Opinion
1041 CAF 21-00511
12-23-2021
D.J. & J.A. CIRANDO, PLLC, SYRACUSE (REBECCA L. KONST OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT-APPELLANT.
D.J. & J.A. CIRANDO, PLLC, SYRACUSE (REBECCA L. KONST OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT-APPELLANT.
PRESENT: SMITH, J.P., CARNI, NEMOYER, CURRAN, AND WINSLOW, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.
Memorandum: In this proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, respondent mother appeals from an order that modified a prior custody and visitation order by, inter alia, granting petitioner father visitation with the subject child during a specified period each summer. Contrary to the mother's contention, Family Court did not abuse its discretion in awarding the father extended visitation during the child's summer school break. Although the result of the order is that the child will spend "a good part of [her] summer vacation with [her] father" ( Matter of Neeley v. Ferris , 63 A.D.3d 1258, 1260, 880 N.Y.S.2d 740 [3d Dept. 2009] ), the father had relocated out of state, which had significantly reduced his visitation during the school year, and the order directs that the father return the child sufficiently before the school year begins to permit the child and the mother to adjust their schedules (see generally Matter of Alvarado v. Cordova , 158 A.D.3d 794, 795, 71 N.Y.S.3d 566 [2d Dept. 2018] ). Consequently, there is a sound and substantial basis in the record for the determination "that expanded [summer] visitation with the father would serve the [child's] best interests" ( Matter of Nicholas v. Nicholas , 107 A.D.3d 899, 900, 967 N.Y.S.2d 419 [2d Dept. 2013] ; see also Matter of Winston v. Gates , 64 A.D.3d 815, 818 n. 2, 881 N.Y.S.2d 684 [3d Dept. 2009] ).