You are here: / / THE FACT THAT THE CHILD LIVED WITH THE GRANDMOTHER FOR FOUR YEARS WAS AN...
, ,

THE FACT THAT THE CHILD LIVED WITH THE GRANDMOTHER FOR FOUR YEARS WAS AN “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE” WHICH AFFORDED GRANDMOTHER STANDING TO SEEK CUSTODY (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Family Court, determined grandmother had demonstrated “extraordinary circumstances” such that she had standing to seek custody:

… [T]he grandmother met her burden of demonstrating other extraordinary circumstances with respect to both the mother and the father. The Court of Appeals has explained that “[i]n the absence of ‘surrender, abandonment, persisting neglect, unfitness or other like extraordinary circumstances’, a parent may not be denied custody” … . Consistent with that principle of law, we have determined that “an extended disruption of custody as defined in [the statute] is merely ‘a specific example of extraordinary circumstances’ . . . and the statute was ‘not intended to overrule existing case law relating to third parties obtaining standing in custody cases’ ” … .

In determining whether extraordinary circumstances exist, “[n]o one factor should be viewed in isolation . . . , but rather the ‘analysis must consider the cumulative effect of all issues present in a given case . . . , including, among others, the length of time the child has lived with the nonparent, the quality of that relationship and the length of time the . . . parent allowed such custody to continue without trying to assume the primary parental role’ ” … .

Here, we conclude that there are ” ‘other like extraordinary circumstances’ ” that give the grandmother standing to seek custody of the child … . Extraordinary circumstances arise from the fact that the now-six-year-old child has resided exclusively with the grandmother since she was two years old, the mother was incapable of caring for the child due to mental illness, and the father has not been significantly involved in the child’s life since birth. The father has had limited and sporadic visitation with the child and has never had the child with him overnight. He has not attended school events or medical appointments. Nor has he paid child support to either the mother or the grandmother. Finally, the child is emotionally attached to the grandmother and her half-brother, who has also been raised by the grandmother … . Matter of Morris v Smith, 2025 NY Slip Op 07133, Fourth Dept 12-23-25

Practice Point: Consult this decision for insight into the “extraordinary circumstances” which will afford a nonparent standing to seek custody. Here the fact that the child had resided with grandmother for four years was deemed such an “extraordinary circumstance.”

 

You might also like
PETITIONER WAS DENIED HIS RIGHT TO CALL WITNESSES, NEW HEARING ORDERED (FOURTH DEPT).
Sovereign Immunity Did Not Apply to Golf Course Owned by Seneca Nation
Statute of Limitations for Article 78 “Mandamus to Compel;” Doctrine of Laches Applied
WILL THAT CANNOT BE FOUND IS PRESUMED REVOKED, HERE PETITIONER DID NOT REBUT THE PRESUMPTION OF REVOCATION, CRITERIA EXPLAINED (FOURTH DEPT).
FAILURE TO APPRISE COUNSEL OF THE CONTENTS OF A JURY NOTE WAS A MODE OF PROCEEDINGS ERROR REQUIRING REVERSAL (FOURTH DEPT).
TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE REMITTED FOR A DETERMINATION WHETHER THE STATE WAS LIABLE UNDER A SECOND IMPACT THEORY, EVEN THOUGH THE STATE WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CAUSING THE DRIVER TO COLLIDE WITH THE STEEL BEAMS ACROSS THE ENTRANCES TO THE CLOSED BRIDGE, THE STEEL BEAMS WERE WELDED TO THE BRIDGE AT A HEIGHT WHICH ALLOWED A CAR TO PASS UNDER THEM, CONSTITUTING A DANGEROUS CONDITION AS A MATTER OF LAW (FOURTH DEPT). ​
A NEGATIVE INFERENCE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DRAWN BASED UPON MOTHER’S FAILURE TO TESTIFY, SHE HAD NO FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF THE FACTS UNDERLYING FATHER’S PETITION TO MODIFY VISITATION, FATHER DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES AND DID NOT DEMONSTRATE MODIFICATION WOULD BE IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN, JUDGE DID NOT MAKE THE REQUIRED FACTUAL FINDINGS, FATHER’S PETITION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).
Plaintiff Raised a Question of Fact About Whether Her Employment Was Terminated in Retaliation for Protected Activity

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

DEFENDANT WAS NOT COERCED INTO PLEADING GUILTY; THE JUDGE’S DESCRIBING... SUPREME COURT WENT BEYOND THE PARAMETERS OF THE REMITTAL BY ACCEPTING SUPPLEMENTAL...