35 N.W.2d 223 | Wis. | 1948
This action was commenced on the 31st day of December, 1945, by Elaine G. Templeton, plaintiff, against Kaeppler E. Templeton, defendant, to procure a judgment of divorce upon the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment. Judgment was entered on February 25, 1946. The defendant moved to have the custody of the minor child of the parties, named Barbara, age nine years, changed from the plaintiff to the defendant. The matter was brought on for hearing and on the 11th day of May, 1948, the court entered an order awarding the custody of the child to the plaintiff, from which order the defendant appeals. The facts will be stated in the opinion. The court found as a fact "that the plaintiff, who was the mother of the minor child of the parties *93 hereto, to wit: Barbara, age nine, is a satisfactory and proper person to raise her said minor child and can provide said child with proper motherly care and suitable housing, educational and recreational facilities in her, the said minor's, daily life, and that it is and will be to and for the best interest and welfare of said minor child, Barbara Templeton, to be raised by and in the custody of her said mother, the plaintiff herein."
The principal contention of the father is that the best interests of the child demand a change of custody because the plaintiff, after her divorce from the defendant, lived with her present husband as man and wife before a year had elapsed from the date of the divorce and before they could be legally married, and that Barbara during said period was in the custody and care of her mother, and for that reason the mother is no longer a fit person to have the custody of Barbara.
Nothing can be said in defense of the conduct of the plaintiff. However, as stated in the brief of the defendant, the controlling consideration in all custody matters is the welfare of the child.
It appears that the defendant has remarried and now lives in Jackson, Michigan, with his parents. His present wife is twenty-three years of age and this is her first marriage. The defendant travels in all parts of the United States as a salesman and is gone from home from one to three weeks.
Elies v. Elies (1941),
By the Court. — Order affirmed.