In Re Marriage of Dafoe

How courts have described this case

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

• finding that court need not find natural parent is unfit but only that third party must “demonstrate good cause or reason” and the child’s best interests to overcome natural-parent presumption
• rejecting parent's contention that Troxel created a substantially heightened burden of proof for custody cases; non-parent seeking custody must show \good cause or reason\ to overcome parental preference
• the trial court is in best position to evaluate the credibility of witnesses and the needs of a child
• ‘‘[I]n order to retain custody of a child over the superior right of the' natural parent, a third party must demonstrate :good cause or reason to overcome the presumption that a parent has a superior right to custody!.]”
• “[I]n order to retain custody of a child over the superior right of the natural parent, a third party must demonstrate good cause or reason to overcome the presumption that a parent has a superior right to custody[.]”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).