Ward v. Ward
Annotate this CaseMother and father were divorced in March 2007 and father was awarded primary physical custody of the parties' two young children and mother was awarded substantial visitation and was required to pay child support. Mother subsequently filed an action seeking to hold father in contempt of the final divorce decree, to obtain sole custody of the children, and to obtain child support in the event child custody was given to her. Mother appealed the trial court's ruling in favor of husband and contended that the trial court erred by adding the visitation provision and in awarding attorney fees. The court held that the trial court abused its discretion in adopting a provision that restricted against "any overnight male guests" which would prohibit mother from having visitors with whom she had no romantic relationship and for whom the record did not support a finding of harmful effect on her children. The court also held that the trial court erred in awarding attorney fees when it failed to specify the statutory basis for its award either at the final hearing or in its written order. Accordingly, the court vacated the award of attorney fees and remanded the issue to the trial court to explain the statutory basis of the award and make any findings necessary to support it.
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