New York Court of Appeals, 1983

Merritt v. Way

Merritt v. Way
New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 8, 1983
58 N.Y.2d 850; 446 N.E.2d 776; 460 N.Y.S.2d 20; 1983 N.Y. LEXIS 2845
Merritt v. Way

Cases that cite this one

23 later published cases cite this decision.

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

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs. In a custody contest between parent and non-*853parent, the question of best interests is not reached absent a showing of surrender, abandonment, unfitness, persistent neglect or other extraordinary circumstance (Matter of Bennett v Jeffreys, 40 NY2d 543). The Family Court found that petitioner’s evidence did not establish extraordinary circumstances. That finding having been affirmed by the Appellate Division is beyond our power of review (Laufer v Ostrow, 55 NY2d 305).

Chief Judge Cooke and Judges Jasen, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg, Meyer and Simons concur.

Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.

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