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Viamonte v. Viamonte3/10/2000
REPORTED
This is an appeal of a judgment of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County in a dispute over custody of the parties' five-year-old son, Alexander J. Viamonte. Following a trial in February 1999 and an in-chambers interview of the child and his half-brother, Daniel Hixon, the court found both parties to be fit and proper custodians of the child, awarded joint legal custody, and granted primary physical custody to appellee, the child's father. The court's decision results in the separation of two half-siblings, and appellant, the child's mother, now presents the following questions:
1. Did the trial court abuse its discretion by placing the child in appellee's physical custody when it made no finding of exceptional circumstances or actual harm that would warrant separating half-siblings?
2, Did the trial court abuse its discretion by placing the child in appellee's physical custody when it made no specific findings on the issue of separating half-siblings?
We answer "no" to these questions, and we explain.
Facts
Theresa Hixon and Christopher Viamonte were married on March 19, 1994, and Alexander, their one child, was born on August 13 of the same year. Appellant had sole custody of Daniel Hixon, a child from a prior marriage, who was six years of age at the time the parties were married. The parties and the two children lived together at their residence in Laurel.
Prior to the marriage, each party was employed; appellant was a title abstractor and appellee was a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department in the District of Columbia. Appellee was not, however, on active duty, because of a back injury . Subsequently, he was placed on full disability and retired from the force in August 1996.
Shortly after the marriage, the parties decided to form a title company named TC Associates. Appellant believed that owning her own business would afford her a more flexible work schedule and allow her to spend more time with the children. At TC, she was in charge of all operations of the business and served as its president, with a 70 percent shareholder interest in the company. Appellee, who was unfamiliar with providing title search and abstracting services, was treasurer and held a 30 percent interest. Testimony showed that appellant did most, if not all, of the substantive work of the company. Appellee did not keep regular hours there, but instead assisted his wife with accounting and administrative work.
In late 1994, TC landed a lucrative contract with Prince George's County. Appellee assisted with drafting the bid proposal and procuring the contract. The terms of the contract dictated that TC would face liability if it could not meet strict deadlines. Once TC entered into the contract, business operations accelerated and appellant had to devote many more hours to the company. On several occasions, appellant testified, she had to work all night to meet a deadline and she was unable to get out of bed in the morning to tend to the children.
In July 1997, appellee suggested that the parties buy a house to use as an office for TC Associates. They purchased a home in Upper Marlboro for that purpose. As the workload continued to increase, appellant worked grueling hours and would occasionally spend the night at the office in order to meet the required deadlines. Several times, appellee brought the children to the office so that the family could dine together.
Although appellant implored appellee to help her with the heavy workload, he was uncooperative and lacked the requisite skills to assist with substantive work. She also asked him about measures to red
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