Matter of Paul JJ. v Heather JJ. (2020 NY Slip Op 03434) Matter of Paul JJ. v Heather JJ. 2020 NY Slip Op 03434 Decided on June 18, 2020 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports. Decided and Entered: June 18, 2020 527575 525576 528724 [*1]In the Matter of Paul JJ., Appellant, vHeather JJ., Respondent. (And Two Other Related Proceedings.) Calendar Date: May 21, 2020 Before: Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Clark, Mulvey and Colangelo, JJ. Paul JJ., Springfield, Virginia, appellant pro se. John A. Cirando, Syracuse, for respondent. J. Mark McQuerrey, Cambridge, attorney for the child. Per Curiam. Appeals from three orders of the Family Court of Washington County (Meyer, J.), entered July 5, 2018, July 17, 2018 and February 28, 2019, which dismissed petitioner's applications, in three proceedings pursuant to Family Ct Act article 6, to modify a prior order of custody and visitation. Petitioner (hereinafter the father) and respondent (hereinafter the mother) are the divorced parents of three sons, all of whom have attained the age of majority, and one daughter (born in 2002; hereinafter the child). In June 2007, a Connecticut court issued a judgment of divorce (hereinafter the 2007 judgment) which, among other things, awarded the mother sole custody and ordered that the father "shall have no visitation with the minor children, except at the discretion of the [mother] and initiated only by the [mother]." In December 2016, the mother and the child relocated from Connecticut to New York. In June 2017, the father, who lives in Virginia, registered the 2007 judgment in New York (see Domestic Relations Law § 77-d). At that time, the Connecticut court relinquished jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (see Domestic Relations Law art 5-A [hereinafter UCCJEA]; see generally Domestic Relations Law § 76-b [1]). In March 2018, the father commenced the first of these three proceedings, seeking to modify the 2007 judgment.[FN1] Specifically, the father sought joint legal and physical custody of the child, with visitation at his discretion, "absent interference by [the] mother." Following a fact-finding hearing at which the father did not appear, but at which the mother testified, Family Court determined that the father failed to demonstrate the requisite change in circumstances and, pursuant to a July 5, 2018 order, the court dismissed the father's petition. On July 12, 2018, the father commenced the second of these proceedings, again seeking to modify the 2007 judgment by awarding him joint legal and physical custody of the child. Pursuant to a July 17, 2018 order, Family Court dismissed the father's petition, finding that it was generally duplicative of the prior petition. In October 2018, the father commenced the third of these proceedings, seeking the same relief as the prior two petitions. Following an appearance,[FN2] the court dismissed the father's petition in a February 28, 2019 order. The father appeals ...
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