He testified that if he obtained custody he would want to live in the marital home but that if the mother were awarded custody he would want her and the children to live in a place that the mother could afford. Since the mother filed for divorce, the father had taken the children to Disney World, Baton Rouge, and Chicago.
Arnold Luterman, M.D., a colleague of the father's, testified that the father was a hard worker and that in addition to being on call at University Hospital the father was also on trauma call for Knollwood Hospital.
Following the proceedings, the guardian ad litem appointed to represent the children's interests recommended that the mother have custody. On February 21, 2003, the trial court divorced the parties without making any findingas to adultery and awarded custody to the father. Both the mother and the father filed postjudgment motions. The guardian ad litem also filed a postjudgment motion. The mother filed an instanter motion for custody, alleging, among other things, that the father had left the children at home alone on several occasions.
The trial court held a hearing on the postjudgment motions and the mother's instanter motion. At the hearing, the trial court took additional testimony.
The older son testified that the father had left the children home alone on two or three occasions since the divorce. He stated that he wanted to live with the mother. He also stated that the father was angry at him for his testimony during the divorce proceedings. The younger son and the daughter