CUSTODY OF CHILD

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31005, 10 March 1966, Page 11

CUSTODY OF CHILD

Variation Refused

A stepmother might well be a better person to have custody of an eight-year-old girl than her own mother, in the particular case before him, said Mr Justice Wilson in the Supreme Court yesterday. His Honour refused an application by Nola Rita Scott, the child’s mother, for variation of the custody order made during the pronouncement of a decree absolute in divorce, which gave custody of the child to her father, William Warnock Broomhall, a labourer, of Invercargill. On divorce, the four children of the parties were separated—two in the custody of the father and two with the mother, the Court was informed. Both parties had since remarried. His Honour said he was sensible of the general rule that it was better for a small girl to be with her mother. But in this case, the Child Welfare Department had reported her very happy and settled with her stepmother. It might well be that Hie stepmother was a better person to have custody of the child than her own mother, whose conduct had led to the divorce, and who now went out to work in the evenings. And if the girl went to her mother, the fourth child would be left on its own. Accordingly, his Honour said he thought it best not to vary the custody order. |