Matthew Adam Corenswet v. Samantha Marie Corenswet (Rain)

Syllabus

This is an appeal from two orders entered by the trial court in this post-divorce action. In the first order, the trial court found the mother guilty on three counts of criminal contempt, upon a petition filed by the father, for scheduling and taking the parties' minor child to two doctor's appointments and a walk-in clinic in violation of the parties' permanent parenting plan. The parenting plan granted to the father exclusive decision-making authority over all non-emergency medical decisions for the children. In the second order, the trial court sua sponte modified the parties' parenting plan, granting the father \tie-breaking authority\ to schedule non-school-related extracurricular activities during the mother's co-parenting time on the condition that if the mother did not agree to a particular activity, the father would pay for and provide transportation to the activities. Neither party had filed a petition seeking to modify the parenting plan. The mother appeals this modification on the grounds that no material change in circumstance existed to justify modification of the parenting plan and argues further that the modification was not in the best interest of the children because it would likely create more disputes between the parties going forward. With regard to the criminal contempt determinations, the mother argues on appeal that her actions in scheduling the two doctor's visits were not \willful\ as required for a finding of criminal contempt and that her action in taking the child to the walk-in clinic was precipitated by a medical emergency, a situation over which the parenting plan did not grant the father exclusive control. Upon thorough review, we discern no reversible error in the trial court's determination that the mother was guilty of three counts of criminal contempt for violating the permanent parenting plan and accordingly affirm that order in its entirety. Regarding the second order, we find as a threshold matter that the trial court did not