Stephanie W. v. Maxwell V.
Annotate this CaseA couple lived together briefly in New Mexico and then separated, with the man moving permanently to Alaska. Shortly after he moved, the woman ("Stephanie W.") discovered that she was pregnant and gave birth to a son. The child had no contact with his father for the first three years of his life. At his paternal grandmother's initiative, the child then visited his father in Alaska several times over a three-year period, including a year-long visit during which he attended kindergarten in Alaska. After the boy returned to New Mexico, the boy's father filed for legal and primary physical custody. After a trial, the superior court awarded primary physical custody to the father and summertime visitation to the mother. Legal custody as to schooling decisions was awarded to the father. Legal custody as to all other decisions was awarded jointly to the mother and father. The mother appealed. Because Stephanie has not shown that the superior court's findings on a sexual abuse issue were clearly erroneous, the Supreme Court affirmed the superior court's finding that the child had not been sexually abused by the father. But the Court remanded the custody issue for a new consideration of the best interests of the child in two respects: (1) Because Stephanie brought her allegations of sexual abuse against the father in good faith, the Court remanded for reconsideration of the "close and continuing relationship" factor in accordance with this opinion; and (2) because the court did not discuss the father's ongoing obligation to support the child, the Court remanded for consideration of the continuity and stability factor.
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