Matter of Lazaroff v. Acevedo

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed an order granting the mother's petition for sole legal and physical custody and permission to relocate with the child to Florida. The court independently reviewed the record and concluded that the relocation and custody arrangement were in the child's best interests, while rejecting or declining to review the father's recusal and ineffective-assistance claims.

Holdings

1. A parent seeking to relocate with a child must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed relocation is in the child's best interests. After independently reviewing the record, the court concluded that awarding the mother sole legal and physical custody and permitting relocation to Florida served the child's best interests.
2. The father's recusal contention was unpreserved and, insofar as it relied on matter dehors the record, was not properly before the court. On the record presented, the Family Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion by declining to recuse itself.
3. The father received meaningful representation when the record was viewed in totality; therefore, his ineffective-assistance claim did not warrant reversal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the mother established that relocation with the child to Florida and an award of sole legal and physical custody were in the child's best interests.
2. Whether the Family Court should have recused itself.
3. Whether the father's recusal claim was preserved for appellate review and could be considered when based on matter dehors the record.
4. Whether the father was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel.

Disposition

affirmed