Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Custody Petition

My husband has abused me mentally and emotionally most of our marriage, all that culminated in an argument where he punched me in the face. He was arrested on a domestic violence charge and has a restraining order against him. This is his first offence. When he got out he immediately petitioned for custody of our 11 month old daughter. In the petition it states that he is affraid that I will leave the state w/o his consent. He is a very cunning and manipulative man and he is trying to play the victim in this situation by beating me to the punch in gaining custody of our daughter. He cited that he wants her to spend the holidays with him and asked for a quick court date, and got it. I'm very concerned about his intentions, and the safety of our girl, because he drinks and drives and because he is careless with her to the point of hurting her. She is a breastfed baby and he tries to scare me and tell me that the court will order her weaned and put on formula to accomodate him. He is doing this because we all had plans to vacation in Florida this winter and now that he's out of the picture he doesn't me to go anywhere. What rights do I have? Can he take my daughter away? Can I push for supervised visitation?


Asked on 12/02/05, 10:35 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Roland Acevedo Seiff Kretz & Abercrombie

Re: Custody Petition

With the restraining order, his options are limited. You may want to think about filing a cross petition for custody and supervised visitation. The court will probably appoint a law guardian to represent your child, and that attorney will have input regarding what is in the child's best interests. I am available for a free consultation if you have addtional questions.

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Answered on 12/02/05, 11:03 am


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