Matter of Wood v. Rago
Cases that cite this one
10 later published cases cite this decision.
- Matter of Alvarado v. Cordova (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
- Matter of Renee P.-F. v. Frank G. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
- Matter of Williams v. Bryson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
- Matter of McDonald v. Thomas (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2017)
- Matter of Dante v. Dante (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2019)
- Matter of Portillo v. Maraj (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2018)
- Matter of Yu Chao Tan v. Hong Shan Kuang (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
- Matter of Ventura v. Huggins (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
- Matter of Hall v. Clas (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
- Matter of Gadsden v. Gadsden (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2016)
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
Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Suffolk County (Colleen M. Fondulis, Ct. Atty. Ref.), dated October 14, 2014. The order, insofar as appealed from, after a hearing, awarded the mother sole custody of the parties’ child and granted her leave to relocate to Florida with the child.
Ordered that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.
The parties have one child together. The father filed a petition pursuant to Family Court Act article 6 seeking joint *950 custody of the child and an order prohibiting the mother from relocating to Florida with the child. The mother filed a cross petition for sole custody of the child and for leave to relocate to Florida with the child. After a hearing, the Family Court, inter alia, awarded the mother sole custody of the parties’ child and granted her leave to relocate to Florida with the child. The father appeals.
In determining issues of custody and visitation, the most important factor to be considered is the best interests of the child (see Eschbach v Eschbach, 56 NY2d 167, 171 [1982]). In reviewing the Family Court’s determination, we accord considerable deference to the court’s assessment of the witnesses’ demeanor and credibility (see Matter of Wright v Stewart, 131 AD3d 1256 [2015]).
In the context of an initial custody determination, “the strict application of the factors applicable to relocation petitions (see Matter of Tropea v Tropea, 87 NY2d 727 [1996]) is not required” (Matter of Santano v Cezair, 106 AD3d 1097, 1098 [2013]). The mother’s proposed relocation to Florida, therefore, “was but one factor for the hearing court to consider in determining what is in the child’s best interest” (id. at 1098; see Matter of Sims v Boykin, 130 AD3d 835, 836 [2015]).
Here, the Family Court’s determination had a sound and substantial basis in the record. Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Cohen and Maltese, JJ., concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.