Nonparents Did Not Demonstrate Standing to Bring Petition to Adopt

The Second Department determined the nonparents’ petition to adopt was properly denied:

“As between a parent and a nonparent, the parent has the superior right to custody that cannot be denied unless the nonparent establishes that the parent has relinquished that right due to surrender, abandonment, persistent neglect, unfitness, or other like extraordinary circumstances” … . The burden of proof is on the nonparent to prove such extraordinary circumstances … . Absent proof of such extraordinary circumstances, an inquiry into the best interests of the child is not triggered … . Here, the Family Court properly determined that the nonparent petitioners, whose petition to adopt the subject child was correctly denied …, failed, in this custody proceeding, to allege the existence of extraordinary circumstances. Accordingly, the Family Court properly granted the father’s motion to dismiss their custody petition for lack of standing … . Matter of Santiago v Henderson, 2014 NY Slip Op 08033, 2nd Dept 11-19-14