Marriage of Goldman v. Greenwood

748 N.W.2d 279, 2008 Minn. LEXIS 131, 2008 WL 821011
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 27, 2008
DocketA06-1110
StatusPublished
Cited by82 cases

This text of 748 N.W.2d 279 (Marriage of Goldman v. Greenwood) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marriage of Goldman v. Greenwood, 748 N.W.2d 279, 2008 Minn. LEXIS 131, 2008 WL 821011 (Mich. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION

ANDERSON, G. BARRY, Justice.

Appellant Mark Greenwood challenges the decision of the court of appeals reversing the district court’s denial of respondent Deborah Goldman’s motion to remove the parties’ minor child out of state. Appellant argues that the court of appeals erred in ruling that Minn.Stat. § 518.175, subd. 3 (2006), rather than Minn.Stat. § 518.18(d) (2006), governs respondent’s motion for removal and in ruling that respondent is entitled to an evidentiary hearing. We agree, and we reverse the decision of the court of appeals and reinstate the district court’s order.

Appellant and respondent were married on January 16, 1993; together they have one son, I.G., born on January 30, 1996. While the parties’ dissolution proceedings were pending, respondent received a job offer from an employer in Boston and moved the district court to permit her to move out of state with I.G. In October 2000, the district court denied respondent’s motion for permission to remove I.G. out of state but awarded her temporary sole legal and physical custody of I.G. In a September 2001 memorandum decision, the district court denied another request by respondent to remove I.G. from the state. The parties agree that the district court awarded respondent sole physical custody contingent on her remaining in Minnesota.1 The district court indicated that imposition of the locale restriction was in I.G.’s best interests, and it suggested that it would award custody to appellant in the absence of the restriction:

If for any reason the LaChapelle locale restriction is found wanting, this [cjourt would award sole physical custody to father. It would award sole physical custody to father to ensure that [I.G.] continues to prosper from his intimate relationships with father [and father’s other children], does not have to suffer yet another major change in his young life, and could continue with his existing school and religious arrangements.2

[281]*281The parties entered an oral stipulation to a negotiated settlement in June 2002, incorporating the locale restriction. On July 11, 2002, the district court dissolved the parties’ marriage and granted respondent sole physical custody of I.G. subject to reasonable parenting time by appellant. The court stated that neither party could remove I.G. from the state for the purpose of changing his residence -without the written consent of the other party or a court order. Additionally, the court clarified that it had addressed respondent’s request to remove I.G. from the state in its September 2001 memorandum decision, which it “incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.”

In February 2006, shortly after I.G.’s tenth birthday, respondent moved the district court to eliminate the locale restriction from the custody order and to permit her to move with I.G. to New York City, the home of respondent’s fiancé. In the alternative, she moved the court to order a “relocation evaluation” and hold an eviden-tiary hearing. Respondent submitted 15 affidavits in support of her motion. In her own affidavit, she alleged that changes in circumstances rendered the locale restriction “contrary to [I.G.j’s best interests” and a danger to I.G.’s “emotional, spiritual, and academic development.” She particularly emphasized the superior opportunities in New York City for I.G. to grow in his Orthodox Jewish faith, noting that there are no Orthodox Jewish schools in Minnesota that offer education beyond the eighth grade and that New York City has a thriving Orthodox Jewish community. The other affidavits attest to respondent’s love for I.G., her good character, and the academic and spiritual benefits I.G. would experience as a result of relocating to New York City. Appellant opposed respondent’s motion, expressing his concern that the move would harm his relationship with I.G. and arguing that respondent failed to make a prima facie case for modification of the “conditional custody award.”

The district court denied respondent’s motion to eliminate the locale restriction from the custody order, for permission to remove I.G. to New York, and to order a relocation evaluation and hold an eviden-tiary hearing. The court applied section 518.18(d), which governs modification of custody orders, not section 518.175, subd. 3, which governs a custodial parent’s relocation of a child to another state, to respondent’s motion, reasoning that a locale restriction “is an integral part of the prior ‘custody order’.” In applying section 518.18(d), the court concluded that respondent failed to make a prima facie case of changed circumstances, of endangerment, and that the benefits of the move outweighed its detriments.

Respondent appealed the district court’s ruling. The court of appeals held that the district court erred in applying section 518.18(d) and reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to consider I.G.’s best interests under section 518.175, subd. 3. In re Marriage of Goldman, 725 N.W.2d 747, 753, 761 (Minn.App.2007). Both parties filed petitions for review, and we granted review of appellant’s petition in full and of respondent’s petition in part.3

I.

As a threshold issue, we consider whether the locale restriction in the district court’s custody order is valid. “Appellate review of custody determinations is limited to whether the district court [282]*282abused its discretion by making findings unsupported by the evidence or by improperly applying the law.” In re Custody of N.A.K, 649 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Minn.2002). District courts have “broad discretion in determining custody matters,” Durkin v. Hinich, 442 N.W.2d 148, 151 (Minn.1989), and we agree with the recognition of the court of appeals in Dailey v. Chermak “that there is no absolute prohibition under Minnesota law against awarding child custody on the condition of maintaining a specific geographic residence for the child, as long as that residence is shown clearly and genuinely to serve the child’s best interests,” 709 N.W.2d 626, 630 (Minn.App. 2006), rev. denied (Minn. May 16, 2006).

Respondent, who stipulated to the incorporation of the locale restriction into the district court’s order, argues that the restriction is nevertheless void because it provides for an automatic transfer of custody in the event that she moves out of state. The district court explained that “[i]f for any reason the LaChapelle locale restriction is found wanting, this [c]ourt would award sole physical custody to father.” The district court’s use of the language “found wanting” implies that a hearing would precede any subsequent custody transfer. Furthermore, in its denial of respondent’s motion for removal in 2006, the district court suggested that its analysis might change once I.G. completes eighth grade and is no longer able to attend Orthodox Jewish school in Minneapolis. We do not interpret the district court’s locale restriction as foreclosing future reassessment of I.G.’s best interests.4

We leave for another day the determination of the validity of a locale restriction that does provide for the automatic transfer of custody upon the sole physical custodian’s relocation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
748 N.W.2d 279, 2008 Minn. LEXIS 131, 2008 WL 821011, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriage-of-goldman-v-greenwood-minn-2008.