The Second Department determined Supreme Court properly dismissed without a hearing a non-parent’s petition seeking custody of a child. Although the child resided with the petitioner for a significant period of time, there was evidence the arrangement was temporary to allow father, who was working full-time, to attend law school at night:
The Court of Appeals has created a “two-prong inquiry for determining whether a nonparent may obtain custody as against a parent” … . “First, the nonparent must prove the existence of extraordinary circumstances such as surrender, abandonment, persisting neglect, unfitness, and unfortunate or involuntary disruption of custody over an extended period of time” … . “If extraordinary circumstances are established such that the nonparent has standing to seek custody, the court must make an award of custody based on the best interest of the child” … .
“A hearing to determine the issue of standing is not necessary where there are no triable issues of fact raised in the papers submitted”… .
… [T]he period of time when the child resided primarily with the petitioner and not the father largely coincided with the period of time when the father was working full time and attending law school at night. During that period of time, the father contributed financially to the child’s support. The petitioner and the father completed certain forms designating the petitioner as the child’s caregiver for stated purposes, yet these forms were for a limited duration, and some of the forms contained notations to the effect that the father was not giving up his custodial rights. Matter of Schmitt v Troche, 2017 NY Slip Op 07732, Second Dept 11-8-17
FAMILY LAW (ALTHOUGH CHILD RESIDED WITH NON-PARENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, THE ARRANGEMENT WAS TEMPORARY TO ALLOW FATHER TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL, NON-PARENT’S PETITION FOR CUSTODY PROPERLY DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/CUSTODY (FAMILY LAW, NON-PARENT, ALTHOUGH CHILD RESIDED WITH NON-PARENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, THE ARRANGEMENT WAS TEMPORARY TO ALLOW FATHER TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL, NON-PARENT’S PETITION FOR CUSTODY PROPERLY DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/STANDING (FAMILY LAW, NON-PARENT, ALTHOUGH CHILD RESIDED WITH NON-PARENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, THE ARRANGEMENT WAS TEMPORARY TO ALLOW FATHER TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL, NON-PARENT’S PETITION FOR CUSTODY PROPERLY DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (SECOND DEPT))/NON-PARENT (FAMILY LAW, CUSTODY, STANDING, ALTHOUGH CHILD RESIDED WITH NON-PARENT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, THE ARRANGEMENT WAS TEMPORARY TO ALLOW FATHER TO ATTEND LAW SCHOOL, NON-PARENT’S PETITION FOR CUSTODY PROPERLY DISMISSED WITHOUT A HEARING (SECOND DEPT))