[DOWNLOAD] "Dempsey v. Dempsey" by Court of Appeals of Michigan # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Dempsey v. Dempsey
- Author : Court of Appeals of Michigan
- Release Date : January 18, 1980
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 59 KB
Description
Shirley A. Dempsey brought a divorce action against John J. Dempsey in Leelanau Circuit Court. In her complaint, the plaintiff sought custody of the parties' three minor children. Defendant was initially awarded temporary custody of the children. After a contested trial, William R. Brown, J., awarded custody of the children to the defendant. The plaintiff appeals by leave granted, asserting four grounds for reversal of the award of custody to the defendant: (1) the failure of the trial court to interview the children as to their preferences, (2) the trial court's awareness of the recommendation in the report of the friend of the court, even though there was no agreement by the parties to the admission of the report, (3) the trial court's consideration of the capacity of the respective parties to provide for the material needs of the children as constituting a denial of due process and equal protection of the law, and (4) that the custody determination was against the great weight of the evidence. Held : 1. The Child Custody Act requires a court to use the standard of the best interests of the children in determining the parent to whom custody should be awarded. One of the factors which must be considered is the reasonable preference of the children. However, the trial Judge has the discretion to determine whether the children are of sufficient age to express a preference. In the instant case it would have been better for the trial Judge to state on the record his reason or reasons for not speaking with the children.