Judge Stroud Clarifies the Meaning of ‘Clarification.’
You cannot ask a trial court to modify its existing orders ‘just because.’ That goes for any order, including child custody orders. Seems like an obvious point, but the Court of Appeals last month had to provide a refresher. In Davis v. Davis, the Court vacated portions of a child custody order that modified an existing order under the guise of “clarification.” Divorce practitioners and trial courts get so comfortable with the practice of changing child custody orders to fit changes in the child’s circumstances that they sometimes forget the core—the trial court has to actually find those substantial…