Green v. Green, 47968

Decision Date14 July 1975
Docket NumberNo. 47968,47968
Citation317 So.2d 392
PartiesBrenda Sue GREEN v. David Nonroe GREEN.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Maynard, Fitzgerald, Bradley & Chaffin, Clarksdale, for appellant.

Appellee did not file brief.

Before GILLESPIE, SMITH and WALKER, JJ.

GILLESPIE, Chief Justice.

Brenda Sue Green sued her husband, David Monroe Green, in the Chancery Court of Coahoma County wherein she sought a divorce, custody of the two-year-old child, Connie Renee Green, support money for the child, and a reasonable allowance for attorney's fees and court costs. The husband filed an answer denying the essential averments of the bill of complaint and incorporated a cross-bill for divorce wherein he requested the permanent custody of the child.

After a full hearing the chancellor held that there had been a reconciliation of the parties in March, 1973, and that the proof was insufficient to establish cruel and inhuman treatment on the part of the husband, that the proof failed to establish adultery on the part of the wife as claimed by the husband in his cross-bill. Thereupon the chancellor denied both parties a divorce and awarded the custody of Connie Renee Green to Mrs. John Green, the paternal grandmother of the child.

The wife appealed to this Court and supported her appeal with a brief. The husband failed to file any brief in this Court or otherwise make any appearance.

Two questions are raised by the wife's brief. She contends that the trial court erred in awarding the care and custody of the child to the paternal grandmother. This assignment of error is well taken.

The failure to file a brief is tantamount to a confession of error on the part of the husband and ordinarily would be accepted as such and the judgment of the court below would be reversed under the authority of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. v. Rogers, 284 So.2d 304 (Miss. 1973). However, this is a case involving the custody of a child and a divorce, and we have carefully examined the evidence as was done in Hale v. Hood, 313 So.2d 18, 19 decided by this Court on May 26, 1975. In so doing, we find there is no lawful authority for awarding the child to the paternal grandmother. In Hale v. Hood, supra, the Court said:

The well-settled rule in a child custody case between a natural parent and a third party is that it is presumed that the best interest of the child will be preserved by being in the custody of the natural parent. In order to overcome this presumption there must be a...

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8 cases
  • Muhammad v. Muhammad
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 5 de agosto de 1993
    ..."is tantamount to confession" of the errors alleged by the appellant. Price v. Price, 430 So.2d 848, 849 (Miss.1983); Green v. Green, 317 So.2d 392 (Miss.1975); Charles F. Hayes & Associates, Inc. v. Blue, 233 So.2d 127 (Miss.1970). Automatic reversal is not required, however; Robert's argu......
  • Waller v. Waller
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 13 de janeiro de 2000
    ...688 So.2d 1374 (Miss.1997); Steen v. Steen, 641 So.2d 1167 (Miss.1994); Faries v. Faries, 607 So.2d 1204 (Miss.1992); Green v. Green, 317 So.2d 392 (Miss.1975). Indeed, if the parents cannot agree on who should have primary custody of the children, it is probably the better course for the c......
  • NE v. LH, 1998-CA-01242-COA.
    • United States
    • Mississippi Court of Appeals
    • 13 de junho de 2000
    ...confession of error ... and ordinarily would be accepted as such and the judgment of the court below would be reversed." Green v. Green, 317 So.2d 392, 393 (Miss.1975) (citing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. v. Rogers, 284 So.2d 304 (Miss.1973)). "Automatic reversal is not required whe......
  • Garceau v. Roberts
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 18 de outubro de 1978
    ...here, however, the interests of the children prompting us to review the record for basis upon which to make conclusion. Green v. Green, 317 So.2d 392 (Miss.1975); Hale v. Hood, 313 So.2d 18 We find in the record adequate basis for affirming the chancellor's decision against changing the chi......
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