | Modena Rowland Stovall DYAR v. George Arthur STOVALL. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
In this proceeding in the nature of habeas corpus, brought by the mother of a minor son against the father, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in refusing to change or modify the former judgment placing custody in the father.
Zachary & Segraves, W. E. Zachary, Sr., Decatur, for appellant.
George Arthur Stovall, pro se.
This appeal by a mother of a minor boy, about 12 years old, against the father, is from a judgment finding that the evidence did not show any substantial change in condition materially affecting the welfare of the child, and ordering that custody remain with the father, subject to the visitation rights of the mother.
The record shows that by agreement of the parties in a divorce action custody of the child was placed in the mother in June, 1962. In December, 1962, the father obtained custody of the child because of a change of circumstances affecting the welfare of the child. The father has had primary custody since that time. The mother has custody two months in the summer and two weekends each month. There has been frequent litigation between the parents through the years concerning the custody of the child, in all of which the father has been successful.
In the present case the mother contends that the father has neglected the boy's teeth. She introduced testimony of an orthodontist to whom she took the boy in 1968. The orthodontist has been treating the boy for a hereditary condition of his jaw, in which the lower jaw outgrew the upper jaw, preventing the upper and lower teeth from fitting together properly. The orthodontist testified that treatment for this condition is difficult and unsatisfactory, and that treatments would have to be continued until the boy is mature. The mother has already paid approximately $1,100 for the treatments. The orthodontist stated that the boy's teeth were badly decayed when he first saw them.
The father testified that the boy's teeth were not in too bad shape until the mother 'started messing with them.' He stated that the mother took the boy to the orthodontist without consulting him, that he offered to pay for the treatments, but she said that she would gladly pay for them.
The mother testified in regard to the boy's lack of proper medical care, inadequate clothing, and lack of personal hygiene training while in the care of the father. This testimony was contradicted by evidence for the father of his proper care for the physical health and personal appearance of the boy.
The mother retained custody of the boy after his last summer vacation with her, and placed him in a school in DeKalb County, where she lives. One of his teachers in this school testified that the boy had a severe reading deficiency, that his reading was on a first and second grade level, although he was in the sixth grade. The mother asserts that the school...
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Buck v. Buck
...if there is any reasonable evidence in the trial transcript to support the decision of the trial court . . . See Dyar v. Stovall, 230 Ga. 653, 198 S.E.2d 679 (1973), and Robinson v. Ashmore, 232 Ga. 498, 207 S.E.2d 484 (1974)." Horne v. Horne, 236 Ga. 270, 223 S.E.2d 666 (1976). The transcr......
- Lodge v. Lodge, 27881
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Horne v. Horne, 30763
...judgment of the trial court and, consequently, we cannot hold the trial judge abused his discretion in this case. See Dyar v. Stovall, 230 Ga. 653, 198 S.E.2d 679 (1973), and Robinson v. Ashmore, 232 Ga. 498, 207 S.E.2d 484 Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. ...