B.L. v. J.S.

59 N.E.3d 253, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 296, 2016 WL 3945319
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 21, 2016
DocketNo. 30A01-1502-DR-59
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 59 N.E.3d 253 (B.L. v. J.S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
B.L. v. J.S., 59 N.E.3d 253, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 296, 2016 WL 3945319 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

RILEY, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

[1] In this consolidated appeal, Appellant-Respondent, B.L. (Father), appeals the trial court orders which allowed Appel-lee-Petitioner, J.S. (Mother), to relocate, denied him additional parenting time, and found him in contempt of a prior parenting time order.

[2] We affirm.

[255]*255 ISSUES

[3] Father raises three issues in this consolidated appeal, which we restate as the following: •

(1) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in allowing Mother to relocate;

(2) Whether the trial court abused its discretion by not granting Father additional parenting time; and

(3) Whether the trial court abused its discretion by holding Father in contempt.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

(4) Mother and Father were married on June 24, 2007, and in December 2007, K.L. (the Child), was born. On January 26, 2011, Mother filed for dissolution of her marriage to Father. On October 18, 2011, the trial court issued its Order on Findings of Facts Regarding Final Contested Issues (October 2011 Order). In that order, Mother was awarded temporary possession of the marital residence as well as temporary physical custody of-the Child. On July 26, 2012, the trial court entered its Final Judgement and Decree for Dissolution of Marriage, in which it incorporated the October 2011 Order. As part of the July 26, 2012 order, parenting time was governed by the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines (Guidelines), except that Mother would have the Child every Memorial Day weekend, and Father every Labor Day weekend. In addition, the order provided that Father would have the Child on Wednesday and Friday, and the parties would exercise additional parenting time, as long they did not infringe on the other party’s parenting time. The record shows that the parties continued to litigate issues with respect to the dissolution decree through 2013, including a motion to correct error, an appeal, remand on appeal, and mediation to resolve same.

[5] Additionally, the parties engaged in a very litigious post-decree parenting time allocation. On January 23, 2013, Mother filed a contempt petition with regards to the October 2011 Order. Mother alleged that Father had violated the parenting time by picking up the. Child several times from preschool, on times not designated to him, and exercising parenting time while she was at work. Specifically, Mother claimed that on December 12, 2012, Father picked up the Child from preschool at 11:30 a.m. and took her out for lunch. Thereafter, Father texted Mother stating that he would be taking the Child to the Children’s Museum. Again on January 4, 2013, Father had lunch with the Child and subsequently removed the Child from preschool between 12:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Also, on January 11, 2013, without informing Mother, Father picked up the Child for the weekend at approximately 8:00 a.m. Finally, on January 21, 2013, Father took the Child from preschool at around 8:30 a.m. without Mother’s permission. On that day, Father texted Mother at around 11:30 a.m. indicating that the Child was with him, and he sent an additional text at 2:00 p.m. stating that he was going to That Fun Place in Greenfield, Indiana.

[6] On March 12, 2013, the parties filed their Agreed Entry regarding pick-up and drop-off times for the Child. Pursuant to the Agreed Entry, parties were to provide each other with notification by 5:00 p.m. of the day prior, as. to any changes with respect to the Child’s pick-up or drop-off. Six days later, on March 18, 2013, Mother filed another contempt petition, alleging that Father had violated the Agreed Entry. Mother stated that she had joined the YMCA, and on Monday evenings she worked out at the gym and placed the Child in the YMCA child care center. Mother stated that on March 11, 2013, when she and the Child arrived at the [256]*256gym, Father was waiting inside. Father expressed to Mother that he was going to take the Child to get a bagel, and Mother stated that it was her time with the Child. At that point, Father took the Child’s hand and started leading her out. Mother intervened by telling Father that the Child needed to go to the bathroom. While in the bathroom, Mother called her attorney and was advised to go home. On the way home, the Child cried and was upset by the whole incident.

[7] The Child was born in Fishers, Indiana. The parties moved to Fortville, Indiana when she was approximately one and one-half years old. The parties wish was to raise the Child in a rural setting. Prior to moving to Fortville, Mother had lived and worked in Fishers. The Child had also attended daycare and preschool in Fishers for the first five years of her life. In 2013-2014, while the Child was in preschool, and again in 2014-2015, while the Child was in first grade, she was enrolled in the YMCA afterschool program. The program offered physical fitness activities, snacks, social time, homework time, and a broad range of crafts and special activities.

[8] Following the parties’ divorce, Father purchased land approximately one mile from Mother’s residence and built a home. On July 17, 2018, Father filed notice of his intent to move. On August 23, 2013, Father filed his verified petition seeking additional parenting time instead of having the Child placed in an after-school program. Three days later, on August 26, 2013, the trial court issued an ex parte order permitting Father to exercise additional parenting time whenever Mother was at work, but on condition that he returned the Child to preschool in time for Mother’s normal pick up time. On September 10, 2013, Mother filed a motion to vacate the ex parte order issued on August 26, 2013. Also on the same day, Mother filed notice of her intent to relocate to Fishers. Mother stated that she wanted to be closer to work, the Child’s activities were in Fishers, she did most of her shopping in Fishers, and it was becoming moré difficult to maintain the thirteen acre property surrounding her home. Also, Mother claimed that it would be in the Child’s best interest to live in a neighborhood where other children were present. On October 30, 2013, Father filed his objection thereon, arguing that Mother’s move was an attempt to erode his relationship with the Child, and that relocation was not in the Child’s best interests. Based on that, Father requested adjustment of parenting time, and an order preventing relocation, or, in the alternative, for an entry of a preliminary order preventing relocation. On the next day, Mother filed a verified petition for clarification of additional parenting time and miscellaneous issues regarding Father’s parenting time. In that petition, Mother claimed that the Child was in the top weight category for her age and she did not get much physical exercise. Mother alleged that since September 2013, Father would pick the Child up from school almost on a daily basis, or have the Child take the bus to Father’s new home. Mother stated that the Child would stay with Father until Mother returned from work. According to Mother, Father would allow the Child to eat unhealthy snacks and remain sedentary while he worked. Mother also claimed that Father failed to notify her numerous times, in advance, of his plans with the Child after school. In addition, Mother alleged that Father returned the Child at 6:30 p.m. on Sundays instead of the agreed 6:00 p.m. drop-off and the Child’s homework would be not be completed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 N.E.3d 253, 2016 Ind. App. LEXIS 296, 2016 WL 3945319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bl-v-js-indctapp-2016.