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GIVING MY READERS A SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY BOOK IN PROGRESS ON HOW TO AVOID GETTING FLEECED
BY LAWYERS, JUDGES, SOCIAL WORKERS AND eventually
GETTING YOUR CHILDREN ANYWAY
Precedent? Everyday is a new day in New York Family Law
thanks to this court with the swinging doors and the swinging judges
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DON'T SIGN A SEPARATION AGREEMENT TO GUARANTEE
YOUR YOUNG CHILDREN WON'T END UP IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO FOR HEALTH REASONS |

Cornell Law Review students understood the case better than
the judges. Their site carries all NY's court cases, U.S. Supreme Court and
many other state and federal courts.
Tropea is the NY Court of Appeals case that ignored a guarantee a father
had negotiated in a separation agreement. His ex-wife had committed
herself to a 50 mile radius clause, usual in such an "opting out"
agreement. It was also long standing public policy in N.Y. that children's
best interest is to have both parents after a divorce.
The court ignored both the fundamental purpose of a contract and public
policy in Tropea
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IN THE MATTER OF TAMMY LOUISE TROPEA, RESPONDENT, v. JOHN PETER
TROPEA, APPELLANT.
IN THE MATTER OF JACQUELINE BROWNER, RESPONDENT, v. ANDREW KENWARD,
APPELLANT.
87 N.Y.2d 727, 665 N.E.2d 145, 642 N.Y.S.2d 575 (1996).
March 26, 1996
[Case
Commentary by LII Editorial Board]
4 No. 1[1996 NY Int. 48]
2 No. 2[1996 NY Int. 48]
Decided March 26, 1996
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
No. 1:
Sigmund V. Mazur, for Appellant.
J. Scott Porter, for Respondent.
Marsha A. Hunt, Law guardian
No. 2:
Brian D. Graifman, for Appellant.
Theresa M. Daniele, Law guardian.
Kathleen Donelli, for Respondent.
TITONE, J.:
In each of these appeals, a divorced spouse who was previously
granted custody of the couple's minor offspring seeks permission to move
away from the area in which the noncustodial spouse resides. Both noncustodial
spouses oppose the move, contending that it would significantly reduce
the access to the children that they now enjoy. Their respective appeals
from the Appellate Division order and the Family Court judgment authorizing
the requested moves raise significant questions regarding the scope and
nature of the inquiry that should be made in cases where a custodial parent
proposes to relocate and seeks judicial approval of the relocation plan.
I.
Tropea v Tropea
The parties in this case were married in 1981 and have two children,
one born in 1985 and the other in 1988. They were divorced in 1992 pursuant
to a judgment that incorporated their previously executed separation agreement.
Under that agreement, petitioner-mother, who had previously been the children's
primary caregiver, was to have sole custody of the children and respondent-father
was granted visitation on holidays and "at least three * * * days of each
week." Additionally, the parties were barred from relocating outside of
Onondaga County, where both resided, without prior judicial approval.
On June 4, 1993, petitioner brought this proceeding seeking changes
in the visitation arrangements and permission to relocate with the children
to the Schenectady area. Respondent opposed the requested relief and filed
a cross-petition for a change of custody. At the ensuing hearing, petitioner
testified that she wanted to move because of her plans to marry an architect
who had an established firm in Schenectady. According to petitioner, she
and her fianc had already purchased a home in the Schenectady area for
themselves and the Tropea children and were now expecting a child of their
own. Petitioner stated that she was willing to cooperate in a liberal visitation
schedule that would afford respondent frequent and extended contact and
that she was prepared to drive the children to and from their father's
Syracuse home, which is about two and a half hours away from Schenectady.
Nonetheless, as all parties recognized, the distance between the two homes
made mid-week visits during the school term impossible.
Respondent took the position that petitioner's "need" to move
was really the product of her own life- style choice and that, consequently,
he should not be the parent who is "punished" with the loss of proximity
and weekday contact. Instead, respondent proposed that he be awarded custody
of the children if petitioner chose to relocate. To support this proposal,
respondent adduced evidence to show that he had maintained frequent and
consistent contact with his children at least until June of 1993, when
the instant proceeding was commenced. He had coached the children's football
and baseball teams, participated in their religion classes and had become
involved with his older son's academic education during the 1992-1993 school
year. However, there was also evidence that respondent harbored a continuing
bitterness toward petitioner which he had verbalized and demonstrated to
the children in a number of inappropriate ways. Respondent admitted being
bitter enough to have called petitioner "a tramp" and "a low-life" in the
children's presence and, in fact, stated that he saw nothing wrong with
this conduct, although he acknowledged that it had a negative effect on
the children. Respondent's mother confirmed that he had spoken negatively
about petitioner in the children's presence and that this behavior had
not been helpful to the children.
Following the hearing, the presiding Judicial Hearing Officer
denied petitioner's request for permission to relocate. Applying what he
characterized as "a more restrictive view of relocation," the JHO opined
that whenever a proposed move "unduly disrupts or substantially impairs
the [noncustodial parent's] access rights to [the] children," the custodial
spouse seeking judicial consent must bear the burden of demonstrating "exceptional
circumstances" such as a "concrete economic necessity." Applying this principle
to the evidence before it, the JHO found that petitioner's desire to obtain
a "fresh start" with a new family was insufficient to justify a move that
would "significantly impact upon" the close and consistent relationship
with his chidren that respondent had previously enjoyed.
On petitioner's appeal, however, the Appellate Division reversed,
holding that petitioner had made the necessary showing that the requested
relocation would not deprive respondent of "regular and meaningful access
to his children." Further, the court noted, petitioner's proposed visitation
schedule afforded respondent the opportunity for frequent and extended
contact with his children. Finally, the court found that the move would
be in the best interests of the children. Accordingly, the court ruled
that petitioner should be permitted to move to Schenectady and remitted
the matter to Family Court for the establishment of an appropriate visitation
schedule. The final Family Court judgment from which respondent appeals
awards respondent substantial weekend, summer and vacation visitation in
accordance with the Law Guardian's recommended schedule.[n
1]
A second case to drive the nail in
the coffin in case fathers were so thick-headed as to think Tropea was an
exception.
Browner v Kenward
The parties to this proceeding were married in August of 1983 and had
a son three years later. After marital discord led the parties to separate,
they executed a Stipulation of Settlement and Agreement in January of 1992
which gave petitioner-mother physical custody of the couple's child and
gave respondent- father liberal visitation, including midweek overnight
visits and alternating weekends. Under the Stipulation, respondent was
to remain in the marital residence, which was located in White Plains,
New York, and petitioner and the parties' son were to live with petitioner's
parents in nearby Purchase. Petitioner was required to seek prior approval
of the court if she intended to move more than 35 miles from respondent's
residence. The Stipulation was incorporated but not merged in the parties'
divorce judgment, which was entered in June of 1992.
In October of 1992, petitioner brought the present proceeding
for permission to relocate with the couple's child to Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
some 130 miles from respondent's Westchester County home. Petitioner requested
this relief because her parents were moving to Pittsfield and she wished
to go with them. Respondent opposed the application, contending that he
was a committed and involved noncustodial parent and that the proposed
move would deprive him of meaningful contact with his son.
A hearing was conducted over a period of several months. The hearing
evidence disclosed that petitioner's parents had been considering moving
for some time and had made the final decision to do so in September of
1992, coinciding fairly closely with the loss of petitioner's job. Petitioner
testified that she had tried to find work in New York but was unable to
do so. She further testified that her prospects of finding affordable housing
in the Purchase area were bleak. She ultimately located a marketing job
in Pittsfield that would give her enough income to rent a home of her own
in that area. Petitioner had also investigated the facilities for children
in Pittsfield and had found a suitable school and synagogue for her son.
An additional motivating factor for petitioner was the emotional
support and child care that she received from her parents and that she
expected to receive from her extended family in Pittsfield. According to
the evidence, petitioner was somewhat dependent on her parents for financial
and moral support, and petitioner's son had become especially close to
his grandparents after his own parents had separated. Further, the boy
had a long-standing close relationship with his Pittsfield cousins.
Respondent argued that permission for the move should be denied
because it would significantly diminish the quantity and quality of his
visits with his child. Respondent noted that the move would eliminate the
mid-week visits that he had previously enjoyed as well as his opportunity
to participate in the child's daily school, sports and religious activities.
Accordingly, respondent argued, petitioner's proposed relocation to Pittsfield
would deprive him of meaningful access to his child.
The Family Court found petitioner's argument that she was unable
to secure employment and new housing within the Westchester area to be
less than convincing. The court further found that respondent had been
"vigilant" in visiting his son and was "sincerely interested in guiding
and nurturing [the] child." Nonetheless, the court ruled in petitioner's
favor and authorized the proposed move, granting respondent liberal visitation
rights. In so ruling, the court noted that the move would not deprive respondent
of meaningful contact with his son and that, in light of the psychological
evidence that had been adduced, the move would be in the child's best interests.
With respect to the best-interests question, the court stated that the
parents' separation from each other would reduce the bickering that was
causing the child difficulty and would enable the child to have the healthy
peer relationships that he needed. Additionally, the emotional advantages
that petitioner would realize from proximity to her parents would ultimately
enhance the child's emotional well-being. On respondent's appeal, the Appellate
Division affirmed, stating only that "the relocation did not deprive [respondent]
of regular and meaningful access to the child" and, thus, petitioner was
"not required to show exceptional circumstances to justify relocation."
This Court subsequently granted respondent leave to appeal.
II.
Relocation cases such as the two before us present some of the
knottiest and most disturbing problems that our courts are called upon
to resolve. In these cases, the interests of a custodial parent who wishes
to move away are pitted against those of a noncustodial parent who has
a powerful desire to maintain frequent and regular contact with the child.
Moreover, the court must weigh the paramount interests of the child, which
may or may not be in irreconcilable conflict with those of one or both
of the parents.
Because the resolution of relocation disputes is ordinarily a
matter entrusted to the fact-finding and discretionary powers of the lower
courts, our Court has not had frequent occasion to address the question.
We discussed the issue in general terms in Weiss v Weiss (52 NY2d
170, 174-175), in which we recognized the importance of continued regular
and frequent visitation between the child and the noncustodial parent and
stated that "absent exceptional circumstances * * * , appropriate provision
for visitation or other access by the noncustodial parent follows almost
as a matter of course" (citing Strahl v Strahl, 66 AD2d 571, affd
49 NY2d 1036). We revisited the area a year later in Daghir v Daghir
(56 NY2d 938), but the majority memorandum in that case merely commented
on the trial court's failure to separately consider the child's best interests
and did not otherwise elucidate the proper standard to be used in assessing
requests by custodial parents for permission to relocate (see also, Priebe
v Priebe, 55 NY2d 997 [upholding Appellate Division's discretionary
determination]).
Since our decisions in Weiss and Daghir, the lower
courts have evolved a series of formulae and presumptions to aid them in
making their decisions in these difficult relocation cases. The most commonly
used formula involves a three-step analysis that looks first to whether
the proposed relocation would deprive the noncustodial parent of "regular
and meaningful access to the child" (e.g., Lavane v Lavane, 201
AD2d 623; Lake v Lake, 192 AD2d 751; Radford v Propper, 190
AD2d 93; Schaefer v Brennan, 170 AD2d 879; Cassidy v Kapur,
164 AD2d 513; Schouten v Schouten, 155 AD2d 461; Blundell v Blundel,
150 AD2d 321; Murphy v Murphy, 145 AD2d 857; Zaleski v Zaleski,
128 AD2d 865; Klein v Klein, 93 AD2d 807). Where a disruption of
"regular and meaningful access" is not shown, the inquiry is truncated,
and the courts generally will not go on to assess the merits and strength
of the custodial parents' motive for moving (see, e.g., Bennett v Bennett,
208 AD2d 1042; Partridge v Meyerson, 162 AD2d 507; Lake v Lake,
supra). On the other hand, where such a disruption is established, a presumption
that the move is not in the child's best interest is invoked and the custodial
parent seeking to relocate must demonstrate "exceptional circumstances"
to justify the move (e.g., Lavelle v Freeman, 181 AD2d 977; Rybicki
v Rybicki, 176 AD2d 867; Hathaway v Hathaway, 175 AD2d 336).
Once that hurdle is overcome, the court will go on to consider the child's
best interests.
The premise underlying this formula is that children can derive
an abundance of benefits from "the mature guiding hand and love of a second
parent" (Weiss v Weiss, supra, at 175; accord, Radford v Propper,
supra, at 99) and that, consequently, geographic changes that significantly
impair the quantity and quality of parent-child contacts are to be "disfavored"
(see, Farmer v Dervay, 174 AD2d 857, 858; Matter of Pasco v Nolen,
154 AD2d 774, 776; Matter of Towne v Towne, 154 AD2d 766, 767).
While this premise has much merit as a tenet of human dynamics, the legal
formula that it has spawned is problematic and, in many respects, unsatisfactory
(see, Miller, Hon. S., Whatever Happened to the "Best Interests" Analysis
in New York Relocation Cases?, 15 Pace L Rev 339).
One problem with the three-tiered analysis is that it is difficult
to apply. The lower courts have not settled on a uniform method of defining
"meaningful access" (compare, Bennett v Bennett, supra, at 1043
[ability to maintain "close and meaningful relationship with * * * children],
with Radford v Propper, supra, at 99 ["frequent and regular access"]),
and even the distance of the move has not been a reliable indicator of
whether the "meaningful access" test has been satisfied (compare, Rybicki
v Rybicki, supra [disapproving 84-mile move] with Schouten v Schouten,
155 AD2d 461 [approving 258-mile move]; Murphy v Murphy, 145 AD2d
857 [approving 340-mile move]).
On a more fundamental level, the three-tiered test is unsatisfactory
because it erects artificial barriers to the courts' consideration of all
of the relevant factors. Most moves outside of the noncustodial parent's
locale have some disruptive effect on that parent's relationship with the
child. Yet, if the disruption does not rise to the level of a deprivation
of "meaningful access," the three-tiered analysis would permit it without
any further inquiry into such salient considerations as the custodial parent's
motives, the reasons for the proposed move and the positive or negative
impact of the change on the child. Similarly, where the noncustodial parent
has managed to overcome the threshold "meaningful access" hurdle, the three-tiered
approach requires courts to refuse consent if there are no "exceptional
circumstances" to justify the change, again without necessarily considering
whether the move would serve the child's best interests or whether the
benefits to the children would outweigh the diminution in access by the
noncustodial parent. The distorting effect of such a mechanical approach
may be amplified where the courts require a showing of economic necessity
or health- related compulsion to establish the requisite "exceptional circumstances"
(see, e.g., Lavelle v Freeman, supra; Leslie v Leslie, 180
AD2d 620; Goodwin v Goodwin, 173 AD2d 769; Coniglio v Coniglio,
170 AD2d 477) or where the demands of a new marriage are summarily rejected
as a sufficient basis for satisfying this test (e.g., Rybicki v Rybicki,
supra; Richardson v Howard, 135 AD2d 1140).
In reality, cases in which a custodial parent's desire to relocate
conflicts with the desire of a noncustodial parent to maximize visitation
opportunity are simply too complex to be satisfactorily handled within
any mechanical, tiered analysis that prevents or interferes with a simultaneous
weighing and comparative analysis of all of the relevant facts and circumstances.
Although we have recognized and continue to appreciate both the need of
the child and the right of the noncustodial parent to have regular and
meaningful contact (see generally, Weiss v Weiss, supra), we also
believe that no single factor should be treated as dispositive or given
such disproportionate weight as to predetermine the outcome. There are
undoubtedly circumstances in which the loss of mid-week or every-weekend
visits necessitated by a distant move may be devastating to the relationship
between the noncustodial parent and the child. However, there are undoubtedly
also many cases where less frequent but more extended visits over summers
and school vacations would be equally conducive, or perhaps even more conducive,
to the maintenance of a close parent-child relationship, since such extended
visits give the parties the opportunity to interact in a normalized domestic
setting. In any event, given the variety of possible permutations, it is
counterproductive to rely on presumptions whose only real value is to simplify
what are necessarily extremely complicated inquiries.
Accordingly, rather than endorsing the three- step meaningful
access-exceptional circumstance analysis that some of the lower courts
have used in the past, we hold that each relocation request must be considered
on its own merits with due consideration of all the relevant facts and
circumstances and with predominant emphasis being placed on what outcome
is most likely to serve the bests interests of the child. While the respective
rights of the custodial and noncustodial parents are unquestionably significant
factors that must be considered (see, Strahl v Strahl, 66 AD2d 571,
affd 49 NY2d 1036, supra), it is the rights and needs of the children that
must be accorded the greatest weight, since they are innocent victims of
their parents' decision to divorce and are the least equipped to handle
the stresses of the changing family situation.
Of course, the impact of the move on the relationship between
the child and the noncustodial parent will remain a central concern. Indeed,
even where the move would leave the noncustodial parent with what may be
considered "meaningful access," there is still a need to weigh the effect
of the quantitative and qualitative losses that naturally will result against
such other relevant factors as the custodial parent's reasons for wanting
to relocate and the benefits that the child may enjoy or the harm that
may ensue if the move is or is not permitted. Similarly, although economic
necessity or a specific health- related concern may present a particularly
persuasive ground for permitting the proposed move, other justifications,
including the demands of a second marriage and the custodial parent's opportunity
to improve his or her economic situation, may also be valid motives that
should not be summarily rejected, at least where the overall impact on
the child would be beneficial. While some courts have suggested that the
custodial spouse's remarriage or wish for a "fresh start" can never suffice
to justify a distant move (see, e.g., Elkus v Elkus, 182 AD2d 445,
48; Stec v Levindofske, 153 AD2d 310), such a rule overlooks the
value for the children that strengthening and stabilizing the new, post-divorce
family unit can have in a particular case.
In addition to the custodial parent's stated reasons for wanting
to move and the noncustodial parent's loss of access, another factor that
may well become important in a particular case is the noncustodial parent's
interest in securing custody, as well as the feasibility and desirability
of a change in custody. Obviously, where a child's ties to the noncustodial
parent and to the community are so strong as to make a long-distance move
undesirable, the availability of a transfer of custody as realistic alternative
to forcing the custodial parent to remain may have a significant impact
on the outcome. By the same token, where the custodial parent's reasons
for moving are deemed valid and sound, the court in a proper case might
consider the possibility and feasibility of a parallel move by an involved
and committed noncustodial parent as an alternative to restricting a custodial
parent's mobility.
Other considerations that may have a bearing in particular cases
are the good faith of the parents in requesting or opposing the move, the
child's respective attachments to the custodial and noncustodial parent,
the possibility of devising a visitation schedule that will enable the
noncustodial parent to maintain a meaningful parent-child relationship,
the quality of the lifestyle that the child would have if the proposed
move were permitted or denied, the negative impact, if any, from continued
or exacerbated hostility between the custodial and noncustodial parents,
and the effect that the move may have on any extended-family relationships.
Of course, any other facts or circumstances that have a bearing on the
parties' situation should be weighed with a view toward minimizing the
parents' discomfort and maximizing the child's prospects of a stable, comfortable
and happy life.
We know adultery is an honorable state in
the Empire state. But to suggest that the spouses caused Humpty Dumpty to fall
shows the pure nastiness of this court toward fathers. The wife is off to Troy
(not to be confused with classical Greece) to marry the the correspondent (a
lovely old English word) in the divorce. The mother admitted no particular
interest in the sons at trial. The father’s whole life was bound up with his
boys--they were boys, mind you, not girl. But instead of the Court coming clean
and saying, "we are pushing Humpty Dumpty, the court stretches belief by
saying it cares about the boys’ well-being. Like all con-men, the court cries
crocidile tears and says nobody can put Humpty-Dumpty together again. "We
are just innocent by-standers."
This court was one of the greatest in the English-speaking world at the turn of
the century. Now $50,000 to your county political chairman and the membership in
the right victim group will buy you a sit. They don’t even know the law. They
don’t have to. They not only make it up. They keep changing it.
When separation agreements are in the hands of damaged goods like these judges,
what is privatizing your divorce worth? Nothing. Men still sign because THEIR
lawyer tells them to. Lawyers no longer know how to argue a case. It is also
more profitable to run a computer program and charge as if you wrote the
program. And dumb fathers can’t blame or the judge or their lawyer. They
freely signed their own death certificate. It’s changing. Not only are there
far fewer separation agreements in NY. There are far fewer marrriages. Who even
knows whether the court knows, much less cares.
Like Humpty Dumpty, a family, once broken by divorce, cannot be
put back together in precisely the same way. The relationship between the
parents and the children is necessarily different after a divorce and,
accordingly, it may be unrealistic in some cases to try to preserve the
noncustodial parent's accustomed close involvement in the children's everyday
life at the expense of the custodial parent's efforts to start a new life
or to form a new family unit. In some cases, the child's interests might
be better served by fashioning visitation plans that maximize the noncustodial
parent's opportunity to maintain a positive nurturing relationship while
enabling the custodial parent, who has the primary child-rearing responsibility,
to go forward with his or her life. In any event, it serves neither the
interests of the children nor the ends of justice to view relocation cases
through the prisms of presumptions and threshold tests that artificially
skew the analysis in favor of one outcome or another.
Rather, we hold that, in all cases, the courts should be free
to consider and give appropriate weight to all of the factors that may
be relevant to the determination. These factors include, but are certainly
not limited to each parent's reasons for seeking or opposing the move,
the quality of the relationships between the child and the custodial and
noncustodial parents, the impact of the move on the quantity and quality
of the child's future contact with the noncustodial parent, the degree
to which the custodial parent's and child's life may be enhanced economically,
emotionally and educationally by the move, and the feasibility of preserving
the relationship between the noncustodial parent and child through suitable
visitation arrangements. In the end, it is for the court to determine,
based on all of the proof, whether it has been established by a preponderance
of the evidence that a proposed relocation would serve the child's best
interests.[n 2]
III.
Turning finally to the cases before us, we conclude that the orders
of the courts below, which approved each of the petitioners' requests to
move, should be upheld. In Tropea, petitioner sought permission
to relocate from Onondaga County to the Schenectady area so that she could
settle into a new home with her fianc and raise her sons within a new family
unit. The Appellate Division found that the move was in the children's
best interest and that the visitation schedule that petitioner proposed
would afford respondent frequent and extended visitation[n
3]. We find no reason derived from the record to upset the Appellate
Division's determinations on these points (see, Daghir v Daghir,
supra, at 940). It is true that the court considered whether the relocation
would deprive respondent of "meaningful access" to his children. However,
it is apparent from the remainder of its writing that the court did not
treat that factor as a threshold test barring further inquiry into the
salient "best interests" question.
We note that respondent has offered no persuasiave legal reason
for disturbing the Appellate Division's finding that the proposed relocation
would be in the children's best interest. Indeed, in this appeal, respondent's
arguments are directed almost entirely to petitioner's purported "unclean
hands" in developing a relationship with a person she met before the marriage
was dissolved and in choosing to marry that individual after her divorce
from respondent. As is evident from our earlier discussion, relocation
determinations are not to be made as a means of castigating one party for
what the other deems personal misconduct, nor are the courts to be used
in this context as arbiters of the parties' respective "guilt" or "innocence."
Children are not chattel, and custody and visitation decisions should be
made with a view toward what best serves their interests, not what would
reward or penalize a purportedly "innocent" or "blameworthy" parent.
Our analysis in Browner v Kenward is somewhat different.
The Appellate Division in Browner found that the proposed move did
not deprive the noncustodial parent of regular and meaningful access to
his child and that it was therefore not necessary to weigh the validity
and strength of petitioner's reasons for moving against the significant
change in the parent- child relationship that the move would entail. The
court's methodology was thus at variance with the open- ended balancing
analysis that the law requires. However, respondent's only argument in
this Court is that the Appellate Division misapplied the three-tiered Radford
v Propper (supra) test to the particular facts of his case. Specifically,
respondent argues that the 130-mile move from Westchester County to Pittsfield
will eliminate his mid-week visitation opportunity, reduce his ability
to participate in his son's religious worship and diminish the quality
of the weekend visits he has with his son. While these losses are undoubtedly
real and are certainly far from trivial, it cannot be said that they operated
to deprive respondent of a meaningful opportunity to maintain a close relationship
with his son. Hence, respondent was not entitled to an order reversing
the outcome below and denying petitioner the permission to relocate that
she sought. We note that the Family Court found that the proposed relocation
in Browner was in the child's best interests and the Appellate Division
did not disturb that finding.
Accordingly, in Tropea v Tropea, the judgment of the Family
Court and the prior nonfinal order of the Appellate Division brought up
for review should be affirmed, with costs. In Browner v Kenward,
the order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed, with costs.
F O O T N O T E S
1. This Court dismissed respondent's earlier
motion for leave to appeal from the prior Appellate Division order on the
ground that that order did not finally determine the proceeding within
the meaning of the Constitution (85
NY2d 968).[return
to text]
2. The separation agreements in both Tropea
and Browner require only that the custodial parent apply for judicial
approval before moving out of a specified area without making any mention
of criteria or standards. A geographical relocation restriction agreed
to by the parties and included in their separation agreement might be an
additional factor relevant to a court's best interests determination.[return
to text]
3. Significantly, the Appellate Division's ruling
in this regard did not represent a reversal of any contrary first-level
factual finding by the nisi prius court. The Family Court JHO did not reach
the best- interest question, since, in his view, petitioner's failure to
show "exceptional circumstances" to justify the move obviated the need
for further inquiry.[return
to text]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
No. 1: Judgment of Family Court appealed from and order of the
Appellate Division brought up for review affirmed, with costs. Opinion
by Judge Titone. Chief Judge Kaye and Judges Simons, Bellacosa, Smith,
Levine and Ciparick concur.
No. 2: Order affirmed, with costs. Opinion by Judge Titone. Chief
Judge Kaye and Judges Simons, Bellacosa, Smith, Levine and Ciparick concur.
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