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Groenstein v. Groenstein1/19/2005
, it appears that most of the statutory factors failed to weigh heavily in one parent's favor. We therefore examine the factors Father claims the district court failed to consider.
[ ] We begin with Dr. Nelson's testimony and recommendation. Dr. Nelson evaluated Father and Mother prior to trial. During the course of his testimony he noted that both parents had a lot to offer the child. He suggested that the physical visitation arrangement of three days a week was appropriate. He also made a recommendation for shared custody. In looking at the record and divorce decree, it appears that the district court did not ignore Dr. Nelson's testimony. In fact, the court followed Dr. Nelson's recommendation regarding physical custody fairly closely. The court ordered exactly three days of visitation and added an overnight visitation.
[ ] It is likewise clear that the district court considered a shared custody arrangement because the district court specifically addressed shared custody in the divorce decree. Therein the court stated: "This is not an appropriate case for shared or joint custody. These parties appear to have very little ability to cooperate. Communication between the two is very limited and, at most times, unsuccessful." We conclude that the record supports the district court's finding on this matter. Testimony showed that the parties had a hard time getting along. Father and Mother often had little to no communication. Father regarded Mother's attempts to communicate as "telling him what to do" and had no interest in working on communication. We therefore determine that the district court did not ignore Dr. Nelson's recommendation, but instead decided that shared custody would be inappropriate.
[ ] Second, the evidence presented at trial included testimony about the dangers of living in Colombia. The risk of a parent moving internationally is one of the many factors for the district court to consider. See Stonham v. Widiastuti, 2003 WY 157, -19, 79 P.3d 1188, -19 (Wyo. 2003) and Pahl, . Certainly, as we noted in Stonham, international elements complicate custody matters. However, based on the testimony presented at trial, it appears that an international move was not an immediate concern. Although Mother was from Colombia and Father asserted that she had threatened to move back there with the child, Mother clearly testified that she had no intention of moving to Colombia. Dr. Nelson similarly testified that Mother never said anything other than that she was planning to stay. Furthermore, Mother testified that she could not travel to Colombia with the child without Father's signed consent. The district court is placed in the position to assess the credibility of witnesses. Ekberg v. Sharp, 2003 WY 123, , 76 P.3d 1250, (Wyo. 2003). We do not reweigh the evidence; and, as noted in our standard of review, we afford the prevailing party every favorable inference from conflicting evidence. Pahl, . We consequently conclude that the district court could reasonably determine that a move to Colombia was not a true concern and decide to not factor such a move into its custody decision.
[ ] Third, the district court did not specifically mention the daycare issue in the divorce decree. However, Dr. Nelson testified that daycare was appropriate for the child rather than placing the child with Father because it "provided a good opportunity for social engagement" for the child. Once again, the district court could weigh this testimony to decide that this factor did not favor Father.
[ ] Considering Father's three claims, we conclude that the district court considered all the relevant factors and made a reasoned decision. We therefore hold that the district cou
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