Matter of Reeves v Erie County Dept. of Social Servs.

2012 NY Slip Op 04568 [96 AD3d 1471]

June 8, 2012

Appellate Division, Fourth Department

As corrected through Wednesday, August 1, 2012

In the Matter of Maurice Reeves, Appellant, v Erie CountyDepartment of Social Services, Respondent.

—[*1]Alan Birnholz, East Amherst, for petitioner-appellant.

Joseph T. Jarzembek, Buffalo, for respondent-respondent.

David C. Schopp, Attorney for the Children, the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo(Charles D. Halvorsen of counsel), for Jordan B. and Jayden G.

Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Erie County (Margaret O. Szczur, J.), enteredJune 8, 2011. The order dismissed the petitions with prejudice.

It is hereby ordered that the order so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Petitioner appeals from an order dismissing his petitions seeking visitationwith his stepsons on the ground that the evidence presented at the hearing was insufficient todetermine whether visitation would be in the children's best interests. We affirm, but for adifferent reason. Contrary to the determination of Family Court, we conclude that petitioner lacksstanding to seek visitation with the subject children (see Bank v White, 40 AD3d 790, 791 [2007], lv dismissed9 NY3d 1002 [2007]; Matter of Boland v Boland, 186 AD2d 1065, 1065 [1992]).Present—Scudder, P.J., Centra, Fahey, Peradotto and Sconiers, JJ.