Foshee v. Foshee, 2010 OK 85

Angela Foshee filed for divorce from Kenneth Foshee; three sons aged 14, 13, and 9.
Initially, the parties agreed to a joint custody plan, which the court approved.
Mother later moved to terminate joint custody, alleging it was not in the children's best interests.
Trial and in-camera interview of children occurred; court suspended joint custody and awarded sole custody to the mother.
Court ordered anger management for the father and supervised visitation; subsequently awarded attorney fees to the mother.
On appeal, father challenged termination of joint custody, sole custody award, and fee award.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a material change in circumstances justified terminating joint custody	Foshee argues change not shown; children preferred joint plan	Foshee contends parents cannot cooperate; custody should be modified	Yes; material change found; joint custody terminated and sole custody awarded
Whether it was proper to award sole custody to the mother	Joint custody should continue; best interests not shown to favor change	Parents ineffective at cooperation; sole custody to mother serves best interests	Yes; trial court did not err; sole custody to mother serves children's best interests
Whether the attorney-fee award to the mother was proper	Fees should not be shifted to father	Equity supports fees due to father's hostility	Yes; trial court’s attorney-fee award affirmed

Daniel v. Daniel, 42 P.3d 863 (2001 OK 117) (termination of joint custody when cooperation fails; best interests paramount)
Rice v. Rice, 603 P.2d 1125 (1979 OK 161) (modifying custody to eliminate dual custody where not in child’s best interests)
Ynclan v. Woodward, 237 P.3d 145 (2010 OK 29) (child preference is a factor, not the sole basis, in custody determinations)
King v. King, 107 P.3d 570 (2005 OK 4) (fee-shifting balanced equities; nonprevailing party not automatically liable)