RELOCATION AND CUSTODY MODIFICATION ISSUES REQUIRED A HEARING FOCUSING ON THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the relocation/custody modification issues required a hearing focusing on the best interests of the child:
We agree with the father that the court erred in giving him a deadline to relocate within the 15-mile radius provided in the [Separation] Agreement without conducting a hearing, and that the court further erred in denying that part of the father’s cross motion seeking modification of the custody and visitation provisions of the Agreement, also without conducting a hearing. …
While ” [a] hearing is not automatically required whenever a parent seeks modification of a custody order’ ” … , here we conclude that the combined effect of the parties’ “relocation[s] was a change of circumstances warranting a reexamination of the existing custody arrangement” at an evidentiary hearing … . While the parties’ Agreement provided that the father must reside within a 15-mile radius of the mother’s residence upon her relocation, the overriding consideration in determining whether to enforce such a provision is the child’s best interests … .. It is impossible to determine on this record the effect on the child of enforcing or modifying the Agreement, and we conclude that the parties should be afforded an opportunity to present evidence concerning the child’s best interests. Shaw v Shaw, 2017 NY Slip Op 08138, Fourth Dept 11-17-17
FAMILY LAW (RELOCATION AND CUSTODY MODIFICATION ISSUES REQUIRED A HEARING FOCUSING ON THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD (FOURTH DEPT))/CUSTODY (FAMILY LAW, RELOCATION AND CUSTODY MODIFICATION ISSUES REQUIRED A HEARING FOCUSING ON THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD (FOURTH DEPT))