Walcott v. Walcott, 18813
| Decision Date | 02 March 1959 |
| Docket Number | No. 18813,18813 |
| Citation | 139 Colo. 37,336 P.2d 298 |
| Parties | Irene WALCOTT, Plaintiff in Error, v. James D. WALCOTT, Ddefendant in Error. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Chisholm, Howard & Daane, Denver, for plaintiff in error.
Gee, Dobbins & May, Wallace McCamant, Denver, for defendant in error.
The parties appear here in the same order as they appeared in the trial court and we refer to them as the mother and the father.
The mother is here by writ of error seeking review and reversal of a Final Order, Judgment and Decree dated June 5, 1958, awarding the custody of the four and one-half year old son of the parties to the Family and Children's Services of Denver, the actual physical care of the child to be entrusted to the child's paternal grandmother.
At the custody hearing neither the mother nor father testified. The only testimony offered to support the mother's claimed right of custody was the testimony of a psychiatrist who had examined and observed the mother over a period of about one year. The substance of his testimony was to the effect that the mother had appeared upset, depressed, emotionally unstable, socially maladjusted, and that she had suffered a lot of emotional trauma, but had during his year of observation made good progress in adjusting herself and that at the time of giving his testimony she was, in his opinion, capable of giving the child proper parental care and guidance and a fit person to have the custody of the child.
Two psychiatrists were called as witnesses in behalf of the father for the purpose of showing the mother's unfitness. Both had on many occasions, before and during the same year that she had been under observation by her own psychiatrist, examined the mother. Each expressed the opinion that the mother had been and then was mentally ill; they diagnosed her illness as a 'psychosis that is schizophrenia.' and each expressed the opinion that because of her mental illness she was not a proper person to have the care of the child.
Also called as a witness was the paternal grandmother of the child, and from her testimony one is forced to the conclusion that she and her husband were well qualified in every respect to furnish an excellent home, care, education and moral guidance for the child.
In the court's findings and order we note the following language:
'That the plaintiff Irene Walcott has been a sick and disturbed person, and though there has been a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Custody of C.C.R.S., In re
...1971. See Rippere v. Rippere, 157 Colo. 29, 400 P.2d 920 (1965); Root v. Allen, 151 Colo. 311, 377 P.2d 117 (1962); Walcott v. Walcott, 139 Colo. 37, 336 P.2d 298 (1959). In 1971, the Colorado General Assembly adopted a provision governing custody proceedings from the Uniform Marriage and D......
-
Custody of C.C.R.S., Matter of
...welfare and best interests of the children is the paramount consideration." Id. at 420, 339 P.2d at 1010; see also Walcott v. Walcott, 139 Colo. 37, 336 P.2d 298 (1959) (concluding that the paternal grandmother should be awarded custody over the natural mother based on the best interests of......
-
Marriage of Trouth, In re
...Rippere v. Rippere, 157 Colo. 29, 400 P.2d 920 (1965). See Coulter v. Coulter, 141 Colo. 237, 347 P.2d 492 (1959); Walcott v. Walcott, 139 Colo. 37, 336 P.2d 298 (1959). The Act does not change this result. Under § 14-10-123, C.R.S.1973, the court may permit the intervention of interested p......
-
Root v. Allen, 19750
...actual physical care to, and it is, therefore, hereby granted to, the paternal grandmother of said child, to-wit * * *.' Walcott v. Walcott, 139 Colo. 37, 336 P.2d 298. It will thus be seen that this court has held that the presumption that a child's welfare is best served through custody o......