Brian Swindler v. Leah Bright

Summary

The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the district court's award of primary physical custody to Mother after her relocation from Cody, Wyoming to Colorado. Although both parents were found fit and competent caregivers, the court held the district court acted within its discretion because Mother's unilateral move rendered the parties' prior informal shared-custody arrangement impracticable, the more than 500 miles between the parents made shared custody infeasible given the child's schooling, and stability in the child's school-year placement favored Mother's home while Father received substantial visitation. The court declined to reweigh the evidence and rejected Father's argument that the custody award was inconsistent with the finding that both parents were fit.