Paschall v. Paschall

• Decision Date: 20 March 1974
• Docket Number: No. 7414DC79,7414DC79
• Citation: 21 N.C.App. 120,203 S.E.2d 337
• Parties: Samuel Wayne PASCHALL v. Cora Choplin PASCHALL (Walters).
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 337

203 S.E.2d 337

21 N.C.App. 120

Samuel Wayne PASCHALL v. Cora Choplin PASCHALL (Walters).

No. 7414DC79.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

March 20, 1974.

Blackwell M. Brogden, Durham, for plaintiff-appellee.

Charles Darsie, Durham, for defendant-appellant.

BALEY, Judge.

'The welfare of the child in controversies involving custody is the polar star by which the courts must be guided in awarding custody.' In re Moore, 8 N.C.App. 251, 253--254, 174 S.E.2d 135, 137; Accord, Stanback v. Stanback, 270 N.C. 497, 155 S.E.2d 221; Hinkle v. Hinkle, 266 N.C. 189, 146 S.E.2d 73. Frequently a determination of what represents the best welfare of the child is a most difficult decision. The trial court has the opportunity to observe all parties and evaluate the living, breathing evidence which sometimes appears differently in cold print. If the evidence supports the findings of fact by the trial court and those findings of fact form a valid basis for the conclusions of law, the judgment entered will not be disturbed on appeal.

The evidence clearly supports the finding of the court that defendant had 'committed a continuous course of adulterous relations with . . . James Ronald Walters.' Defendant was called as a witness for plaintiff, and in her testimony she admitted that she had been dating Walters, a married man, since 1970; that she had spent the night with him in his house trailer several times; and that she had had intercourse with him periodically. The court also found that 'said adulterous relationship . . . has created emotional problems that are detrimental to the best interest and welfare of said minor child.' Defendant testified that when she went to spend the night in Walters' house trailer, she usually took Waynette with her. On these nights she would get into bed with Waynette, wait in bed for a while, climb out of bed and go to Walters' room to have intercourse with him and then get back into bed with Waynette. She and Waynette would get up at six or seven in the morning to return home from Walters' trailer. Waynette was born on 4 October 1965, and in late 1972 and in 1973, when most of these visits occurred, she was old enough to have some partial understanding of the nature of her mother's relationship with Walters. The court could reasonably conclude that such a relationship was likely to and did create emotional difficulties for a young child.

There is competent evidence supporting the court's finding that plaintiff was a fit and proper person to have custody of Waynette. Patty Holsonback, a neighbor of plaintiff, testified that plaintiff and Waynette were 'a loving couple.' She also stated that plaintiff's present wife, whom he married in 1972, 'would make a fine mother' for Waynette. Plaintiff's own testimony tended to show that he had taken care of Waynette properly when she visited him; that he had made regular payments for her support; and that he and his present wife could provide a proper home environment for his daughter.

Defendant vigorously contests the conclusion of the court that because of her adulterous relationship with James Ronald Walters and the consequent emotional difficulties which the court found were caused for her daughter that she was no longer a fit and proper person to have the custody of the child, citing the cases of Savage v. Savage, 15 N.C.App. 123, 189 S.E.2d 545, cert. denied, 281 N.C. 759, 191 S.E.2d 356; In re McCraw Children, 3 N.C.App. 390, 165 S.E.2d 1, and In re Custody of Pitts, 2 N.C.App. 211, 162 S.E.2d 524. These cases held only that a parent who commits adultery does not automatically, per se, become unfit to have custody of children. Instead of applying any such inflexible rule, the court must consider all the facts of the case and decide the issue in accordance with the best interests of the child. In this case the court...