| Matter of Cassidy Sue R. |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 00392 [58 AD3d 744] |
| January 20, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| In the Matter of Cassidy Sue R. Administration for Children'sServices et al., Respondents; Manuel (Emmanuel) R., Appellant, et al.,Respondent. |
—[*1] Warren & Warren, P.C., Brooklyn, N.Y. (Ira L. Eras of counsel), for petitioner-respondentMercy First. Steven Banks, New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler and Louise Feld of counsel), attorneyfor the child.
In a proceeding pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b to terminate parental rightson the ground of abandonment, the father appeals from an order of the Family Court, KingsCounty (Ruiz, J.), dated April 4, 2008, which denied his motion to vacate so much of an order ofthe same court dated January 2, 2008, as, after a fact-finding inquest held upon his default inappearing at the fact-finding hearing, determined that he had abandoned the subject child,terminated his parental rights, and transferred guardianship and custody of the subject child toMercy First and the Commissioner of Administration for Children's Services for the purpose ofadoption.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
"The determination whether to relieve a party of an order entered upon his or her default is amatter left to the sound discretion of the Family Court" (Matter of Francisco R., 19 AD3d 502, 502 [2005] [internalquotation marks and citation omitted]; see Matter of Tenisha Tishonda T., 302 AD2d534 [2003]). To [*2]vacate the order, the father was required toshow that there was a reasonable excuse for his default and a meritorious defense (see Matterof Francisco R., 19 AD3d at 502). The father did not make the requisite showing(id.). Prudenti, P.J., Spolzino, McCarthy and Leventhal, JJ., concur.