Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2012

Supangkat v. Torres

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York · Decided December 12, 2012

101 A.D.3d 889; 954 N.Y.2d 915

Cases that cite this one

73 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Matter of Brown v. Simon (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
Matter of Moses v. Williams (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
Matter of Ivory B. v. Shameccka D. B. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
Howard E.I. v. Sandra I. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Howard E.I. v. Sandra I. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2013)
Matter of Gleason v. Ireland (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2025)
Matter of Lawrence v. Mattry (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2020)
Matter of Khan v. Potdar (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2020)
Pandis v. Lapas (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2019)
Matter of McPherson v. McPherson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
Matter of Psaros v. Mitchell-Ortega (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Matter of Hercsky v. Evans (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2026)
Matter of Acevedo v. Cassidy (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2025)
Joseph P. A. v. Martha A. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2025)
Matter of Wright v. Burke (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2024)
Matter of Miller v. Perez (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2024)
Matter of Davis v. Lake (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2023)
Matter of Cortes v. Bryant (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2023)
Matter of Trejo v. Pavon (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2022)
Lavery v. O'Sullivan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2022)
Matter of Devine v. Dominguez (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2022)
Matter of Shields v. Shields (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
Matter of Chaloeicheep v. Hanrahan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
Matter of Olea v. Diaz (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
Matter of Rennie v. Cooks (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

A court deciding an initial petition for child custody must *890determine what is in the child’s best interests (see Matter of Swinson v Brewington, 84 AD3d 1251, 1253 [2011]; Matter of Anson v Anson, 20 AD3d 603, 604 [2005]), considering the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, (1) which alternative will best promote stability; (2) the available home environments; (3) the past performance of each parent; (4) each parent’s relative fitness, including his or her ability to guide the child, provide for the child’s overall well being, and foster the child’s relationship with the noncustodial parent; and (5) the child’s desires (see Matter of Swinson v Brewington, 84 AD3d at 1253; Matter of Anson v Anson, 20 AD3d at 604). Moreover, if domestic violence is proved, the court must consider its effects on the child (see Domestic Relations Law § 240 [1]; Matter of Andrews v Mouzon, 80 AD3d 761, 762 [2011]; Matter of Julie v Wills, 73 AD3d 777, 777 [2010]). Inasmuch as a court’s custody determination is dependent in large part upon its assessment of the witnesses’ credibility and upon the character, temperament, and sincerity of the parents, the court’s exercise of its discretion will not be disturbed if supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record (see Matter of Reyes v Polanco, 83 AD3d 849, 850 [2011]; Matter of Daniel R. [Lucille R.], 70 AD3d 839, 842 [2010]).

In this case, the Family Court’s award of custody to the father lacked a sound and substantial basis in the record. In particular, the court gave inexplicably little weight to its own findings regarding the father’s domestic violence against the mother and his startling lack of judgment on several occasions with respect to the parties’ child (see Matter of Rodriguez v Guerra, 28 AD3d 775, 777 [2006]). Additionally, it gave undue weight to the mother’s temporary housing situation. Under the circumstances presented here, the court should have denied the father’s petition for sole custody of the child, and granted the mother’s petition for sole custody of the child. The matter must be remitted to the Family Court, Queens County, however, for the court to determine a visitation schedule for the father. Rivera, J.P., Balkin, Leventhal and Hinds-Radix, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.