FATHER PREFERRED SHE'D GO AWAY?
After her daughter’s death, the maternal grandmother petitioned the Kings County Family Court for visitation with her grandchild. When that request was granted, (and she was “awarded certain periods of visitation"), the father appealed.
According to New York law, when a grandparent makes a request of this type, the court must first determine whether the relative has “standing,” and, once that threshold is met, it must then assess whether visitation would be in the child’s “best interests.”
Since her daughter’s death gave her “automatic standing,” the inquiry then turned to whether the elder possessed the requisite “character, temperament and sincerity.” And because the grandmother satisfied that latter assessment, and had helped care for the child since the mother’s death, the Appellate Division, Second Department, agreed that her continued involvement was beneficial for the youngster, and thought the visitation request had been appropriately granted.
There's no revisiting that.
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DECISION