Coughlin v. Coughlin

147 A.D.3d 1485, 46 N.Y.S.3d 469
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedFebruary 10, 2017
DocketAppeal No. 1
StatusPublished

This text of 147 A.D.3d 1485 (Coughlin v. Coughlin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coughlin v. Coughlin, 147 A.D.3d 1485, 46 N.Y.S.3d 469 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Erie County (Lisa Bloch Rodwin, J.), entered July 2, 2015 in a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6. The order dismissed the petition alleging a violation of an unspecified order with prejudice.

It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by providing that the petition is dismissed without prejudice, and as modified the order is affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Petitioner mother appeals from three orders of Family Court that, respectively, dismissed a petition seeking modification of the custody provisions in the judgment of divorce (appeal No. 2), dismissed a petition alleging a violation of an unspecified order (appeal No. 1), and dismissed a petition alleging a violation of an order that is not contained in the record on appeal (appeal No. 3). As limited by her brief, the mother contends that Family Court erred in dismissing each of those petitions with prejudice. We agree.

Respondent father correctly concedes that the orders in appeal Nos. 1 and 3 conflict with Family Court’s decision, which expressly provides that the violation petitions were dismissed without prejudice. Because the decision controls where, as here, it conflicts with the order, we modify the orders in appeal Nos. 1 and 3 to conform to the decision (see Matter of Esposito v Magill, 140 AD3d 1772, 1773 [2016], lv denied 28 NY3d 904 [2016]).

[1486]*1486With respect to appeal No. 2, the court determined that the petition was facially insufficient to allege a change of circumstances warranting a change of custody. Thus, because petitioner has not had a full and fair opportunity to litigate her allegations that the custody provisions in the judgment of divorce should be modified, the court erred in dismissing the petition with prejudice (cf. Stiles v Graves, 143 AD3d 1215, 1216-1217 [2016]; see generally Landau, P.C. v LaRossa, Mitchell & Ross, 11 NY3d 8, 13 [2008]). We therefore modify the order in appeal No. 2 accordingly.

Present — Carni, J.P., Lindley, NeMoyer, Troutman and Scudder, JJ.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Landau, P.C. v. LaRossa, Mitchell & Ross
892 N.E.2d 380 (New York Court of Appeals, 2008)
ESPOSITO, LINDSAY A. v. MAGILL, MATTHEW E.
140 A.D.3d 1772 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016)
Stiles v. Graves
143 A.D.3d 1215 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
147 A.D.3d 1485, 46 N.Y.S.3d 469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coughlin-v-coughlin-nyappdiv-2017.