Richards v. Brown ( 2021 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
DARREN RICHARDS,1 §
§ No. 422, 2020
Petitioner Below, §
Appellant, § Court Below—Family Court
§ of the State of Delaware
v. §
§ File No. CK14-02016
BROOKE BROWN, § Petition No. 19-27340
§
Respondent Below, § IN THE INTEREST OF:
Appellee. § ADAM RICHARDS
Submitted: June 11, 2021
Decided: August 3, 2021
Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and MONTGOMERY-REEVES,
Justices.
ORDER
After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal, we
conclude that the judgment below should be affirmed on the basis of the Family
Court’s order dated November 12, 2020. The appellant filed a petition in the Family
Court seeking modification of the parties’ child’s primary residential placement,
which had been determined in January 2017 after a full hearing on the merits. The
Family Court appropriately considered the factors set forth in 13 Del. C. § 729(c)(2),
including carefully weighing the best interest factors in light of the evidence
1
The Court previously assigned pseudonyms to the parties pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 7(d).
presented. In concluding that the child’s primary residence should remain with the
appellee, the Family Court acted within its broad discretion.2
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Family
Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr.
Chief Justice
2
See Russell v. Stevens, 2007 WL 3215667 (Del. Nov. 1, 2007) (affirming Family Court’s award
of primary residential placement and stating that when the Family Court appropriately considers
and weighs each of the best interest factors, the “law vests wide discretion in the trial court to
determine where custody shall be placed”).
2