In Re Custody of Melear

The parties to this cause filed separate petitions for the dissolution of their marriage, and at the conclusion of the consolidated hearing, the trial court found in favor of James David Melear, and, inter alia, awarded him permanent custody of the couple’s one-year-old daughter, Stephanie, subject to certain rights of visitation in Billie J. Melear. In bringing this appeal, the mother questions only the propriety of the custody award.

According to the testimony in the record, during a period when the father was temporarily unemployed, the mother obtained work at Sambo’s Restaurant to support…