McLendon v. Mills

Because I believe our caselaw prohibits us from applying the harmless-error rule to the specific circumstances of this case; I must respectfully dissent.

It is well settled that a trial court will use one of two standards in custody-modification proceedings: the more stringent standard set forth in Ex parte McLendon, 455 So.2d 863 (Ala. 1984) (“the McLendon standard”), and the less stringent standard set forth in Ex parte Couch, 521 So.2d 987 (Ala. 1988) (“the best-interests standard”). Typically, a trial court’s application of the incorrect standard requires reversal of that trial court’s…