Won Affirmance Of Order Dismissing Grandfather’s Petition For Visitation After Trial.

Matter of Marchant v Marchant, 185 AD3d 1035 (2nd Dept 2020)

In this grandparent visitation matter where I also represented the mother in Family Court, the Appellate Division agreed with my arguments that Family Court correctly determined that the maternal grandfather did not demonstrate equitable circumstances sufficient to confer standing to seek visitation with the two younger children as the grandfather’s own testimony at the hearing demonstrated that he had almost no contact or communication with them for several years before the hearing and he acknowledged that he no longer had a relationship with them.  The Second Department also accepted my argument, as did Family Court below that visitation would not be in the children’s best interests.  “Indeed, it is strongly presumed that a fit parent’s decisions are in the child’s best interests.  …. Here, the record established that the mother’s objections to visitation were well founded.

http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2020/2020_04310.htm