Nathan Cooper, Appellant v. Shannon Kalkwarf (cooper), Appellee

Summary

The court held that the relocation presumption applicable to a sole or primary custodian does not turn solely on the label used in a decree or on whether parenting time is exactly 50/50. Because both parents had significant and meaningful relationships with the child and shared substantial custodial responsibilities, the court held that the joint-custody relocation analysis applied and remanded for that analysis. The court also held that the ambiguous custody agreement could properly be interpreted using the parties’ subsequent statements and conduct. Justice Kemp, concurring, questioned whether relocation presumptions should be abandoned, while Justice Hart, dissenting, would have upheld the circuit court’s application of the presumption and relocation decision.