MOTHER AWARDED PRIMARY PHYSICAL CUSTODY AND FINAL DECISION-MARKING AUTHORITY
After the New York County Supreme Court awarded the mother “primary physical custody of subject child and final decision-making authority with respect to all major decisions for the child,” and the dad's request to have US travel barriers removed was denied, the latter appealed.
On its review, the Appellate Division, First Department, noted that the underlying determination had a “sound and substantial basis in the record,” and that the outcome was in the “best interests of the child.”
Apparently, the dad had voluntarily relocated to Bulgaria, and his distance from New York made the original terms of the parties’ parenting agreement “no longer feasible.” Given the remoteness of his physical location, the AD1 also agreed that it was no longer beneficial to the child for the father have “primary decision-making authority on certain major issues.”
As for the purported travel restrictions, the AD1 agreed that it was up to the State Department (not the courts) to remove any restrictions on his passport, so that the father could return to the United States.
Apparently, his arguments didn’t travel well, either.
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DECISION