In re the Marriage of Sawyer

The wife appeals that portion of the dissolution of marriage decree awarding custody of the son, age 11, to the father. The wife was awarded custody of the daughter, age 8. The thrust of the wife’s argument is that separate custody of siblings should occur only under very exceptional circumstances citing Allen v. Allen, 200 Or 678, 268 P2d 358 (1954). Allen has no application to this case as it pertained to divided custody where custody of the children was awarded part-time to the mother and part-time to the father.

In Amundson v. Amundson, 7 Or App 33, 489 P2d 983 (1971), we affirmed a lower…