My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Virginia
My wife recently lost primary physical physical custody of our 4-year old daughter to her father, who lives in MO, pending review in a year, in Circuit Court. There was a great deal of testimony defaming my wife from her ex's step-mother, almost all of which was untrue and mostly ludicrous (alleging that she is a "witch" with a "sacrificial altar"), as well as a few staged photographs and a few anecdotes about how much the father loves his little girl. Our lawyer insisted that we run a trial without appeals of that nature, which turned out to be the very thing the judge in the case wanted.
Previously, we had exchanged custody of her every two months, as per an order by WV, where they last lived before the divorce. Every time our daughter came back to us, she had developmentally regressed behind where she was when she left us; and the final straw was when she came back with an advanced infection in her leg that required 10 days of hospitalization and left her with a terror of the medical profession. We ended up winning primary physical in J&D court there, with him to have holidays and reasonable visitation when/if he came into town.
The guardian ad litem in the case recommended that our daughter stay with us, in the interests of stability, having seen her before she left a few times, and when she returned, and witnessing her growth under our care. He also refuted many of the claims they had made about my wife, as he has been to our home and seen that what they were claiming wasn't true.
The Judge, in explaining her reasoning, explained that it was her duty to be "fair" to the father, and ordered that she stay with him for the next year, with us to have the visitation he had, in reverse. Also, the year thing, pending review, is very bizzare to me, and seems to be a great deal more than "fair" to the father, considering the GAL's opinion, and the weight that the court generally places on inertia, especially with school starting soon after we reconvene.
Given the fact that she ignored the GAL's opinion as to the best interest of the child, and given that her legal obligation is to the child's best interest, and the non-traditional method of custody, is this something that on the face of it sounds appealable? We are getting a new lawyer, and are in between right now, so I haven't asked an attorney yet; I've spent a few days sifting through case law, but haven't found many examples of judges ignoring the GAL's advice as was done in ours, but have also developed a new appreciation for how few judgements get overturned on appeal.