LUCILLE MEADOWS, APPELLANT,
v.
LAFAYETTE F. MEADOWS, APPELLEE
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The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a divorce decree awarding child custody to the mother but reversed a subsequent order that sustained a demurrer to the father's petition for a change in custody. The court held that child custody is always subject to modification by the court.
Yes, the proper custody of a minor child is a subject that the chancellor can consider at any time, regardless of prior rulings or facts that could have been presented earlier.
“Assuming that the mentioned subsequent order is also appealed from and that such order in effect held the awarding of the custody of the child by the final decree to be res adjudicaba as to the conduct of the mother prior to the rendering of the final decree, such order is reversed, as the proper custody of the minor child is a proper subject for consideration by the chancellor at any time, even if facfs in issue could have been considered at a previous hearing, if such facts were not presented or considered at a former hearing.”
Establishes the court's reasoning for reversing the subsequent order regarding child custody.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appeal stemmed from a divorce decree that granted custody of a minor child to the mother. The father later filed a petition seeking a change in cu…
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Per Curiam.
— This appeal was taken from a decree granting a divorce and awarding the custody of a minor child to the. mother and from "subsequent decretal orders.” The only order subsequent to the final decree that appears on the transcript is an order sustaining a demurrer to a petition by the father praying a change in the custody of the child' on grounds, that the mother it not a proper person for such custody. Upon a consideration of the cause of its merits no material errors appear, and the final decree is affirmed.
Assuming that the mentioned subsequent order is also appealed from and that such order in effect held the awarding of the custody of the child by the final decree to be res adjudicaba as to the conduct of the mother prior to the rendering of the final decree, such order is reversed, as the proper custody of the minor child is a proper subject for consideration by the chancellor at any time, even if facfs in issue could have been considered at a previous hearing, if such facts were not presented or considered at a former hearing.
The final decree is affirmed and the subsequent order is reversed.
All concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By (14 total)
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Frazier v. Frazier, 109 Fla. 164 (Fla. 1933)…[*168] It is undoubtedly the law of this state that the proper custody of a minor child of divorced parents is a proper subject for judicial consideration at any time by the Court which granted the decree of divorce. Meadows v Meadows, 78 Fla. 576, 83 So. Rep. 392. But it is likewise the law that a decree in a divorce suit, fixing the custody of a child of the parents being divorced, whether based on a stipulation entered into by the parties and approved by the court, or whether entered by the court after adv…
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Belford v. Belford, 159 Fla. 547 (Fla. 1947)…aid: “It is undoubtedly the law of this state that the proper custody of a minor child of divorced parents is a proper subject for judicial consideration at any time by the Court which granted the decree of divorce. Meadows v. Meadows, 78 Fla. 567, 83 So. Rep. 392. But it is likewise the law that a decree in a divorce suit fixing the custody of a child of the parents being divorced, whether based on a stipulation entered into by the parties and approved by the court, or whether entered by the court after adve…
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Cone v. Cone, 62 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 1953)…tion to modify a divorce decree as to custody of the children of the divorced parties is dependent upon an express reservation in the decree ■of such jurisdiction. See Mehaffey v. Mehaffey, 143 Fla. 157, 196 So. 416; Meadows v. Meadows, 78 Fla. 576, 83 So. 392; Fisher v. Guidy, 106 Fla. 94, 142 So. 818; and Frazier v. Frazier, 109 Fla. 164, 147 So. 464, 465. In the case last cited this court said: “It is undoubtedly the law of this state that the proper custody of a minor child of divorced parents is a pr…
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