Jones v. Vrba, 86-1877
| Decision Date | 03 September 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 86-1877,86-1877 |
| Citation | 513 So.2d 1080,12 Fla. L. Weekly 2122 |
| Parties | 12 Fla. L. Weekly 2122 In re the Marriage of Eric R. JONES, Appellant, v. Susan S. VRBA, f/k/a Susan Smith Jones, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Eric R. Jones, Melbourne, in pro. per.
C.V. Kessel, Jr., Cocoa Beach, for appellee.
This is an appeal from a judgment in a child custody dispute. The principal issue involves the propriety of allowing the mother to take the son from the state of Florida thus severely restricting visitation and contact between a father and son.
When the parties had their marriage dissolved they had an agreement that their son would be able to benefit from frequent contact with both parents and a liberal visitation period was provided for the non-custodial parent. During the majority of the time, the agreement said, the primary residency of the child would be with the mother. It was also agreed that the son would not be taken from the state without either both parents agreeing or court order.
After the dissolution the mother remarried and again divorced. She married a third time and moved to Largo, Florida. Her third husband is in the armed forces and was living in Denver when they first married. He later moved to Clearwater Florida for a while. He then sought and obtained a transfer to the Pentagon to enhance his career opportunities. The mother sought and received permission from the trial court to permanently remove the son to Washington, D.C. to be with her new husband. It is this order which is on appeal, along with the denial of the petition for change of custody sought by the father.
The grandparents and other family of the child all live in Melbourne. After the dissolution the child resided with his mother in Melbourne and the father consistently and thoroughly exercised his visitation rights. He did all a father can do in such circumstances to raise and nurture his son and provide the love and guidance only a father can. He provided necessary special advanced schooling, participated in Indian Guides and devoted himself to the child's welfare.
When the mother and their son moved to Largo, the father continued to exercise his visitation rights and duties by driving from Melbourne to Largo. The father's devotion to his son is extraordinary.
The mother is a fit person to have custody and has been a good mother both before and after the dissolution. There is no dispute in that regard. She is as interested in her son's welfare as she is her own and believes she can offer a better home for her son in Washington than he can have in Melbourne.
As in any child custody case there are many more factors influencing the decision on appeal and most certainly the law is well-decided and firm that it is within the sound discretion of the trial judge to make the usually-final decision in these matters. The burden is upon the father to prove a substantial, material change in order to cause a change of child custody. Stricklin v. Stricklin, 383 So.2d 1183 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980). A change of custody, or "primary residency" is a very significant change in a child's life and the lives of his family. Here there is little difference between the change of custody (or "primary residency") from the father to the mother and the removal of...
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Mast v. Reed
...the Fifth District to recede from our own case law on that issue: Cole v. Cole, 530 So.2d 467 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); Jones v. Vrba, 513 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Giachetti v. Giachetti, 416 So.2d 27 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). The case was thus reviewed en banc at my I concur with the majority......
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...in this vital area of the law. See, e.g., Cole v. Cole, 530 So.2d 467 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); Parker, 519 So.2d at 673; Jones v. Vrba, 513 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Johnson v. Johnson, 455 So.2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); McIntyre v. McIntyre, 452 So.2d 14 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Costa, 429 ......
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Ferguson v. Baisley
...in this vital area of the law. See e.g. Cole v. Cole, 530 So.2d 467 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988); Parker, 519 So.2d at 673; Jones v. Vrba, 513 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987); Johnson v. Johnson, 455 So.2d 1332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); McIntyre v. McIntyre, 452 So.2d 14 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984); Costa, 429 So......
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