Overruling the Overwhelming-Necessity Standard for Modifications of Child Custody in Alabama: Ex Parte Cleghorn‪.‬

I. INTRODUCTION In Alabama, a party seeking modification of a child custody arrangement must meet the McLendon standard, which requires the party seeking modification to demonstrate that a change in custody would so materially promote the welfare of the children as to outweigh the "inherently disruptive effect caused by uprooting the child." (1) Subsequent cases interpreted the McLendon standard as requiring the party seeking child custody modification to also demonstrate that "an overwhelming necessity for change" in child custody existed. (2) However, in Ex parte Cleghorn, the Alabama Supreme Court held that the McLendon standard did not require a showing of overwhelming necessity, overruling previous decisions in Ex parte Martin and Ex parte Peppers. (3) In Cleghorn, the Alabama Supreme Court reasoned that an overwhelming-necessity standard produced an impossible burden on a party seeking modification of a custody order and promoted "stability above the best interest of the child." (4)