McCarty v. McCarty, 2015 SD 59

Divorce in July 2007; joint legal custody with Mother as primary physical custodian.
After divorce, Mother remained in Box Elder; Father moved to Gillette, Wyoming.
Children typically spent school year with Mother and summers with Father.
June 2012: circuit court awarded Father primary physical custody; May 2013 motion seeking change filed by Mother.
August 2013: court changed custody back to Mother, finding no substantial change needed due to a scheduled review hearing.
Trial focused on Fuerstenberg factors; two major changes cited: dissolution of Father’s medical group and Stepmother’s stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether substantial change in circumstances was required to modify custody	McCarty argues a contested 2013 hearing required proof of substantial change	McCarty contends no substantial change was needed due to prior review scheduling	Court erred in not requiring substantial change; substantial change required
Whether returning custody to Mother was in the children’s best interests based on substantial change	Father asserts changes cited were not genuinely substantial or relevant	Mother asserts the changes affected stability and best interests favored return to Mother	Yes; returning custody to Mother was in the children’s best interests given substantial changes.

Benson v. Loffelmacher, 824 N.W.2d 82 (2012 S.D. 75) (interim custody context requiring substantial change to modify)
Roth v. Haag, 834 N.W.2d 340 (2013 S.D. 48) (best interests framework and Fuerstenberg factors guidance)
Schieffer v. Schieffer, 826 N.W.2d 633 (2013 S.D. 11) (abuse of discretion standard; factors consideration)
Fuerstenberg v. Fuerstenberg, 591 N.W.2d 798 (1999 S.D. 35) (separation of siblings and Fuerstenberg factors relevance)
Kreps v. Kreps, 778 N.W.2d 843 (2010 S.D. 12) (balanced approach to Fuerstenberg factors; best interests)
Beaulieu v. Birdsbill, 815 N.W.2d 569 (2012 S.D. 45) (flexible application of factors in custody decisions)