DePasquale v. Superior Court

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• explaining that a trial court must exercise independent judgment in making a custody decision and may not delegate its judicial decision to an expert
• stating that a court may consider expert opinion in making a child- custody determination, but it must exercise independent judgment in custody matters
• applying former A.R.S. § 25-339, now § 25-411, to request for modification of physical custody
• acknowledging that the family court may face an emergency situation requiring a change in custody or parenting time without notice or a hearing, but the court must follow “strict procedural limits” within the rules governing temporary orders
• holding the court can consider expert opinion but must exercise independent judgment – “[t]he best interests of the child 7 EASTMAN v. EASTMAN Decision of the Court . . . are for the court alone to decide”
• describing the trial court’s “screening” function in analyzing a petition for modification to determine whether the petitioner has presented adequate cause to warrant a hearing

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).