Valerie Durbin v. Randall C Monday

• Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
• Decided: March 10, 2015
• Docket: 322027
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

VALERIE DURBIN, UNPUBLISHED March 10, 2015 Plaintiff-Appellee,

v No. 322027 Macomb Circuit Court RANDALL C. MONDAY, LC No. 2013-002166-DM

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: SERVITTO, P.J., and STEPHENS and M. J. KELLY, JJ.

STEPHENS, J. (concurring)

I concur in the majority’s well written and well reasoned opinion. I write separately only to comment on the analysis of the trial court’s findings under MCL 722.23(c). The trial court found that this factor strongly favored Durbin. In doing so, it commented only on the relative incomes of the parties. I do not believe that this factor can be judged solely on income but also requires an examination of the disposition or willingness to give the child basic needs.1 That said, even if the trial court clearly erred in relying solely on the income disparity to weigh this factor strongly in favor of Durbin, the record supports the court’s overall analysis and I would not disturb it based on this singular consideration.

/s/ Cynthia Diane Stephens

1 See Berger v Berger, 277 Mich App 700, 712; 747 NW2d 336 (2008) (“Factor c does not contemplate which party earns more money; it is intended to evaluate the parties’ capacity and disposition to provide for the children’s material and medical needs.”)

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