FAMILY COURT VISITATION PETITIONS SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN DISMISSED
Back in 2021, a paternal grandmother was awarded visitation of her grandchildren on a specific schedule for the period June 13, 2021, through May 1, 2022, with the order providing that the parties were to return to mediation if they were unable to agree on a schedule thereafter.
But around December 2021, the elder filed a petition with the Orange County Family Court noting that the mother had interfered with the visitation scheduling by cancelling meetings with the kids. The grandmother also filed a separate petition seeking additional visitation.
After those petitions were dismissed, the grandmother appealed to the Appellate Division, Second Department, which thought it was an error for the Family Court to have summarily denied the applications and reinstated them. It noted, “The issues of whether the mother violated the order of visitation and whether any such violation warranted a modification of that order should have been resolved at a hearing.”
Do you think the mother heard that?
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DECISION