Jaeger v. Jaeger , 307 Neb. 910 ( 2020 )


Menu:
  • Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library
    www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/
    02/05/2021 08:11 AM CST
    - 910 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    Stacey R. Jaeger, appellant, v.
    Duke E. Jaeger, appellee.
    ___ N.W.2d ___
    Filed December 4, 2020.   No. S-20-122.
    1. Child Custody: Appeal and Error. Child custody determinations are
    matters initially entrusted to the discretion of the trial court. Although
    reviewed de novo on the record, the trial court’s determination will gen-
    erally be affirmed absent an abuse of discretion.
    2. Rules of Evidence. In proceedings where the Nebraska rules of evi-
    dence apply, they control the admissibility of evidence, and judicial
    discretion is allowed only insofar as the rules make it a factor.
    3. Trial: Evidence: Appeal and Error. Judicial discretion is allowed to
    determine the relevancy of evidence, and such determination will not be
    disturbed on appeal unless it constitutes an abuse of discretion.
    4. Motions for New Trial: Appeal and Error. An appellate court reviews
    a trial court’s ruling on a motion for a new trial or reconsideration for an
    abuse of discretion.
    5. Judges: Words and Phrases. An abuse of discretion occurs when a trial
    court’s decision or reasoning is clearly untenable, unfairly depriving a
    litigant of a substantial right and denying just results in matters submit-
    ted for disposition.
    6. Modification of Decree: Child Custody: Proof. Custody of a minor
    child will not ordinarily be modified absent a material change in circum-
    stances, which shows either that the custodial parent is unfit or that the
    best interests of the child require such action.
    7. ____: ____: ____. It is the burden of the party seeking modification of
    a child custody order to show two elements: first, that since entry of the
    most recent custody order, there has been a material change in circum-
    stances that affects the child’s best interests, and second, that it would
    be in the child’s best interests to change custody.
    8. Modification of Decree: Child Custody: Words and Phrases. A mate-
    rial change in circumstances is the occurrence of something that, if it
    - 911 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    had been known at the time the most recent custody order was entered,
    would have persuaded that court to decree differently.
    9.   Modification of Decree: Child Custody. Circumstances having
    occurred before the most recent custody order are relevant only insofar
    as they bear on whether the change in circumstances since the most
    recent custody order are material and substantial.
    10.   ____: ____. Before custody is modified, it should be apparent that any
    material change in circumstances alleged will be permanent or contin­
    uous, not merely transitory or temporary.
    11.   Child Custody. The wishes of a child are not controlling in determina-
    tions of child custody.
    12.   ____. If a child is of sufficient age and has expressed an intelligent
    preference regarding child custody, the child’s preference is entitled to
    consideration, alongside other factors.
    13.   ____. The amount of consideration given to a child’s stated preference
    regarding child custody will depend on the child’s age and ability to
    give reasons for his or her preference.
    14.   Child Custody: Appeal and Error. Where a trial court’s order modify-
    ing child custody demonstrates that the child’s age and reasoning have
    been duly considered alongside the child’s stated preference, an appel-
    late court will generally defer to the trial court’s credibility determina-
    tions in the assessment of facts.
    15.   Child Custody. Certain factors that must be considered in the determi-
    nation of a child’s best interests in the context of child custody include
    (1) the relationship of the child to each parent prior to the commence-
    ment of the action; (2) the desires and wishes of a sufficiently mature
    child, if based on sound reasoning; (3) the general health, welfare, and
    social behavior of the child; (4) credible evidence of abuse inflicted on
    any family or household member; and (5) credible evidence of child
    abuse or neglect or domestic intimate partner abuse.
    16.   ____. Certain factors that may be considered in the determination of a
    child’s best interests in the context of child custody include the stabil-
    ity of the child’s existing routine, minimization of contact and conflict
    between the parents, and the general nature and health of the child.
    17.   Trial: Evidence: Appeal and Error. The admission or exclusion of
    evidence is not reversible error unless it unfairly prejudiced a substantial
    right of the complaining party.
    18.   ____: ____: ____. Erroneous exclusion of evidence does not require
    reversal if the evidence would have been cumulative and other relevant
    evidence, properly admitted, supports the trial court’s finding.
    - 912 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    Appeal from the District Court for Lancaster County: Susan
    I. Strong, Judge. Affirmed.
    Amie C. Martinez and Mona L. Burton, of Anderson, Creager
    & Wittstruck, P.C., L.L.O., for appellant.
    Jeanelle S. Kleveland, of Kleveland Law Offices, for
    appellee.
    Heavican, C.J., Miller-Lerman, Stacy, Funke, Papik, and
    Freudenberg, JJ.
    Heavican, C.J.
    I. INTRODUCTION
    A modified divorce decree in 2011 granted Stacey R. Jaeger
    sole physical custody over her son, C.J., subject to parenting
    time between C.J. and his father, Duke E. Jaeger. In 2018,
    Duke petitioned to modify custody.
    After hearing C.J. and the parties testify, the district court
    transferred sole legal and physical custody over C.J. to Duke,
    subject to Stacey’s parenting time. We affirm.
    II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
    Stacey and Duke married in 2004 and lived together in
    Imperial, Nebraska. They raised two sons: H.J., born in 1997
    to Stacey’s previous marriage and adopted by Duke, and C.J.,
    born in 2005 to Stacey and Duke. Only custody of C.J. is at
    issue in this appeal.
    Stacey filed for a divorce in 2006. A divorce decree was
    entered in 2007. Under the divorce decree, Stacey and Duke
    were granted joint legal custody over their sons, and Stacey
    was granted sole physical custody, subject to Duke’s parent-
    ing time.
    In January 2008, Stacey filed a petition to modify the
    divorce decree. She sought sole legal custody over H.J. and
    C.J., and she requested that any visits between Duke and their
    sons be supervised. Stacey alleged that Duke had physically
    abused their sons.
    - 913 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    In September 2009, before her petition was adjudicated,
    Stacey moved with her sons to Waverly, Nebraska. Based
    on this move, Stacey petitioned for the court to further limit
    Duke’s visits with their sons to once every other weekend and
    renewed her request that such visits be supervised. Stacey also
    requested that the parties be ordered to meet in Lexington,
    Nebraska, which was closer to her new home, to exchange
    their sons between visits.
    Around this time, conflict arose between Duke and H.J.,
    who alleged that Duke had physically abused him. Stacey and
    Duke agreed that H.J. would no longer spend time with Duke.
    Since then, H.J. and Duke have remained estranged from
    each other.
    Between 2007 and 2010, Stacey made numerous allega-
    tions that Duke was physically abusing C.J. The Nebraska
    Department of Health and Human Services, the Nebraska State
    Patrol, and the police department for the city of Imperial all
    investigated. The district court appointed a guardian ad litem,
    who “reviewed voluminous material and spoke with investi-
    gators with the State Patrol, the Imperial Police Department,
    DHHS investigators, some of the medical personnel, the coun-
    selor for the children, and the children,” but concluded that the
    evidence did not support Stacey’s allegations of abuse against
    Duke. The guardian ad litem also did not recommend that Duke
    be limited to supervised visits, but did recommend that he com-
    plete family counseling.
    In March 2011, the district court entered an order modifying
    the divorce decree. Under the 2011 divorce decree, the parties
    retained joint legal custody over C.J. and Stacey retained sole
    physical custody over C.J. Duke was entitled to a minimum
    of one visit every other weekend with C.J. during the school
    year and 6 consecutive weeks’ visitation during the summer.
    The district court declined Stacey’s request to require that
    visits between Duke and C.J. be supervised. Weekday visita-
    tion was eliminated, and the parties were ordered to exchange
    - 914 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    C.J. in Kearney, Nebraska. Duke was ordered to complete fam-
    ily counseling.
    Stacey appealed the district court’s denial of her request for
    sole legal custody over C.J. On appeal, in case No. A-11-330,
    the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed the order in an unpub-
    lished memorandum opinion filed on March 2, 2012.
    On March 1, 2018, Duke filed a petition for modification
    of the divorce decree in the district court for Chase County.
    Stacey filed a motion to transfer pursuant to 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-410
     (Reissue 2016), and the case was transferred to the
    district court for Lancaster County.
    The issue before the district court was whether Duke had
    shown a material change in circumstances that had not been
    foreseeable when custody was last adjudicated in 2011. Duke
    alleged that over the past 7 years, C.J. had grown, and that
    now, as a 14-year-old child, he had expressed a mature desire
    to live with Duke. The district court heard in camera testimony
    from C.J. during which time only C.J., the parties’ attorneys,
    and the judge were in the courtroom.
    During this testimony, C.J. stated that he loved both of his
    parents but desired to live with Duke. According to the dis-
    trict court:
    [C.J.] wants to live with his Dad because [they have]
    the same interests in farming and working on tractors
    and lawn mowers. They both enjoy hunting and fishing,
    especially together. [C.J.] would like to have a future in
    farming and hopes to inherit his Dad’s farms in Nebraska
    and Colorado.
    Because this reasoning was sound and C.J. was an eighth grade
    student who “does well in school,” the district court found
    C.J.’s testimony persuasive.
    In contrast, the district court viewed Stacey’s testimony at
    trial more skeptically. The district court found that Stacey “was
    often not truthful or forthcoming in her testimony” and that she
    had made coparenting very difficult for Duke.
    - 915 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    The district court also considered evidence in the record that
    Stacey was not meeting C.J.’s needs as his parent. The district
    court noted that Stacey, a real estate broker, had earned an
    adjusted gross income of only $21,817 in 2018, while Duke,
    in retirement, had earned $52,141 in 2018. Further, Stacey’s
    home, which the district court noted is “owned by her parents
    and [for which she] pays only as much as she can afford for
    rent,” was “cluttered and dirty,” according to testimony. In con-
    trast, Duke owned a home and significant farmland.
    Additionally, the district court stated that “[i]n the Court’s
    opinion, [Stacey] is extremely overprotective and engage[d]
    in parental alienation to the extent that it may be harmful to
    [C.J.’s] general health, welfare, development and social well-
    being.” The district court specifically noted the deterioration
    of H.J.’s relationship with Duke as evidence that Stacey had
    already “successfully alienated” one son from Duke. As to
    H.J.’s allegations that Duke had been physically abusive, the
    district court concluded, based on its observations at trial, that
    Stacey “may have coached the children to say that [Duke] had
    hit them.” The district court refused Stacey’s testimony about
    her pre-2011 allegations of abuse against Duke, finding that
    they were irrelevant to C.J.’s circumstances since 2011.
    With these findings of fact, the district court concluded
    there had been a material change in circumstances since 2011
    to justify modification of the divorce decree. That is, had the
    district court in 2011 “known that [Stacey] would continue to
    engage in such behavior, [it] may have decided differently”
    about C.J.’s living situation. Thus, the district court held that
    it would be in C.J.’s best interests to be moved to Duke’s sole
    legal and physical custody. Stacey was granted parenting time
    on every other weekend and ordered to pay $305 per month to
    Duke in child support.
    Stacey filed a motion, pursuant to 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1144
    (Reissue 2016), for a new trial and reconsideration. She
    alleged that certain irregularities in the proceedings had pre-
    vented a fair trial and that the judgment was not sustained by
    sufficient evidence. On January 23, 2020, the district court
    - 916 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    overruled Stacey’s motion for a new trial, though it amended
    the previous order to designate C.J.’s in camera testimony
    as confidential.
    Stacey timely appealed, and we moved the case to our docket. 1
    III. ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
    Stacey assigns, consolidated and restated, that the district
    court erred in (1) modifying the divorce decree to grant Duke
    sole legal and physical custody over C.J.; (2) excluding, as
    irrelevant, Stacey’s testimony about her past abuse allegations
    against Duke; and (3) overruling her motion for a new trial
    or reconsideration.
    IV. STANDARD OF REVIEW
    [1] Child custody determinations are matters initially
    entrusted to the discretion of the trial court. 2 Although reviewed
    de novo on the record, the trial court’s determination will gen-
    erally be affirmed absent an abuse of discretion. 3
    [2,3] In proceedings where the Nebraska rules of evidence 4
    apply, they control the admissibility of evidence, and judicial
    discretion is allowed only insofar as the rules make it a factor. 5
    Judicial discretion is allowed to determine the relevancy of evi-
    dence, and such determination will not be disturbed on appeal
    unless it constitutes an abuse of discretion. 6
    [4] An appellate court reviews a trial court’s ruling on
    a motion for a new trial or reconsideration for an abuse
    of discretion. 7
    1
    See 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 24-1106
    (3) (Cum. Supp. 2018).
    2
    See State on behalf of Tina K. v. Adam B., ante p. 1, 
    948 N.W.2d 182
    (2020).
    3
    See 
    id.
    4
    See 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 27-101
     et seq. (Cum. Supp. 2016 & Supp. 2019).
    5
    See Tilson v. Tilson, ante p. 275, 
    948 N.W.2d 768
     (2020).
    6
    See 
    id.
    7
    See Jacobs Engr. Group v. ConAgra Foods, 
    301 Neb. 38
    , 
    917 N.W.2d 435
    (2018).
    - 917 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    [5] An abuse of discretion occurs when a trial court’s deci-
    sion or reasoning is clearly untenable, unfairly depriving a
    litigant of a substantial right and denying just results in matters
    submitted for disposition. 8
    V. ANALYSIS
    1. Modification of Child Custody
    The main issue presented on appeal is whether the district
    court erred in modifying the 2011 divorce decree when it
    transferred sole legal and physical custody over C.J. to Duke,
    subject to Stacey’s parenting time. Stacey contends that this
    modification was an abuse of discretion.
    [6,7] Custody of a minor child will not ordinarily be modi-
    fied absent a material change in circumstances, which shows
    either that the custodial parent is unfit or that the best interests
    of the child require such action. 9 It is the burden of the party
    seeking modification to show a material change in circum-
    stances. 10 Specifically, the movant must show two elements:
    First, that since entry of the most recent custody order, there
    has been a material change in circumstances that affects the
    child’s best interests, and second, that it would be in the child’s
    best interests to change custody. 11
    Here, because it was Duke who sought to modify the district
    court’s 2011 custody order, he had the burden of proving both
    elements to justify modification.
    (a) Material Change in Circumstances
    [8-10] We have defined a material change in circum-
    stances as the occurrence of something that, if it had been
    known at the time the most recent custody order was entered,
    8
    See   Dycus v. Dycus, ante p. 426, 
    949 N.W.2d 357
     (2020).
    9
    See   Tilson, supra note 5.
    10
    See   id.
    11
    See   id.
    - 918 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    would have persuaded that court to decree differently. 12
    Circumstances having occurred before the most recent custody
    order are relevant only insofar as they bear on whether the
    change in circumstances since the most recent custody order
    are material and substantial. 13 Before custody is modified, it
    should be apparent that any material change in circumstances
    alleged will be permanent or continuous, not merely transitory
    or temporary. 14
    The district court found that C.J.’s testimony that he pre-
    ferred to reside primarily with Duke was one factor that
    weighed in favor of a conclusion that there had been a material
    change in circumstances. C.J. was approximately 6 years old in
    2011, when custody was last modified. But in 2018, during in
    camera testimony, the district court found that C.J. had persua-
    sively stated his preference and reasoning for being moved to
    Duke’s sole legal and physical custody.
    Stacey contends that it was an abuse of discretion for the
    district court to rely so heavily on C.J.’s stated preference.
    Stacey warned at oral argument that if a child’s stated prefer-
    ence alone could establish a material change in circumstances,
    then children throughout the state would become capable at
    any time of asking for and being granted a change in custody.
    According to Stacey, under a recent Court of Appeals opinion,
    State on behalf of Slingsby v. Slingsby, 15 a child’s stated pref-
    erence can constitute a material change in circumstances only
    if it is coupled with evidence about an evolving relationship
    between the child and parent.
    We agree with Stacey that the Court of Appeals’ reasoning
    in Slingsby is instructive here, but we disagree that it sup-
    ports her position. In Slingsby, a father petitioned to modify
    12
    See Jones v. Jones, 
    305 Neb. 615
    , 
    941 N.W.2d 501
     (2020).
    13
    See Metcalf v. Metcalf, 
    278 Neb. 258
    , 
    769 N.W.2d 386
     (2009).
    14
    See Jones, 
    supra note 12
    .
    15
    State on behalf of Slingsby v. Slingsby, 
    25 Neb. App. 239
    , 
    903 N.W.2d 491
    (2017).
    - 919 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    a divorce decree in an effort to gain primary physical custody
    over his 15-year-old son. After the district court heard the son
    testify that he preferred to live with his father because of their
    shared interests in hunting, raising livestock, and being out-
    doors, the district court granted the father’s motion to modify
    custody. The Court of Appeals affirmed, reasoning that it was
    not an abuse of discretion for the district court to conclude that
    “[the son’s] stated preference to live with [his father] and his
    evolving relationship with [the father] constituted a material
    change in circumstances.” 16
    Among the factors in Slingsby that indicated an evolving
    relationship between the parent and child were that the son
    (1) was 10 years older than the last time a divorce decree
    was entered; (2) had developed interests in working outdoors
    and hunting, interests that he shared with his father; (3) felt
    “trapped” living at his mother’s house because he could not
    get outdoors much or practice his new interests; and (4) was
    struggling in school under his mother’s tutelage, but believed
    his grades would improve at the school near his father’s house
    because it offered an “‘ag class,’” smaller class sizes, and study
    halls. 17 The Court of Appeals found that individually, these
    factors each provided evidence of a material change in circum-
    stances, and collectively, they also helped to explain the son’s
    stated preference, entitling it to greater consideration. 18
    The Court of Appeals’ reasoning, as set forth in Slingsby,
    models how courts should consider children’s stated prefer-
    ences in custody disputes. We have never held, nor do we
    read Slingsby to hold, that a child’s stated preference, alone,
    will suffice to establish a material change in circumstances.
    Stacey’s fear that children could at any time be granted a
    change in custody simply by asking is unwarranted.
    16
    Id. at 254, 903 N.W.2d at 501.
    17
    See id.
    18
    See Slingsby, supra note 15.
    - 920 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    [11] To the contrary, we have specifically held that “the
    wishes of a child are not controlling” in determinations of child
    custody. 19 Trial courts should consider a variety of factors that
    bear on the best interests of the child. 20 Due consideration of
    these factors will determine whether finding a material change
    in circumstances is justified. 21
    [12-14] But “if a child is of sufficient age and has expressed
    an intelligent preference, the child’s preference is entitled to
    consideration,” alongside other factors. 22 The amount of con-
    sideration will depend on the child’s age and ability to give
    reasons for his or her preference. 23 For example, in cases
    where we have given the child’s stated preference significant
    consideration, the child was typically over 10 years old. 24 And,
    as Slingsby demonstrates, more consideration will be afforded
    where additional factors that bear on the child’s best interests
    undergird the child’s stated preference and reasoning. 25 Where
    a trial court’s order demonstrates that the child’s age and rea-
    soning have been duly considered alongside the child’s stated
    preference, we will generally defer to the trial court’s credibil-
    ity determinations in our assessment of facts. 26
    Here, we find no basis for Stacey’s assertion that the dis-
    trict court gave undue consideration to C.J.’s stated prefer-
    ence. After hearing C.J. testify in camera and respond to
    questions about his stated preference, the district court made
    19
    Leners v. Leners, 
    302 Neb. 904
    , 912, 
    925 N.W.2d 704
    , 711 (2019),
    disapproved on other grounds, State on behalf of Kaaden S. v. Jeffery T.,
    
    303 Neb. 933
    , 
    932 N.W.2d 692
     (2019).
    20
    See Jones, 
    supra note 12
    .
    21
    See 
    id.
    22
    Leners, 
    supra note 19
    , 
    302 Neb. at 912
    , 925 N.W.2d at 711.
    23
    See id.
    24
    Vogel v. Vogel, 
    262 Neb. 1030
    , 
    637 N.W.2d 611
     (2002).
    25
    See Slingsby, supra note 15.
    26
    See Tilson, supra note 5.
    - 921 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    specific findings about how much consideration to give C.J.’s
    stated preference. According to the district court, C.J. was
    a mature 14-year-old child who demonstrated a capacity for
    critical reasoning.
    Additionally, many of the same factors that indicated an
    evolving relationship and supported the son’s reasoning in
    Slingsby were also present here. The district court specifi-
    cally noted that since 2011, C.J. had grown 7 years older and
    become significantly more mature; he had developed interests
    in hunting, fishing, and working outdoors on tractors and lawn-
    mowers, all interests that he now shared with Duke but not
    with Stacey; he had spent time at Duke’s farm and realized a
    healthy father-son relationship with him; he had earned money
    for various jobs that he had performed on visits to Duke’s farm;
    he had decided to become a farmer himself in the future and
    wished to learn to farm from Duke, who was retired and had
    time to teach C.J. about farming; and he had begun to show
    independence by helping to manage Duke’s farmland.
    Further, the district court found that Stacey’s behavior had
    worsened over the past 7 years, raising questions about her
    ability to meet C.J.’s needs and to effectively coparent with
    Duke. Given all of these factors, the district court found that
    if the court in 2011 had “known that [Stacey] would continue
    to engage in such behavior, [it] may have decided differently”
    about C.J.’s living situation.
    Thus, contrary to Stacey’s assertion, there were many fac-
    tors that the district court considered and found demonstrated
    a material change in circumstances in addition to C.J.’s stated
    preference. We do not find that the district court abused its
    discretion in its consideration of these factors and its determi-
    nation that there had been a material change in circumstances
    that affected C.J.’s best interests.
    (b) Best Interests of Child
    Next, we consider the second element in a review of a
    child custody modification: whether the modified custody
    - 922 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    arrangement was in C.J.’s best interests. Stacey argues that
    even if the district court did not err in finding a material
    change in circumstances, it abused its discretion in determining
    that a move of C.J.’s sole legal and physical custody to Duke
    was in C.J.’s best interests.
    [15] Consideration of the child’s best interests involves a
    combination of both mandatory and permissive factors. 
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-2923
    (6) (Reissue 2016) requires that certain
    factors must be considered, including (1) the relationship of the
    child to each parent prior to the commencement of the action;
    (2) the desires and wishes of a sufficiently mature child, if
    based on sound reasoning; (3) the general health, welfare, and
    social behavior of the child; (4) credible evidence of abuse
    inflicted on any family or household member; and (5) credible
    evidence of child abuse or neglect or domestic intimate part-
    ner abuse. 27
    [16] Other relevant considerations that may also be con-
    sidered include the stability of the child’s existing routine,
    minimization of contact and conflict between the parents, and
    the general nature and health of the child. 28 No one factor is
    dispositive, and various factors may weigh more or less heav-
    ily, depending on the case. 29
    In support of her argument that the district court abused its
    discretion in finding that C.J.’s interests would be best served
    by the modified decree, Stacey again cites to Slingsby. 30 To
    distinguish this case, Stacey contends that the district court’s
    “lack of analysis and reasoning in this case pales in com-
    parison to the trial court’s thorough analysis in Slingsby.” 31
    We disagree.
    27
    Jones, supra note 12.
    28
    See id.
    29
    See id.
    30
    See Slingsby, supra note 15.
    31
    Brief for appellant at 16.
    - 923 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    Contrary to Stacey’s assertions, the district court thor-
    oughly analyzed how a change in custody would be in C.J.’s
    best interests. The district court gave particular weight to the
    shared interests between C.J. and Duke in farming. It found
    that C.J. wished to become a farmer and determined that Duke,
    who was retired but owned farmland, could teach C.J. to farm
    if they lived together. Based on Duke’s testimony, the district
    court deemed him “an honest and sincere man who wants the
    best for [C.J.] and is a good role model for his son.”
    The district court also found that Duke and C.J. had worked
    well together and enjoyed each other’s company during Duke’s
    parenting time over the years. Thus, the district court found
    that C.J.’s stated preference to live with Duke made sense and
    provided strong evidence that a change in custody would be in
    C.J.’s best interests.
    Moreover, the district court found that living with Duke
    would be in C.J.’s best interests because Stacey had demon-
    strated that she was “extremely overprotective” and tended to
    alienate her sons from Duke in a way that was damaging to
    C.J.’s “general health, welfare, development and social well-
    being.” According to the district court:
    In comparing [Stacey’s and Duke’s] character, their atti-
    tude and stability, their capacity to provide the physi-
    cal care and satisfy the educational needs of [C.J.], and
    considering the general health, welfare, development and
    social behavior of [C.J.], the Court finds that it would be
    in [C.J.’s] best interest for him to reside with [Duke].
    Based on the district court’s due consideration of these fac-
    tors, which meet the statutory criteria, we do not find that it
    was an abuse of discretion for the district court to find that a
    modification of custody was in C.J.’s best interests.
    We hold that Duke met his burden for a modification of the
    2011 divorce decree. Thus, the district court did not abuse its
    discretion in modifying the divorce decree in 2018 to move
    C.J.’s sole legal and physical custody to Duke. Stacey’s first
    assignment of error is without merit.
    - 924 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    2. Exclusion of Testimony
    Stacey assigns, second, that the district court failed to con-
    sider relevant evidence that Duke had physically abused both
    H.J. and C.J. in the past.
    During direct examination at trial, Stacey’s counsel asked
    Stacey whether she had made any allegations in the past
    against Duke regarding physical abuse. Duke objected before
    Stacey could answer, and the district court sustained Duke’s
    objection. According to the district court, Stacey’s answer
    to the question was irrelevant to the present case because it
    would pertain only to allegations of physical abuse made prior
    to 2011, and hence before the most recent decree was entered.
    Stacey contends that it was reversible error for the district
    court to sustain Duke’s objection and exclude her testimony
    as irrelevant.
    [17,18] The admission or exclusion of evidence is not revers-
    ible error unless it unfairly prejudiced a substantial right of the
    complaining party. 32 Erroneous exclusion of evidence does not
    require reversal if the evidence would have been cumulative
    and other relevant evidence, properly admitted, supports the
    trial court’s finding. 33
    As analyzed above, the district court found ample evidence
    that the modified order would be in the best interests of C.J.
    Even if the district court had considered Stacey’s testimony
    about her pre-2011 abuse allegations against Duke, such evi-
    dence would not have undermined the evidence in the record.
    When the Court of Appeals in 2012 reviewed Stacey’s chal-
    lenge to the 2011 divorce decree in case No. A-11-330, it
    observed in an unpublished memorandum opinion that “[t]he
    record is replete with evidence regarding Stacey’s concerns
    about the children while in Duke’s care. However, the instances
    of alleged abuse have all been unfounded.”
    32
    AVG Partners I v. Genesis Health Clubs, ante p. 47, 
    948 N.W.2d 212
    (2020).
    33
    See 
    id.
    - 925 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    The record before the district court contained ample evidence
    of these pre-2011 allegations. The earlier Court of Appeals
    opinion was in the record and cited by the district court. Stacey
    does not assert that any of her testimony would have raised
    allegations not already expressed in the record.
    Thus, even if it was error for the district court to exclude
    Stacey’s testimony about past abuse allegations, it was not
    reversible error because Stacey’s testimony would have been
    cumulative. We hold that the district court did not abuse its
    discretion in excluding Stacey’s testimony. Stacey’s second
    assignment of error is without merit.
    3. Motion for New Trial
    or Reconsideration
    Stacey assigns, third, that the district court abused its discre-
    tion in not fully granting her motion for a new trial or recon-
    sideration. The district court granted Stacey’s motion in part
    when it designated as confidential its summaries and quota-
    tions from C.J.’s testimony. However, Stacey assigns that this
    remedy was too little and that an entirely new trial should have
    been ordered.
    
    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-1142
     (Reissue 2016) sets forth eight
    grounds on which a motion for new trial may be sustained. 34
    Stacey cites to the first and sixth among these, which require
    that a new trial be granted if
    (1) [i]rregularity in the proceedings of the court, jury,
    referee, or prevailing party or any order of the court or
    referee or abuse of discretion by which the party was
    prevented from having a fair trial [or] (6) that the verdict,
    report, or decision is not sustained by sufficient evidence
    or is contrary to law. 35
    Neither of these bases for a new trial are availing here. As
    analyzed above, the district court’s decision was not contrary
    34
    See Cinatl v. Prososki, ante p. 477, 
    949 N.W.2d 505
     (2020).
    35
    § 25-1142.
    - 926 -
    Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets
    307 Nebraska Reports
    JAEGER v. JAEGER
    Cite as 
    307 Neb. 910
    to law. Instead, it was amply supported by evidence in the
    record. And aside from conclusory statements in her brief,
    Stacey offers no evidence that she was in fact deprived of a
    fair trial.
    We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in
    denying Stacey’s motion for new trial. Stacey’s third assign-
    ment of error is without merit.
    VI. CONCLUSION
    We do not find that it was an abuse of discretion for the dis-
    trict court to move C.J. to Duke’s sole legal and physical cus-
    tody. Nor do we find that the district court abused its discretion
    in excluding Stacey’s testimony about past abuse allegations
    and overruling Stacey’s motion for a new trial. Accordingly,
    we affirm the decision of the district court.
    Affirmed.
    Cassel, J., not participating.