Gjertsen v. Ter Haar
Annotate this CasePursuant to a California court order, Father had sole legal and physical custody of the parties’ child, subject to limited visitation by Mother. Mother filed a petition for modification of the California order seeking modification of the custody, child support, visitation, and bond provisions. The district court denied Mother’s modification motion, ruling that Mother was required to establish a material change of circumstances in order to warrant a change in custody or visitation but that Mother did not meet that burden. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the district court (1) erred by failing to give full faith and credit to the terms of the California order, which specifically allowed a change in the terms of visitation when it would be in the child’s best interests; but (2) did not err in concluding that there was no material change in circumstances that would justify a change in custody. Remanded so the district court could conduct a best interests analysis to determine if modification of the visitation provisions of the California order was warranted.
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