Weaver v. Sena

Citations

• 199 Conn. App. 852

Syllabus

The plaintiff appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial court granting the motion filed by the defendant to modify custody of the parties' minor child. The trial court had previously approved the parties' written agreement under which they agreed to share joint legal custody of the child, with the child living with the plaintiff and the defendant having visitation rights. The parties had further agreed that, in the event of an impasse, the plaintiff would have final decision-making authority in certain matters pertaining to the child. The defendant alleged that the plaintiff was incapable of fostering a healthy relationship between him and the child and that she continuously interfered with his access to and time with the child. The court ordered that primary physical custody was to be transferred to the defendant, who would have final decision-making authority in matters pertaining to the child. Held: 1. The plaintiff could not prevail on her claim that the trial court improperly modified custody without first finding that a material change in circum- stances had occurred and improperly determined that modification was in the best interests of the child: although the court did not explicitly find a material change in circumstances, an implicit finding of a change in circumstances will satisfy the threshold predicate for modification, as there was ample evidence that the plaintiff's efforts to embroil the child in the custody dispute and alienate him from the defendant had intensified, which constituted a material change in circumstances; fur- thermore, it was not improper for the court to agree with most of the findings of the psychologist who conducted a child custody psychologi- cal examination but to decline to follow his recommendation that the child should continue to reside with the plaintiff, as the psychologist testified that the plaintiff's efforts to interfere with the defendant's rela- tionship with the child had not curtailed and that the cu