Won Affirmance And Dismissal Of Guardianship Petition Filed By Maternal Grandmother Against The Mother.

Matter of Linda S.M. v Demetrius W., 160 AD3d 860 (2nd Dept 2018)

In this guardianship petition filed by the maternal grandmother against the mother who I represented both in Family Court and on appeal, the Second Department accepted my argument that the Family Court properly granted, without a hearing, the mother’s motion to dismiss the grandmother’s guardianship petition based on the grandmother’s lack of standing. The Court accepted my argument the mother had not surrendered or abandoned the children, as she consistently visited them and planned for their return while they were in foster care. Although the grandmother cared for the two youngest children for a few months in 2013 when the mother moved and was seeking new employment, the mother remained in contact with the grandmother and the children  The Court further accepted my argument that the mother’s compliance with ACS’s service plan and completion of the terms of the ACD demonstrated that she had addressed the alleged lapses in parental judgment and that those prior shortcomings do not rise to the level of unfitness or persistent neglect.

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2018/2018_02623.htm