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A HABEAS CORPUS PETITION WAS AN AVAILABLE METHOD FOR MOTHER TO SEEK CUSTODY DURING FAMILY COURT’S COVID MORATORIUM ON NONESSENTIAL MATTERS; THE PETITION PROVIDED FAMILY COURT WITH JURISDICTION WHICH WAS SUBSEQUENTLY LOST BECAUSE THE CHILDREN WERE TAKEN OUT OF STATE; FAMILY COURT SHOULD HAVE CONVERTED THE HABEAS PETITION TO A CUSTODY PROCEEDING PURSUANT TO CPLR 103 (C) (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Family Court, determined that the habeas corpus petition filed by mother during the COVID moratorium on nonessential matters provided Family Court with jurisdiction over mother’s custody matter. Because the children had been out state for more than six months when mother made a subsequent custody application, Family Court did not have jurisdiction over them. Family Court should have converted the habeas corpus petition to a custody proceeding:

Family Court had jurisdiction over the parties to decide the mother’s custody petition pursuant to article 6 of the Family Court Act and, upon that basis and the unique circumstances presented in this case, should have converted the action from a writ of habeas corpus to a custody proceeding pursuant to CPLR 103(c) … .

The mother could not have even filed a custody petition in 2020 as a result of the Family Court’s Covid-19 moratorium on all nonessential matters but petitioning for a writ of habeas corpus was an available option to seek the return of the children to New York at the time. By the time the restriction was lifted, the children had already been out of state for more than six months, and Family Court had no jurisdiction over them which resulted in dismissal of the mother’s subsequently-filed custody application. * * * Although the mother was initially able to serve the father with the writ, her subsequent attempts at serving him were unsuccessful. Matter of Celinette H.H. v Michelle R., 2024 NY Slip Op 00456, First Dept 2-1-24

Practice Point; A habeas corpus petition was an appropriate vehicle for seeking custody during the Family Court COVID moratorium on nonessential matters.

 

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