| Matter of Brault v Smugorzewski |
| 2009 NY Slip Op 09937 [68 AD3d 1819] |
| December 30, 2009 |
| Appellate Division, Fourth Department |
| In the Matter of Barbara A. Brault, Respondent, v Deborah K.Smugorzewski, Appellant, et al., Respondent. |
—[*1] James S. Hinman, Rochester, for petitioner-respondent. Lori Robb Monaghan, Law Guardian, Rochester, for Nathan D.H.
Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Monroe County (Julie Anne Gordon, R.), enteredSeptember 19, 2008 in a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6. The order, amongother things, awarded custody of the subject child to petitioner.
It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.
Memorandum: Petitioner, the child's paternal grandmother, commenced this proceedingpursuant to Family Court Act article 6 seeking custody of her grandson. Respondent motherappeals from an order that, inter alia, awarded custody of the child to the grandmother. We rejectthe mother's sole contention on appeal that the Referee erred in determining that there wereextraordinary circumstances, thus warranting a hearing to determine whether the best interests ofthe child would be served by an award of custody to a nonparent. Contrary to the contention ofthe mother, "there was sufficient evidence before the [Referee] to support [the] finding ofextraordinary circumstances, including evidence of her chronic mental illness, unstable livingsituation, and a failure on her part to address the special needs of the subject child" (Matter of Donohue v Donohue, 44AD3d 1042, 1043 [2007]; seeMatter of Katherine D. v Lawrence D., 32 AD3d 1350, 1351 [2006], lv denied 7NY3d 717 [2006]; cf. Matter of Gale vGray, 39 AD3d 903 [2007]). Present—Smith, J.P., Fahey, Carni and Green, JJ.