Brenda L. Oquendo v. Qwandrell C. Banks (2014)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

On March 7, 2012, the plaintiff mother filed an application seeking sole custody of the two minor children:  Jazlyn (d/o/b 10/25/06) and Janelle (d/o/b 5/20/11).   The defendant filed a motion seeking joint legal custody of the children.

The plaintiff mother has from time to time during the proceedings indicated a concern with respect to the father's ability to care for the children and she made one or more reports to the department of children and families (DCF).  Accordingly, for a time during the pendency of the proceedings, the defendant's parenting time was changed to supervised visitation pending the results of an investigation by DCF. The investigation did not substantiate any abuse or neglect by the father.

Due to concerns expressed by the plaintiff, the father also underwent a test for substance abuse;  the test was negative.

The parents have had a stormy relationship.   They have had periods of togetherness and of separation.   The couple had split up after Jazlyn was born and then reunited.   Janelle was conceived during the reunification period.   The reunification did not last too long after her birth and since that separation the father's time with both children has been more limited than he would like.   The defendant credibly testified that he has a different relationship with Jazlyn than with Janelle because he was able to spend more time with Jazlyn when she was young than he has been permitted to spend with Janelle.

There is credible evidence that the parties at this time have great difficulty being civil and respectful of each other.   The court observed them glaring at each other during the proceedings.   The parties are now in a high conflict relationship.   It is unfortunate for them, but more unfortunate for the children.

It is clear that both parties love their children and the evidence supports a finding that the children love and want to be with both of their parents.

The court has considered the credible evidence presented at trial and relevant common and statutory law, including without limitation, General Statutes § 46b–56 and enters the following orders—which are found to be in the best interests of the minor children.

A. Custody and Parenting

1. Custody and Decision Making

The parents shall share joint legal custody of the children.   The parties shall consult with each other on all non-emergency major developmental issues affecting the health, welfare, education, religious and moral upbringing of their children.

The matters for which consultation is required shall include without limitation religious education, educational programs, school choice matters, camp, work-related childcare matters, extra-curricular activities, elective medical appointments and procedures, etc.

If a parent faces a health emergency relative to a child and a decision must be made for the child, and there is no time to communicate with the other parent, the parent having the child in his/her custody shall make the emergency decision and shall contact the other parent as soon as possible.

2. Access

The parties shall share physical custody of the children and enjoy liberal parenting time with them.   The following access schedule provides a framework for how the children are to allocate their time between the two parent households.   Holiday access shall supersede all other access, and vacation access shall supersede regular access.   The parties shall cooperate relative to transporting the children so as to implement the following access schedule and shall equally divide all transportation relative to the children.   Whichever parent is scheduled to start their time with the children shall be responsible for picking up the children from the other parent's home and/or school/child care facility.   So for example, if defendant is to have parenting time starting on Tuesday night, it will be his obligation to pick up the children from the children's school/child care facility or plaintiff's home unless other arrangements are made and if it is plaintiff's parenting time on a Thursday night, she shall pick up the children from the defendant's home.

(a) Routine Access

Defendant shall parent the minor children every Tuesday from after work, overnight, returning the children to plaintiff mother or school Wednesday morning.

On the Thursday before the plaintiff mother's scheduled weekend with the children, the defendant shall parent the minor children from after work Thursday, overnight, returning the children to the plaintiff mother or school/child care on Friday morning.   On the Thursday before the defendant father's scheduled weekend with the children, the defendant shall parent the children from after school Thursday until 8:00 p.m.

The defendant father shall also parent the children every other weekend from Friday after work until drop off at school/day care facility or plaintiff's home on Monday morning.

The plaintiff mother shall have all other time not specifically designated as the defendant father's parenting time.

(b) Holiday Access

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, the parties shall abide by the following holiday access schedule:

HOLIDAY

TIME

EVEN YEARS

ODD YEARS

ADDITIONAL TERMS

January 1 (New Year's Day)

from 12:00 PM on December 31 to 12:00 PM on January 1

Mother

Father

shall be an overnight

Martin Luther King Day weekend

8:30 AM on Saturday returning the children to school or Mother's house on Tuesday morning

Father

Mother

Presidents' Day

Mother

Father

Easter

Party shall alternate Easter with the first listed parent having from Saturday night until 3:00 PM Easter day and then the other parent will have from 3:00 PM until Monday morning

Father/Mother

Mother/Father

Mother's Day

From Saturday overnight through Monday morning

Mother

Mother

Memorial Day

From 9:30 AM Saturday to Tuesday Morning

Mother

Father

Father's Day

From Saturday overnight through Monday morning

Father

Father

July 4

From after work on July 3 through July 5 in the morning

Father

Mother

Labor Day

From 9:30 AM to Tuesday morning

Mother

Father

Columbus Day weekend

From 9:30 AM Saturday to Tuesday morning

Father

Mother

Halloween

From 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM;  from 5:30 PM staying overnight until school the next morning

Mother first half/Father second half

Mother first half/Father second half

Veteran's Day

From 9:30 AM Saturday until Tuesday morning

Mother

Father

Thanksgiving Day

From 4:00 PM on the prior day to 4 PM on Thanksgiving day

Father

Mother

Thanksgiving weekend

From 4:00 PM on Thanksgiving day through 4:00 PM on Friday

Mother

Father

Christmas Eve

Until 9:00 PM

Mother

Father

Christmas Day

From 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve through 4:00 PM on Christmas day

Father

Mother

New Year's Eve

From 12 noon New Year's Eve to 12 noon New Year's Day

Mother

Father

Children's birthdays

Who has the children during the day shall be determined by the regular access schedule

Mother's birthday

From 4 PM the day before her birthday until the morning of the day after the birthday

Mother

Mother

Father's birthday

From 4 PM the day before his birthday until the morning of the day after the birthday

Father

Father

(c) Summer Access

The parties shall each be entitled to two (2) non-consecutive weeks of vacation during the summer.   A week shall be defined as seven consecutive days including a parent's weekend.   If there is a disagreement as to dates in that both parties have selected the same period, then Mother shall have her preference in even years and Father shall have his preference in odd years.   The parties shall attempt to plan out the children's summers by April of each year so that they know what weeks the children will be in camp and when the children will be free to vacation with their parents.

(d) School Vacation

The parties shall share school vacations as follows:

SCHOOL BREAK

TIME

PARENT RESPONSIBLE

February school vacation

From the Sunday before the break through Thursday morning

Mother

February school vacation

From Thursday morning through Monday morning

Father

Spring break (April vacation)

From the Sunday before the break through Thursday morning

Mother

Spring break (April vacation)

From Thursday morning through Monday morning

Father

It is contemplated that at some point the parents may want to exercise the full week to afford themselves travel opportunities with the children.   In the event that the parents cannot agree, Father will have preference in even years and Mother will have preference in odd years.

3. Notification

(a) Travel Itineraries

Prior to traveling out of state with the children for more than 24 hours, the parent traveling shall share a full itinerary of where the children are going to be, including addresses and telephone numbers for where they are staying.   In the event that the children are traveling by air, the parent traveling with the children shall provide a full itinerary including flight numbers.

(b) Each of the parties shall inform the other of the minor children's school, daycare, house of worship, physicians, dentist, etc.   In addition, the Father or the Mother shall give the other party immediate notice of any special events involving the minor children, including but not limited to plays, recitals, award ceremonies, banquets, sports activities, religious ceremonies, graduations, school conferences, sports meets and other ceremonies, for which information is not otherwise attainable by the other parent.

4. Communication

(a) The parents shall communicate on a weekly basis to determine how the children are doing, any upcoming appointments that the children may have and address any parental issues.   Said communication may be accomplished in the form of a phone call, but in the event that the parties are unable to do so without conflict, then by e-mail.   The parties shall talk about the children relative to the weekly parenting agenda which has been provided to them by the GAL as a part of his proposed orders.   The parties agree that they shall communicate with the other outside the presence of the children.   The parties may utilize the services of OurFamilyWizard.com (and equally share the cost thereof) or other electronic scheduler.   If they use one of these programs they shall ensure that each other has the necessary information to access the record.

(b) The parents shall not use the children as messengers relative to any parenting issues, nor will they discuss any court matters with the children.

(c) Each parent shall have reasonable telephone contact with the children during any time that they are not with the children.   Said telephonic contact shall not be unreasonable in terms of duration or frequency and in no event shall contact be after 7:30 pm on a school night, absent an emergency.

(d) Neither party shall appear at the other person's place of work nor shall they call, text or e-mail the other person at work absent an emergency concerning the children.

5. Expectations Relative to Parenting

(a) Both parents shall work actively and affirmatively to ensure that the children spend time with both their parents, and neither shall do or say, or permit any third person to do or say, anything that might undermine the children's attachment to or feelings of affection and trust for the other parent.   Neither parent will, in any way, impede, obstruct or interfere with the other parent's right of companionship with the children.   Neither parent will engage in making disparaging remarks or criticize the other parent through any type of communications, nor allow anybody else to do so in the presence of the children.   Neither parent will act in any manner which undermines the role of the other parent.

(b) Each parent shall exert every reasonable effort to maintain reasonable, predictable and liberal access and unhampered contact between the children and the other parent.

6. Miscellaneous Parenting Provisions

(a) If either parent is going out of state on a business trip, they shall offer the other parent the right to care for the children first.

(b) Both parents shall have full access to any and all of the children's medical, school and other records.   The parties also agree that they shall list each other as primary contact information on all of the children's records and information slips.

(c) The parents shall equally share parenting responsibilities during any snow days or sick days so that the obligation to care for the children does not fall primarily on one parent.   However, if a parent is not working, and it will not impact on their income, then that parent should try to take the responsibility for the children on that day.

(d) Neither party will introduce to the children any significant third party, including boyfriend or girlfriend, until at least six months have passed from the time such relationship became significant.

(e) Absent an emergency, prior to making any claims or reports to third parties, including police departments, DCF and other authorities, and before filing any motion with the court, the parties shall use their best efforts to address the claims and issues between themselves, so to thereby reduce forums for conflict, legal fees, and reliance on third parties to resolve issues relative to parenting.

7. Extracurricular Activities

(a) The parties shall discuss any extracurricular activities that they wish the children to engage in and shall not register the children for such activities unless there is agreement—in the event a parent signs a child up for an activity without the agreement or consent of the other, the party signing the child up for the activity shall bear 100% of the cost of the activity.   It is specifically understood that said agreement shall not be unreasonably withheld and shall take into account activities in which the children have participated or desire to participate.   The parties shall also give consideration to any economic costs associated with the activity to determine if their individual household budgets can afford the same.   If the parties agree that a child should engage in an extracurricular activity, including sports, then both parents shall facilitate that child getting to said activity even if it is during their parenting time.

The parties shall equally share the cost of an extracurricular activity that has been agreed to by both up to a maximum cost of $750 per child per year per parent—unless the parents agree, in writing, to exceed such cap.

8. Dispute Resolution

(a) In an effort to reduce the conflict, the parties are ordered to attend parenting counseling to deal with their inability to communicate with each other and to formulate plans that are in the best interest of the minor children.   The parties shall equally divide the cost.

9. Relocation

Neither party will relocate more than 20 miles from their current locations unless there is an agreement or court order.   The parties shall give each other notice of any intent to relocate out of the state of Connecticut so that the same can be looked at relative to the parenting plan.   A parent must give the other parent 90 days' notice of intention to relocate out of the state.

B. Post–Majority Education

The court finds as a matter of fact that it is more likely than not that the parents would have provided support to their children for higher education or private occupational school if the family had remained intact.   Pursuant to the provisions of General Statutes § 46b–56c, the court reserves jurisdiction to determine educational support and each party reserves their respective right to file a future motion or petition for an educational support order.

C. Child Support

The court finds the plaintiff's gross weekly income is $691 and her net weekly income is $587.   Pursuant to his financial affidavit, the defendant's net weekly income is $1,040 a week.

The court finds the presumptive support payable by the defendant to the plaintiff for the two children with the plaintiff having custody of both children is $243 a week.

After considering the credible testimony and reviewing the financial affidavits, the earnings of the respective parties, and the deviation criteria set forth in Section 46b–215a–3(b)(6) of the Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines Regulations (the guidelines) the court orders the defendant to pay child support in the amount of $243 per week.   The court orders the child support payments to be made by immediate wage withholding.

D. Medical Insurance for the Children

The defendant shall maintain, at his expense, medical and dental insurance coverage for the children so long as available to him for a reasonable cost and if it is not so available, then the plaintiff shall obtain and maintain medical and dental insurance for the children so long as available to her at a reasonable cost.

The plaintiff and defendant shall each be responsible for 50% of the amount of any unreimbursed medical, dental, optical, pharmaceutical, psychological, psychiatric, and orthodontic expenses, including any deductibles, for the minor children.

SO ORDERED.

BY THE COURT,

Olear, J.

Olear, Leslie I., J.