Woman must choose between husband, kids

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 10:49 a.m.

The options are dwindling for a Las Vegas woman who wants to take her three children from her first marriage and move with her airman husband to Japan.

Family Court Judge Gary Redmon on Tuesday again refused to grant permission for Sheri Hayes to make the move, guaranteeing that her family will be split apart in one fashion or another.

That is, unless her attorney, Anita Webster, manages to win a quick hearing from the Nevada Supreme Court and have Redmon's decision overturned.

"It was very unfair," Hayes said of the judge's decision. "Nothing is making sense to me. Should divorced mothers not marry military men?"

Her choices are to stay in Las Vegas with her three children by ex-husband Hal Gallacher when her new husband reports to Japan in February for at least a three-year stint, or give custody to her ex-spouse.

"This case is about Hal, too," attorney Rebecca Burton argued to the judge. "He wants to be a regular part of his children's lives."

To complicate matters, Hayes is eight months pregnant.

That means that if her choice is to stay in Las Vegas and maintain primary custody of the older children, her new husband, Staff Sgt. Shane Hayes, would have only sporadic contact with his baby.

"We just need to know if this baby is going to get to know his daddy," Hayes said in frustration.

Gallacher said that although he "blesses" their marriage, he said he hopes his ex-wife will stay in Las Vegas because "the children need both a mother and a father."

He said he can't be a parent to his children, ranging in age from 5 to 12, if they live halfway around the world.

In again refusing Hayes' request to move, Redmon decided that she went into her new marriage to a military man with her eyes open, knowing the children's father lives in Las Vegas but her new spouse could be transferred at the whim of the government.

Redmon earlier had decided that Hayes can't take the children out of the country, but was asked by Webster to reconsider his decision.

Tuesday's ruling, Redmon said, is in the best interest of the children.

In addition to ruling against Hayes, the judge also ordered her to pay $500 to Gallacher for his legal fees to fight the current motion.

Hayes, 31, commented that Redmon's decision, if it is upheld by the high court, would have far-reaching consequences for every military family that divorces in Nevada, or any divorcee with children who marries into the military.

Webster noted that every prior ruling by the Supreme Court has upheld a custodial parent's right to move out of Nevada, even if there are only minimal reasons to do so.

She complained that Gallacher's attempt to keep Hayes in Nevada is because he is "bitter and hasn't moved on with his life" since the September 1996 divorce.

Webster called his fight "a vendetta."

But Gallacher said it is about being able to be a regular part of his children's life. He said having the children for the entire summer, as Hayes had offered, wouldn't do the job.

Gallacher, a 34-year-old truck driver and salesman for Anderson Dairy, is not trying to win custody of the children, although a change of custody would result if Hayes decides to move to Japan with her husband.

Hayes, however, has indicated that she won't sacrifice her children and move to Japan. She pointed out that since one of the children attends a year-round school, she couldn't even have the summer vacations with them that she is offering Gallacher.

The wild-card in the case is the Air Force.

Shane Hayes, 31, said there are a "few options" that could cancel or change his assignment because of the legal dilemma.

One option he said he won't consider exercising is to quit the military.

"I love the military, I was raised in it," he said, noting that his current hitch won't end until 2001.