| Matter of Johnson v Alaji |
| 2010 NY Slip Op 05558 [74 AD3d 1202] |
| June 22, 2010 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| In the Matter of Belinda Nicole Johnson,Appellant, v Bilal Khalid Alaji, Respondent. |
—[*1] Kelley M. Enderley, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for respondent. Barry H. Friedman, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., attorney for the children.
In a visitation proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, the petitioner appeals froman order of the Family Court, Dutchess County (Posner, J.), entered October 26, 2009, which,without a hearing, dismissed the petition.
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
Generally, "[v]isitation should be decided after a full evidentiary hearing to determine thebest interests of the child[ren]" (Matter of Rivera v Administration for Children's Servs.,13 AD3d 636, 637 [2004]). A hearing is not necessary, however, where the court possessesadequate relevant information to make an informed determination of the children's best interests(see Matter of Hom v Zullo, 6 AD3d 536 [2004]; see also Matter of Pettiford-Brownv Brown, 42 AD3d 541 [2007]).
The undisputed information before the Family Court was adequate to enable the FamilyCourt to determine that it would not be in the best interests of the subject children to grant themother's petition for visitation and, therefore, the petition was properly dismissed without ahearing. Skelos, J.P., Angiolillo, Dickerson and Leventhal, JJ., concur.