A-18-841, Stattler v. Davenport
Phelps County District Court, Judge Terri S. Harder
Attorneys for Appellant: Tara L. Gardner and Joel Bacon (Keating, O’Gara, Nedved, & Peter, P.C., L.L.O.)
Attorney for Appellee: Bergan E. Schumacher (Bruner Frank Schumacher, L.L.C.)
Civil Action: Paternity, Physical Custody, and Child Support
Action Taken by the Trial Court: Kari Stattler and Bryson Davenport have two minor children (born 2010 and 2013). In January 2017, Stattler’s father passed away, so she moved from Lincoln to Holdrege to care for her mother. From that time until trial in August 2018, the minor children lived with Davenport in Lincoln. In January 2018, Stattler filed a complaint to establish paternity, custody, and child support. Davenport filed an answer and “cross-complaint” in which he requested, in part, that the court award him custody of the children. The trial court awarded temporary custody to Davenport, but ultimately granted the parties joint legal custody of the minor children with sole physical custody awarded to Stattler. Davenport was ordered to pay child support.
Assignments of Error on Appeal: Davenport claims the district court erred in not awarding sole physical custody of the children to him rather than Stattler, and therefore also erred in ordering him to pay child support.