Sole Custody to Mother Appropriate Because Voluntary Joint Custody No Longer Working
In affirming the grant of sole custody to the mother (in the face of a voluntary agreement of joint custody) because the parties’ relationship had deteriorated, the Third Department wrote:
Initially, “[w]here a voluntary agreement of joint custody is entered into, it will not be set aside unless there is a sufficient change in circumstances since the time of the stipulation and unless the modification of the custody agreement is in the best interests of the [child]…, and “an order entered on consent, without a plenary hearing, is entitled to less weight” ….”[A] sufficient change [in] circumstances can be established where . . . the relationship between joint custodial parents deteriorates ‘to the point where they simply cannot work together in a cooperative fashion for the good of their children'” … . Matter of Youngs v Olsen, 514669, 3rd Dept, 5-2-13