In re Choy

• Decision Date: 18 January 2007
• Docket Number: No. 2005–776.,2005–776.
• Citation: 919 A.2d 801,154 N.H. 707
• Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court
• Parties: In the Matter of Moises CHOY and Elsa Choy.

154 N.H. 707

919 A.2d 801

In the Matter of Moises CHOY and Elsa Choy.

No. 2005–776.

Supreme Court of New Hampshire.

Argued: Oct. 18, 2006.

Opinion Issued: Jan. 18, 2007.

Brian G. Germaine, P.A., of Derry (Brian G. Germaine on the brief and orally), for the petitioner.

Law Office of Barbara J. Griffin, of Manchester (Barbara J. Griffin on the brief and orally), for the respondent.

BRODERICK, C.J.

The petitioner, Moises Choy (father), appeals an order recommended by a Marital Master (Cross, M.) and approved by the Derry Family Division (Sadler, J.) granting a motion by the respondent, Elsa Choy (mother), to modify custody and child support. We affirm.

The record supports the following. The Choys were divorced in August 2003, after nearly nine years of marriage. They had one child, a son, age seven. According to the divorce decree, the Choys were awarded joint legal and physical custody of their son. The father was awarded custody "[e]very week from Thursday at 5:00 p.m. until the following Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m." The divorce decree further provided that "[u]nder this shared custodial agreement [the child] shall attend school in Derry, New Hampshire." The father resides in Derry, and the mother lives in Manchester.

In February 2004, the father filed a verified ex parte motion seeking a change of custody, alleging, in part, that the mother's boyfriend frequently struck the child and that the mother and her boyfriend engaged in sexual activity in front of him. The father requested that he be granted sole physical custody and that a guardian ad litem (GAL) be appointed for the child. In response to this, the trial court ordered, among other things, that "[t]he custodial provisions of the Divorce Decree ... be implemented forthwith."

In addition to moving for sole custody, the father also contacted the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to report the alleged physical abuse of his son and sexual impropriety by the mother and her boyfriend. DCYF investigated and determined that the allegations were unfounded.

Shortly after the trial court issued its order requiring the immediate implementation of the custodial provisions in the divorce decree, which included a requirement that the child be enrolled in school in Derry, the mother filed a motion for ex parte relief, asking that she be allowed to enroll her son in the Manchester school system because she lived in Manchester and her son had been attending school there since the start of the academic year. The trial court ruled that, "[p]ending further court order, the child shall be allowed to continue to attend the Manchester school system."

In July, the trial court assigned a GAL for the child and directed her to investigate and report on four issues: (1) modification of physical custody; (2) visitation; (3); the parenting skills of both parents; and (4) the suitability of the home environment provided by both parents. At the time of the GAL's appointment, the only pending motion to modify custody was the one filed by the father. In October, after the GAL was appointed but before she had prepared her report, the mother also filed a motion to modify custody in which she sought sole physical custody of her son.

The GAL's investigation involved four meetings with the child, four meetings with the mother, three meetings with the father, two meetings with the mother's boyfriend, and one meeting with the child's teacher. Among other things, the GAL noted in her April 2005 report that the father: (1) talked openly in front of his son in a derogatory way about the mother; (2) coached his son to provide false and negative information about his mother and threatened him with corporal punishment if he refused to do so; and (3) took his son to Florida without his mother's knowledge and directed him to keep the trip a secret from his mother, which distressed the child to the point where, according to his teacher, he asked her "what to do when you are asked to keep a secret from your parent." The GAL also reported that the father "loves his son more than anything in the world ... [and] is fiercely protective," and that the child "loves his father and ... wants to spend time with [him] but he does not want to have to hear, say or report bad things about his mother as I believe he is currently being told to do." Based upon her findings, the GAL concluded:

I also believe that if the situation were left as it is that over a period of time [the father] would influence [his son] so greatly and with such dominance that [his] relationship with his mother will be damaged. If [he] lives with his mother, I believe that he will be able to maintain his relationship with his father in a significant way.

Based upon that conclusion, the GAL recommended "that [the mother] be awarded primary physical [custody] of [the boy] while still providing substantial time with [the father]."

The master subsequently held a two-day hearing on both parties' motions to modify custody. Shortly before day two of the hearing, the father contacted the GAL alleging that the mother had physically abused their son and that her boyfriend had verbally abused him. By order dated July 21, 2005, the trial court accepted the master's recommendation and granted the mother's motion to modify custody. In its order, the trial court noted that the child "lives in an environment of extraordinary hostility, the majority of which is caused by [his father], and is given far too much negative information about his mother" and that of the two parents, the mother appeared to be the one more able to foster a good relationship between the child and the other parent. Based upon those and other findings, the trial court adopted the GAL's recommendations concerning the custodial schedule, which included: (1) granting the mother primary physical custody; (2) granting the father custody on alternate weeks, from Thursday after school until Monday morning; (3) granting the father custody from Thursday after school until Friday morning on those weeks when he does not have custody for the entire weekend; and (4) allowing the child to attend school in the district where his mother resides. The trial court determined that the evidence met the standard in RSA 458:17, V(a)(3) (2004) (repealed 2005 and recodified at RSA 461–A:11, I(c) (Supp.2006)), which allows modification of a permanent custody order upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that the child's present environment is detrimental and that the advantages of the proposed modification outweigh any harms likely to be caused by the change in environment. In addition, the court found that the evidence satisfied the standard in RSA 458:17, V(a)(5) (2004) (repealed 2005), which allows modification of a permanent custody order when each party asserts that the original arrangement is not working and the proposed modification is found to be in the best interests of the child. With respect to paragraph V(a)(3), the trial court found "that the present environment is detrimental to the child's mental and emotional health and that the advantage of modifying custody outweighs the likelihood of harm to be caused by the change in environment." The trial court further explained that the child would "benefit from spending more of his time with his mother, who is far more supportive of his father and their relationship, and will consequently not be as often subjected to his father's alienation." This appeal followed.

According to the father, the trial court erred by misapplying RSA 458:17 and unsustainably exercised its discretion by placing too much reliance upon the GAL's report and disregarding the evidence that he presented.

We will not overturn a trial court's modification of a child custody order unless it clearly appears that the court unsustainably exercised its discretion. In the Matter of Fulton & Fulton, 154 N.H. 264, 269, 910 A.2d 1180 (2006). However, we review a trial court's statutory interpretation de novo . In the Matter of Giacomini & Giacomini, 151 N.H. 775, 776, 868 A.2d 283 (2005).

The father presents two legal arguments: (1) that the trial court erred by applying RSA 458:17, V(a)(5) because, contrary to the plain language of the statute, both parties were not asserting that the original joint custody arrangement was not working at the time of the hearing on the mother's motion to modify; and (2) that absent a finding of a change in circumstances, the court was not entitled to rely upon RSA 458:17, V(a)(3). Because the trial court correctly applied paragraph V(a)(3) to the facts in this case, we need not address the father's argument concerning paragraph V(a)(5).

RSA 458:17, V(a)(3) provides that a trial court may modify a permanent custody order if it "finds by clear and convincing evidence that the child's present environment is detrimental to the child's physical, mental, or emotional health and that the advantage to the child of modifying a permanent custody order outweighs the harm likely to be caused by the change in environment." In support of its ruling, the trial court noted: (1) the father's anger and hostility toward the mother, expressed in the presence of the child; (2) the various ways in which the father involved the child in his dispute with the mother and attempted to turn the child against his mother; and (3) the demonstrable negative effects of the father's behavior upon his son, as observed by the child's teacher, his counselor and the GAL. The father argues, however, that the trial court misapplied RSA 458:17, V(a)(3) because the "pattern of mutual recrimination [between him and the mother] has been consistent since their divorce [and] does not present a change in the child's living environment."

In Perreault v. Cook, 114 N.H. 440, 322 A.2d 610 (1974), we articulated the standard for trial courts to use in determining whether to modify a child custody arrangement: "The relationship established by the custody award should not be disturbed unless...