In re Marriage of Goldman

• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Anderson, G. Barry
• Citation: In re Marriage of Goldman, 748 N.W.2d 279 (Minn. 2008)
• Decision Date: 27 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. A06-1110.
• Parties: In re the MARRIAGE OF Deborah A. GOLDMAN, f/k/a Deborah A. Greenwood, Respondent, v. Mark E. Greenwood, Appellant.

748 N.W.2d 279

In re the MARRIAGE OF Deborah A. GOLDMAN, f/k/a Deborah A. Greenwood, Respondent, v. Mark E. Greenwood, Appellant.

No. A06-1110.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

March 27, 2008.

Rehearing Denied May 14, 2008.

Suzanne Marie Edminston, Michael D. Dittberner, Clugg, Linder, Dittberner & Edminston, Ltd., Edina, for appellant.

Richard D. Goff, Minneapolis, Felipe Orner, Flushing, NY, for respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

ANDERSON, G. BARRY, Justice.

Appellant Mark Greenwood challenges the decision of the court of appeals reversing the district court's denial of respondent Deborah Goldman's motion to remove the parties' minor child out of state. Appellant argues that the court of appeals erred in ruling that Minn.Stat. § 518.175, subd. 3 (2006), rather than Minn.Stat. § 518.18(d) (2006), governs respondent's motion for removal and in ruling that respondent is entitled to an evidentiary hearing. We agree, and we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and reinstate the district court's order.

Appellant and respondent were married on January 16, 1993; together they have one son, I.G., born on January 30, 1996. While the parties' dissolution proceedings were pending, respondent received a job offer from an employer in Boston and moved the district court to permit her to move out of state with I.G. In October 2000, the district court denied respondent's motion for permission to remove I.G. out of state but awarded her temporary sole legal and physical custody of I.G. In a September 2001 memorandum decision, the district court denied another request by respondent to remove I.G. from the state. The parties agree that the district court awarded respondent sole physical custody contingent on her remaining in Minnesota.¹ The district court indicated that imposition of the locale restriction was in I.G.'s best interests, and it suggested that it would award custody to appellant in the absence of the restriction:

If for any reason the LaChapelle locale restriction is found wanting, this [c]ourt would award sole physical custody to father. It would award sole physical custody to father to ensure that [I.G.] continues to prosper from his intimate relationships with father [and father's other children], does not have to suffer yet another major change in his young life, and could continue with his existing school and religious arrangements.²

The parties entered an oral stipulation to a negotiated settlement in June 2002, incorporating the locale restriction. On July 11, 2002, the district court dissolved the parties' marriage and granted respondent sole physical custody of I.G. subject to reasonable parenting time by appellant. The court stated that neither party could remove I.G. from the state for the purpose of changing his residence without the written consent of the other party or a court order. Additionally, the court clarified that it had addressed respondent's request to remove I.G. from the state in its September 2001 memorandum decision, which it "incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein."

In February 2006, shortly after I.G.'s tenth birthday, respondent moved the district court to eliminate the locale restriction from the custody order and to permit her to move with I.G. to New York City, the home of respondent's fiancé. In the alternative, she moved the court to order a "relocation evaluation" and hold an evidentiary hearing. Respondent submitted 15 affidavits in support of her motion. In her own affidavit, she alleged that changes in circumstances rendered the locale restriction "contrary to [I.G.]'s best interests" and a danger to I.G.'s "emotional, spiritual, and academic development." She particularly emphasized the superior opportunities in New York City for I.G. to grow in his Orthodox Jewish faith, noting that there are no Orthodox Jewish schools in Minnesota that offer education beyond the eighth grade and that New York City has a thriving Orthodox Jewish community. The other affidavits attest to respondent's love for I.G., her good character, and the academic and spiritual benefits I.G. would experience as a result of relocating to New York City. Appellant opposed respondent's motion, expressing his concern that the move would harm his relationship with I.G. and arguing that respondent failed to make a prima facie case for modification of the "conditional custody award."

The district court denied respondent's motion to eliminate the locale restriction from the custody order, for permission to remove I.G. to New York, and to order a relocation evaluation and hold an evidentiary hearing. The court applied section 518.18(d), which governs modification of custody orders, not section 518.175, subd. 3, which governs a custodial parent's relocation of a child to another state, to respondent's motion, reasoning that a locale restriction "is an integral part of the prior `custody order'." In applying section 518.18(d), the court concluded that respondent failed to make a prima facie case of changed circumstances, of endangerment, and that the benefits of the move outweighed its detriments.

Respondent appealed the district court's ruling. The court of appeals held that the district court erred in applying section 518.18(d) and reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to consider I.G.'s best interests under section 518.175, subd. 3. In re Marriage of Goldman, 725 N.W.2d 747, 753, 761 (Minn.App.2007). Both parties filed petitions for review, and we granted review of appellant's petition in full and of respondent's petition in part.³

I.

As a threshold issue, we consider whether the locale restriction in the district court's custody order is valid. "Appellate review of custody determinations is limited to whether the district court abused its discretion by making findings unsupported by the evidence or by improperly applying the law." In re Custody of N.A.K., 649 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Minn.2002). District courts have "broad discretion in determining custody matters," Durkin v. Hinich, 442 N.W.2d 148, 151 (Minn.1989), and we agree with the recognition of the court of appeals in Dailey v. Chermak "that there is no absolute prohibition under Minnesota law against awarding child custody on the condition of maintaining a specific geographic residence for the child, as long as that residence is shown clearly and genuinely to serve the child's best interests," 709 N.W.2d 626, 630 (Minn.App. 2006), rev. denied (Minn. May 16, 2006).

Respondent, who stipulated to the incorporation of the locale restriction into the district court's order, argues that the restriction is nevertheless void because it provides for an automatic transfer of custody in the event that she moves out of state. The district court explained that "[i]f for any reason the LaChapelle locale restriction is found wanting, this [c]ourt would award sole physical custody to father." The district court's use of the language "found wanting" implies that a hearing would precede any subsequent custody transfer. Furthermore, in its denial of respondent's motion for removal in 2006, the district court suggested that its analysis might change once I.G. completes eighth grade and is no longer able to attend Orthodox Jewish school in Minneapolis. We do not interpret the district court's locale restriction as foreclosing future reassessment of I.G.'s best interests.⁴

We leave for another day the determination of the validity of a locale restriction that does provide for the automatic transfer of custody upon the sole physical custodian's relocation. Because the district court acted within the scope of its discretion, the locale restriction in respondent's custody order is valid.

II.

Having determined that the locale restriction in this case is valid, we next consider whether section 518.18(d) or section 518.175, subd. 3, governs respondent's motion for removal. The district court applied section 518.18(d), but the court of appeals reversed, holding that section 518.175, subd. 3, is the governing statute. Determination of the applicable statutory standard, Ayers v. Ayers, 508 N.W.2d 515, 518 (Minn.1993), and the interpretation of statutes, In re Estate of Palmen, 588 N.W.2d 493, 495 (Minn.1999), are questions of law that we review de novo.

The modification of custody orders is governed by Minn.Stat. § 518.18(d), which states in pertinent part as follows:

[T]he court shall not modify a prior custody order or a parenting plan provision which specifies the child's primary residence unless it finds * * * that a change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or the parties and that the modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. In applying these standards the court shall retain the custody arrangement or the parenting plan provision specifying the child's primary residence that was established by the prior order unless:

* * * * (iv) the child's present environment endangers the child's physical or emotional health or impairs the child's emotional development and the harm likely to be caused by a change of environment is outweighed by the advantage of a change to the child.

Minnesota Statutes § 518.175, subd. 3, governs a custodial parent's relocation of a child to another state, providing as follows:

(a) The parent with whom the child resides shall not move the residence of the child to another state except upon order of the court or with the consent of the other parent, if the other parent has been given parenting time by the decree. * * * *

(b) The court shall apply a best interests standard when considering the request of the parent with whom the child resides to move the child's residence to another state. * * * *

(c) The burden of proof is upon the parent requesting to move the residence of the child to another state * * *.

According to the court of appeals, the scope of section 518.18(d) "is confined to the change of provisions `specifying the...