Schulze v. Schulze, 5974
| Decision Date | 24 May 1955 |
| Docket Number | No. 5974,5974 |
| Citation | 284 P.2d 457,79 Ariz. 86 |
| Parties | Helen SCHULZE, Appellant, v. John E. SCHULZE, Appellee. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
Bagnall & Moring, Coolidge, for appellant.
Robert E. McGhee, Globe, for appellee.
This is an appeal from an order modifying a decree of divorce dated September 10, 1952, relating to the custody of minor children. The facts are that the original decree of divorce between the parties hereto gave the full custody of the two minor children to the mother with the right to leave the jurisdiction of the court with the children, granting to the father, however, reasonable visitorial rights. This decree was later, on February 7, 1953, modified upon stipulation to give to the father the right to visit with his children at least four hours per week with the privilege of taking them out of the home of the mother during such visits, and the mother was enjoined in said modified decree from removing the children from the jurisdiction of the court.
Thereafter on April 21, 1954, the father again petitioned the court for further modification of the judgment and decree of divorce granting to him the right to have the children visit with him on weekends each month starting at 5 o'clock p. m. on the first Friday of the following month and on the first Friday of each month thereafter and ending the following Sunday at 5 o'clock p. m. It further sought the custody of said minor children by the father during the month of July of each year and petitioned for a reduction in the monthly allowance for the support of the two minor children.
Upon hearing held and evidence taken the court on May 24, 1954, granted both requests for a change in custody but provided that on the occasions when the children were permitted to spend the weekend with their father he was not accorded a four-hour visit with them during that week. The request for a reduction of allowance for the support of said children was denied by the court.
The mother, through her counsel, asserts that the modification of the judgment and decree of the court as above stated, is not justified by the evidence and is contrary to the law and that the order of May 24, 1954, modifying said judgment and decree relating to custody of the minor children constituted an abuse of discretion.
In a proceeding of this kind the burden is on the moving party to show a substantial change in the circumstances and conditions affecting the welfare of the children to justify a modification of the decree materially changing the custody of the children. The reasonableness of the decree previously entered must be presumed. The welfare of the children is the primary consideration of the court. Too often the bitterness of parents towards each other following the dissolution of the marriage relation blinds them to the physical and moral wellbeing of their children and as a result their happiness and lives may be distorted and even ruined if the court seeks to gratify the desires, whims and caprices of either parent, rather than look to the interests of the children. Therefore any change in the custody of minor children should be made only for the most cogent reasons and those reasons must be based on considerations affecting the future welfare of the...
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Ward v. Ward
...affecting the welfare of the child. Davis v. Davis, 78 Ariz. 174, 277 P.2d 261; Burk v. Burk, 68 Ariz. 305, 205 P.2d 583; Schulze v. Schulze, 79 Ariz. 86, 284 P.2d 457; Cone v. Righetti, supra. However, if a change in circumstances is proved, the court which entered the decree has continuin......
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