Trahnstrom v. Trahnstrom, 99-333.

• Citation: 756 A.2d 1242
• Decision Date: 22 May 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-333.,99-333.
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: Nils TRAHNSTROM v. Ana TRAHNSTROM.

756 A.2d 1242

Nils TRAHNSTROM v. Ana TRAHNSTROM.

No. 99-333.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

May 22, 2000.

Present: AMESTOY, C.J., DOOLEY, MORSE and JOHNSON, JJ., and FREDERIC W. ALLEN, C.J., (Ret.) Specially Assigned.

ENTRY ORDER

Father appeals from the decision of the family court awarding sole physical parental rights and responsibilities for the parties' children to mother and ordering father to pay mother $14,526 as an equitable distribution of the marital assets. Father claims that the court failed to consider the impact of a change in custody, erred in finding that father was less likely to foster a relationship with the other parent, erred in concluding that mother was the primary care giver, should have considered the children's relationship with their daycare provider, and made an inequitable property settlement. We affirm.

The court found the following facts. The parties were married in 1989 and separated in 1997 because mother was having an affair. Father worked as an interior woodworker throughout the marriage; mother worked until 1992, when their first child was born. A second child was born in 1995. Mother was the primary caretaker for the children during the marriage. After the parties separated, father remained in the marital home in Mendon and mother moved out. Between August 1997 and November 1997, mother returned to the marital home daily, to care for the children there while father worked. By November, mother had rented a home in Warren and found employment at Sugarbush Ski Area. The court specifically found that, although no evidence of it was admitted at the November 5, 1997, temporary hearing, the parties had reached an agreement in November that the children would move to Warren to live with mother. On November 15, 1997, father helped mother and the children move into the Warren home.

On November 19, 1997, the court issued a temporary order, awarding sole physical parental rights and responsibilities to father, and the children then moved back to Mendon. For eighteen months, the children lived in Mendon with father and saw mother three out of four weekends, for at least two overnights and sometimes three. In May 1999, the court held a trial and awarded sole parental rights and responsibilities for the children to mother. In making its decision, the court considered the statutory factors outlined in 15 V.S.A. § 665(b), and found the parties equally situated with respect to most factors. The court awarded physical custody to mother based on her position as primary caretaker and her greater ability to promote the children's relationship with the other parent.

On appeal, father contends that the court failed to consider the impact of a change of custody and erroneously found that mother was better able to foster the children's relationship with the other parent. Under § 665(b), the court is required to consider each factor listed when making a determination of parental rights and responsibilities; that subsection "imposes no specific requirement on how this consideration is to be manifested in the court's findings and conclusions." Harris v. Harris, 149 Vt. 410, 414, 546 A.2d 208, 212 (1988). The court found that the evidence showed the children were adjusted to being with mother in her home in Warren, and there was testimony from both mother and one of mother's friends to that effect. The court explicitly examined the impact of a change in custody and concluded that the children were comfortable and well-adjusted to mother's home. The finding is supported by reasonable credible evidence and supports the court's conclusion; therefore, neither will be disturbed. See Stickney v. Stickney, ___ Vt. ___, ___, 742 A.2d 1228, 1230-31 (1999). Further, the court noted that both parents had an ability to foster a relationship with the other parent but found that mother was better able to foster a relationship with the other parent, based on father's continuing resentment over the end of the marriage and his refusal to allow the children to be in the marital home with mother alone. The court's conclusion was supported by its findings, and the findings were supported by the evidence.

Father also challenges the court's findings of fact underlying its conclusion that mother was the primary caretaker. Factual findings are entitled to deference and will not be overturned unless clearly erroneous. See Semprebon v. Semprebon, 157 Vt. 209, 214, 596 A.2d 361, 363 (1991). The court found that mother had been the primary caretaker for the majority of the children's lives because she had been the primary caretaker for Alexandra, born in 1992, for five years at the time of separation, although father had been the primary caretaker for eighteen months after the temporary order. Similarly, the court found that mother had been the primary caretaker for Keenan, born in 1995, for two years before the separation, and father for eighteen months under the temporary order. Further, the court noted that the parties had agreed in November 1997 that mother would continue to be the primary caretaker, and found that nothing in her situation in Warren prevented her from filling that role. The court then properly relied on our oft-repeated holding that the primary-care-giver inquiry should focus on all relevant periods of a child's life, not just the period preceding trial. See Pearson v. Pearson, 169 Vt. 28, 33, 726 A.2d 71, 74-75 (1999); Nickerson v. Nickerson, 158 Vt. 85, 90-91, 605 A.2d 1331, 1334 (1992). The court's finding that mother was the primary caretaker is amply supported by the evidence.

Father next contends that the court erred in considering the amount of time spent in daycare in each custody situation. The court did mention that the children would spend two fewer days in daycare if mother were awarded custody, due to mother's flexible work schedule. This comment, however, followed an exhaustive analysis of the years of care mother...