Greco v. Greco

• Decision Date: 23 May 2018
• Docket Number: V–13005–15,2017–06925,Docket Nos. V–13004–15
• Citation: 77 N.Y.S.3d 463,161 A.D.3d 1074
• Parties: In the Matter of Susan GRECO, appellant, v. Robert N. GRECO, respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

161 A.D.3d 1074

77 N.Y.S.3d 463

In the Matter of Susan GRECO, appellant,

v.Robert N. GRECO, respondent.

2017–06925

Docket Nos. V–13004–15

V–13005–15

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Submitted—April 20, 2018

May 23, 2018

Susan Greco, Oyster Bay, NY, appellant pro se.

Sperber & Stein, LLP, Garden City, N.Y. (Michelle S. Stein of counsel), for respondent.

Patricia Miller Latzman, P.C., Mineola, NY, attorney for the children.

WILLIAM F. MASTRO, J.P., RUTH C. BALKIN, SYLVIA O. HINDS–RADIX, ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, inter alia, to determine the mother's physical access with her children, the mother appeals from an order of the Family Court, Nassau County (Conrad D. Singer, J.), dated May 17, 2017. The order, insofar as appealed from, after a hearing, denied that branch of the mother's petition which was to modify a prior order of physical access, directed that "the father shall be responsible for the payment of [only] $100 per calendar month toward the cost of" supervised physical access and directed the mother to pay for all supervised physical access costs in excess of $100 per month.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

The parties were married in 1999 and have two children together. The father commenced an action for a divorce and ancillary relief in May 2010. Following a trial on custody, the Supreme Court, in an interim order, awarded the father custody of the children, and the mother was given supervised physical access. The interim order was incorporated by reference into the parties' April 2005 judgment of divorce. Neither the interim order nor the judgment of divorce set forth a physical access schedule, and neither specified who should pay the physical access costs. However, the parties developed a schedule whereby the mother had physical access two days per week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the father paying the cost of supervised physical access.

In August 2016, the mother filed a petition in the Family Court alleging, inter alia, that the father had stopped paying the cost of supervised physical access. She moved to compel the father to resume paying those costs, and for modification of the physical access schedule. Following a hearing, during which the children expressed a desire to terminate physical access on Wednesdays to accommodate their own schedules, the court ruled that the mother should continue to have supervised physical access two days per week, with a flexible schedule dependent on the schedules of the children and the social worker who supervised physical access. The court also directed that the father pay the costs of supervised physical access in the amount of only $100 per month, and the mother pay the costs of supervised physical access in excess of $100 per month.

A party seeking modification of...