Karen Hoover (Letourneau) v. Wade Hoover

Summary

The court affirmed the family court's order awarding the father sole legal and physical custody of the two younger children after the mother relocated to Connecticut. It held that the parties' shared custodial arrangement, the resulting breakdown in co-parenting, and the evidence supporting the family court's best-interests findings justified modification, and that the mother's challenges relied partly on facts outside the record. Justice Johnson, joined by Justice Skoglund, dissented, concluding that the factual findings were unsupported and advocating a relocation framework focused on actual caregiving, good faith, and the legitimacy and reasonableness of the move.