In re C.H. ex rel. C.H. v. C.W.

412 S.W.3d 375, 2013 WL 4715657, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1013
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 3, 2013
DocketNo. ED 98749
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 412 S.W.3d 375 (In re C.H. ex rel. C.H. v. C.W.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re C.H. ex rel. C.H. v. C.W., 412 S.W.3d 375, 2013 WL 4715657, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1013 (Mo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

SHERRI B. SULLIVAN, J.

Introduction

C.W. (Mother) appeals from the trial court’s Findings, Conclusions, Order and Judgment (Judgment) of paternity, custody and support entered March 24, 2012, as amended by its Order and Judgment entered July 19, 2012. We affirm in part and remand in part.

Procedural Background

On February 7, 2011, three weeks before Child’s third birthday, C.H. (Father) filed a Petition seeking a judgment declaring him Child’s natural father and granting him joint legal custody and joint physical custody thereof. On March 31, 2011, Mother filed an Answer conceding paternity and asking for sole legal and physical custody of Child and $755 per month in child support. On November 28, 2011, the trial court held a hearing on the Petition and Answer. Evidence was adduced at the hearing as later set out in this opinion.

On March 24, 2012, the trial court issued its Judgment, finding Father is the natural father of Child and ordering the parties to share joint legal custody and joint physical custody, with Father designated the residential parent for mailing and educational purposes.1 The Judgment ordered Father to pay Mother $373 per month for child support until Child begins kindergarten as of August 1, 2013, after which the support obligation terminates, and awarded Father the sole right to claim Child as a dependent exemption on his federal and state tax returns beginning with tax year 2012.

[379]*379On April 23, 2012, Mother filed a post-trial Motion for Change of Judge and a Motion to Amend, Correct or Set Aside the Judgment. On July 5, 2012, the trial court heard the two motions, denying the former and granting in part the latter, entering an Order and Judgment on July 19, 2012, correcting some typographical errors in the original Judgment and clarifying Mother’s right to designate an additional person to transport Child for custodial exchanges. This appeal follows.

Factual Background

In 2002 or 2003, Mother and Father met at Henderson State University in Arkansas, where both were undergraduates. In June 2006, after they graduated, Father and Mother moved to St. Louis and remained a couple, but did not live together. Father is a native of St. Louis and his parents reside in St. Louis. Mother’s parents reside in Arkansas. Mother became pregnant with Child in June 2007 and moved into Father’s parents’ home for one month, according to Mother, and according to Father, until February 1, 2008; thereafter she and Father moved into an apartment one or two months before Child’s birth on February 28, 2008. They lived together caring for Child from February to October 2008, when Mother asked Father to move out of the apartment because she discovered he had a relationship with another woman. Mother did not work while they lived together and considered herself the primary caregiver of Child during this time, while she acknowledged that Father participated in caring for Child. Father worked and still works full-time at AT & T grossing approximately $70,000 a year.

After Father moved in October 2008, he continued paying Mother’s and Child’s rent at the apartment until March 2010, when a support order was entered; see infra. The parties remained a couple for a while and attended counseling. During this time period Father would come to the apartment every day to spend time with Child, but he would not stay overnight.

In August 2009, the parties separated. Mother began working part-time as a hairstylist at Beauty Brands Salon and as a teacher in the Hazelwood School District,2 and she enrolled Child in daycare at Shalom Child Development Center (Shalom). Father paid for Child’s daycare,3 Mother’s rent at the apartment and Child’s health insurance. Father and Mother worked out a custody schedule whereby Father had custody of Child on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the apartment while Mother went to church; picked up Child from daycare and brought her to the apartment on Thursday and Fridays, and had custody on alternate Saturdays and Sundays while Mother worked at the beauty shop. In September 2009, the parties modified the schedule to include overnight visitation on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and some Saturdays.

On March 8, 2010, Mother obtained an administrative order she had sought without Father’s participation or knowledge from the Family Support Division under which Father was determined to be the parent of Child and ordered to pay Mother $755 per month for child support beginning March 15, 2010. Father has remained current on his support obligation.

[380]*380In April 2010, Father was promoted at AT & T. His work hours changed from 11:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so he could exercise overnight custody on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and some Fridays, and alternate weekends from Saturday until Sunday night. Child attended daycare at Shalom for approximately six months, and switched to Higher Ground daycare in August 2010.

In August 2010, Mother informed Father of her decision to move to Plano, Texas, indicating her reason was that she wanted a “fresh start.” Father claims when he asked her what she meant by “fresh start,” she cited a job opportunity, a better life, being closer to her extended family and close friends, and doing what’s best for her and Child. Also, Mother’s parents in Arkansas were several hours’ drive closer to Plano, Texas than to St. Louis. Prior to leaving' St. Louis, Mother worked as a hair stylist/beautician for Beauty Brands; after moving to Plano, she transferred her job and remained with Beauty Brands as a hairstylist/beautician. Mother receives just slightly more compensation at the Plano Beauty Brands than she did at the St. Louis Beauty Brands, working approximately 30 hours per week and grossing about $1,100 per month. Mother has not sought employment in Plano as a teacher.

The trial court found the parties dispute whether Father objected to Mother moving Child to Plano, Texas. While Mother claims Father never objected to her moving to Texas with Child, Father maintains he objected to her decision, and did so in writing via email on January 26, 2011. Mother states she offered via email dated August 18, 2010 to give Father the first option to keep Child for a month while she got settled in Plano in October 2010, when she was scheduled to start her new job at the Plano beauty shop, but he failed to respond to this email. Father testified he offered to keep Child rather than have Child stay in Arkansas with Mother’s parents while Mother established herself in Plano but Mother declined. Mother admitted Father did send her an email asking to keep Child rather than have her stay in Arkansas, but Mother preferred the Arkansas arrangement because then she could go every weekend to Arkansas to see Child.

In October 2010, Mother left St. Louis with Child, leaving her in the care of Mother’s mother in Arkansas while Mother settled in Plano, Texas. Child began living with Mother in Plano in November 2010. Mother and Child live in a one-bedroom apartment. Mother enrolled Child in daycare/preschool at SandCastle Private School in February 2011. Mother receives state-subsidized childcare for SandCastle, and if Child misses more than 30 days in a school year, Mother will lose her childcare subsidy. The subsidy allows Mother to pay only $150 for what would normally cost $801.66 per month.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
412 S.W.3d 375, 2013 WL 4715657, 2013 Mo. App. LEXIS 1013, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ch-ex-rel-ch-v-cw-moctapp-2013.