In Re Marriage of Russo

Appellant, the mother of a daughter bom October 14, 1964, who was awarded physical custody of her child by an interlocutory decree of divorce on August 12, 1968, has appealed from an order made and entered March 12, 1970 which granted respondent-father’s motion for modification of child custody, and changed the physical custody of the daughter from the mother to the father, with reasonable visitation rights to the mother. She contends that the order changing custody of the minor child must be reversed since it is totally unsupported by the evidence presented to the trial court. As a minor premise she claims that there is no substantial evidence to show that there has been a change in the conditions existing at the time of the original order which would justify modification of that order. On the other hand, the father asserts that the court properly exercised its discretion in providing for custody which was in the best interests of the child.

The record reflects that the parties were married May 19, 1962. Their daughter was born October 14, 1964. The parties separated February 15, 1968, and by agreement the daughter was left in the physical custody of the mother.…