New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

One parent’s post divorce desire to relocate with children creates a practical and legal dilemma; if the non custodial parent has a close relationship with the children, and the children are permitted to relocate, their relationship will certainly suffer.     The reasons for the move, which are generally described as benefiting the custodial parent and the children, must be carefully weighed against the negative effect the move will have on the non-custodial parent’s relationship with the children.  One judge came up with a clever solution- video or tele-conference visitation.  In Baker v. Baker, the Judge permitted a mother, who... More

New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, granted a non-adoptive or biological parent visitation with her former same sex partners’ child. In a very narrow ruling, the Court in the case Debra H. v. Janice R., held that only biological or adoptive parents can seek visitation or custody of children. The parties, Debra H. and Janice R., entered into a Vermont civil union in 2003. A month later, Janice R., who was artificially inseminated, gave birth to M.R. Janice denied Debra’s requests to adopt M.R. and their relationship soured. When Janice refused Debra’s efforts to have visitation with M.R.,... More

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers issued a recommendation that people going through or contemplating divorce stay off Facebook and other social networking sites. As reported in the Arizona Divorce and Family Blog: "Going through a divorce always results in heightened levels of personal scrutiny. If you publicly post any contradictions to previously made statements and promises, an estranged spouse will certainly be one of the first people to notice and make use of that evidence," said Marlene Eskind Moses, president of the AAML. "As everyone continues to share more and more aspects of their lives on social networking sites,... More

In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, Newsweek offers guidance to divorced parents on how to make the holidays better for their children. Admittedly, the holidays are the most difficult and painful times for families broken apart by divorce. Both parents want to maximize their time with their children. Even the best intentioned parent may be tempted to play the game of one-upmanship by giving bigger and more expensive gifts to the children in an attempt to buy their love. All of this leads to increased stress and conflict at a time that should be joyous. But, there are things... More

I am back to blogging after a short break during my summer vacation. While I was away, the Appellate Division in the case Karr v. Black, denied a grandparent visitation with her grandchild. The Court upheld a lower court’s finding that an intact family’s’ refusal to permit a mentally ill grandmother to have visitation with their child was sound; because the grandmother had no relationship with the child, there was no need for further inquiry to determine whether visitation would be in the best interest of the child. In deciding this case, the court engaged in an extensive discussion of... More

I am a firm believer that children should be able to enjoy a relationship with both parents. But, every once in awhile there is a case that leads me to believe that some children should never be allowed to be near their parents in an unsupervised setting. This story, which appeared in the New York Times about an ex Minnesota Viking Darrion Scott is one such case. The former Vikings defensive lineman Darrion Scott was charged with assault and accused of holding a plastic dry-cleaning bag over the head of his 2-year-old son. Scott, 26, was charged with third-degree assault... More

Imagine a mother seeking to prevent children of the marriage from having visitation with their father in his home simply because he has a cat, particularly when there was no claim that the cat was vicious or endangered the children. In Mandel v. Mandel, decided by a Nassau County court last week, a mother claimed that the children’s exposure to the cat in their father’s home posed a serious health risk to her and, as result, sought to limit the father’s visitation. In the case, the mother claimed that she had to be hospitalized because she had severe allergic... More

After I posted 10 Tips to Help Children of Divorce Deal with the Holidays, I was interviewed by Lawyers USA about the issues that crop up around the holidays about holiday visitation. The article, written by Jason Rebello, can be viewed here, but a subscription is required.  Lawyers USA graciously granted me a reprint permission.   With the holiday season fast approaching, family lawyers may find an unexpected complication in their clients' post-divorce lives. Attorneys say that in many cases, both the husband and wife are in such a rush to finalize the separation that they may overlook how they... More

Divorce, visitation and holidays-three things, that when combined, raise divorced parents’ blood pressure and put a lot of stress on their children. There are some things you can do to  make the holidays a little more bearable. The Divorce Law Journal highlights ten tips to help children enjoy the holidays: Give your children permission to love the other parent. Help your child make a card for Dad or buy a gift for Mom. Encourage them to call the other parent. Set realistic expectations. To divide or share a holiday, each parent will have only half as much time with the... More

The New York Law Journal (subscription required) reported that the parents of a victim of 9/11 were denied visitation with their grandchildren. I posted a couple of times in the recent past on the issue of grandparent visitation. According to the article in the Law Journal, after the death of the father, relations between the grandparents and the mother became strained and the mother limited the children’s visits with their grandparents. The Domestic Relations Law has provision for grandparents to seek visitation with grandchildren following the death of a parent. Visitation will be granted if it is found to be... More

I have returned from my vacation, schools back in session and summer is, for all accounts over. So, I am back to bloggging on a regular basis. One of the most common post-divorce scenarios is that the custodial parent wishes to relocate and the move will negatively impact on the other parent’s relationship with the child. The Nassau County Family Court in the case Mr. G. v. Mrs. M (New York Law Journal, 8/28/07 (subscription required) provided a excellent primer on the subject and in doing so, denied a mother’s application to move with her child to Virginia. As laid... More

The Appellate Division granted a grandmother visitation with her grandchildren in the case In the Matter of Carol Steinhauser. Of significance, the Court noted that  that mere animosity between the children’s father and his mother-in law was not a sufficient basis for denying visitation. In the brief opinion, the Court, after detailing the two pronged-inquiry for considering a grandparent’s petition for visitation,concluded that visitation would be in the best interests of the children. "When grandparents seek visitation under [Domestic Relations Law] section 72(1), the court must undertake a two-part inquiry. First, [the court] must find standing based on death or... More

After taking a short, but much needed vacation, I am back and ready to blog. The Family Law Prof Blog reports that "A widowed father lost his bid Monday to have the Supreme Court decide whether grandparents should have court-ordered visits with his son. The justices refused to get involved in the dispute between Shane Fausey, a federal-prison guard in Pennsylvania, and his dead wife's mother. Cheryl Hiller won rulings in Pennsylvania courts giving her regular visits with Fausey's son, Kaelen, over the father's objection. Grandparents do not have to prove that being kept away would be harmful to their... More

The Court of Appeals in Matter of E.S. v P.D., unanimously upheld a constitutional challenge to New York’s grandparent visitation law.     In upholding the New York Law which permits grandparents, under certain circumstances, to seek visitation with their grandchildren, the Court distinguished the New York law from the overly broad Washington law struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Troxel v Granville (530 US 57 [2000]). The statute invalidated in Troxel permitted "'[a]ny person' to petition for visitation rights 'at any time,' and authorize[d] that court to grant such visitation rights whenever 'visitation may serve the best... More

Continuing with a trend to penalize parents who interfere with visitation, the Appellate Division, Second Department in Adams v. Perryman, modified a joint custody agreement and granted a father sole custody of their children because the mother thwarted the father's efforts to have meaningful visitation. While the Court's decision does not detail exactly what the mother did, the decision evidences that there is a growing judicial intolerance of one parent interfering with the other parent's visitation rights.... More

A court ruled that it was “a no-brainer” to deny a mother’s visitation request to force her children to spend the summer with her in Florida since she abandoned her family and took up residence with a convicted felon. The Court said visitation would not be in the best interests of children. In LG v. JG, the mother sought to compel her children to travel to Florida to visit her in the home she shares with her boyfriend, a convicted felon. The court shared the father’s concern that the new boyfriend was “a general undesirable,” who should not be in contact... More

In two recently decided cases, custodial parents were penalized for interfering with visitation and attempting to alienate children from the non custodial parents. In one of the two cases, a mother lost custody of her child; in the other case, the mother was found in contempt and risked further consequences if the conduct continues. In Chase v, Chase,  a mother’s continued false accusations that the father was a pedophile, compelled the Appellate Division reverse a Family Court finding that granted custody to the mother.  The Appeals Court’s finding that the mother failed to produce the child for visitation, made repeated false... More

A biological mother, who relinquished her paternal rights to her infant child, was granted the right to have visitation with the child.   As part of the surrender, the mother expressly reserved her right to see the child four times a year and to exchange cards and letters with the child. The Suffolk County Family Court in the case of Mary M.O. v. Doe opined it was within the court’s purview to scrutinize whether it would be in the best interests of the child to allow the biological mother to have continued contact with the child.   The Court noted that the... More

This headline caught my eye:  Boy Tarzan's ma takes swing at dad in divorce.  "The teenage star of Broadway's "Tarzan" was hurt so much by a bitter feud between his parents it sent him into intense therapy sessions." "But the pain of talking about the vicious sparring was too much for 13-year-old Daniel Manche, who asked to drop out of the counseling - and to stop seeing his dad, his mother Dawn Manche testified yesterday. Daniel, who plays Tarzan as a young boy in the Disney musical, is at the center of a nasty custody battle being fought by his... More

Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer. But, from a family law attorney’s perspective, summer began a long time ago. Some time before they purchase the sun screen, parents need  to make arrangements to plan for their children’s school vacation, summer camp and extended vacations away from home. However when the parents divorce and get to spend only a part of the summer with their kids, things can heat up real fast. In order to facilitate a peaceful  summer, divorced parents will need to cooperate with each other. Unfortunately, as the temperature rises, so does the acrimony as the parents fight over... More