What is the name of your state? just thought this was intersting
BY ROBIN TOPPING
STAFF WRITER
October 2, 2005
Source:http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-
licust024451738oct02,0,1476369.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines
Jodi Ann Fischtein wanted her 11-year-old son to move to Canada with
her.
But she and her ex-husband had joint custody of the boy, and the
father wanted him to stay in New York.
After a 28-day trial in Central Islip, State Supreme Court Justice
John Bivona made a rather novel decision.
The boy could go with his mother and new stepfather, who had been
commuting to New York from Toronto. But Fischtein had to put up a
$60,000 bond ensuring the father's visitation at least once a month,
and pay his travel and hotel expenses.
"Visitation with a parent is not the privilege of the parent but the
right of the child. Both [the father and the boy] must have this
right preserved by maximizing defendant's opportunity to maintain a
positive and nurturing father-son relationship," Bivona wrote in the
recent decision.
However, he added the mother's "past conduct does raise concern as
to whether she will cooperate and abide by the order of this court."
Bivona directed that Fischtein post a $60,000 bond in the escrow
account of the lawyer for her ex-husband, John Andrade, until her
son becomes 18.
Fischtein's attorney, Sari Friedman of Garden City, said the judge
had later specified that her client put up $60,000 in cash in the
account, which will be returned to Fischtein when her son is 18.
"This is very unusual," said Friedman. "I think the judge was
concerned that the relocation he was allowing was out of the country
and out of U.S. jurisdiction ... and there could be problems for the
father jurisdictionally if there is a proceeding for enforcement."
Bivona cited as precedent a 1997 opinion in which a Supreme Court
judge from New York City allowed a mother to relocate to Saudi
Arabia with her child but ordered that she post a bond guaranteeing
the father's visitation and adherence to the court's jurisdiction.
Fischtein said she was surprised by Bivona's actions.
"We are grateful for the decision but I was also dumbfounded. I was
prepared to be generous in some way, letting [the child] spend a lot
more time with his dad, but I wasn't prepared for this bond," she
said in a phone interview.
"It's a tremendous financial strain," Fischtein said. "It's like
sending your child to law school."
Andrade's attorney declined to comment.
In requiring the bond, Bivona cited instances in which Fischtein had
interfered with Andrade's access to his son since the couple's
divorce last year.
"Based on past history, plaintiff has dictated terms of visitation
according to her whim," the judge wrote. Despite a separation
agreement and both having joint custody, "plaintiff acts
unilaterally."
Fischtein said she didn't need the bond to follow the court's
directives. "I have complied with every court order and never did
anything out of turn. This is like a punishment," she said.
BY ROBIN TOPPING
STAFF WRITER
October 2, 2005
Source:http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-
licust024451738oct02,0,1476369.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines
Jodi Ann Fischtein wanted her 11-year-old son to move to Canada with
her.
But she and her ex-husband had joint custody of the boy, and the
father wanted him to stay in New York.
After a 28-day trial in Central Islip, State Supreme Court Justice
John Bivona made a rather novel decision.
The boy could go with his mother and new stepfather, who had been
commuting to New York from Toronto. But Fischtein had to put up a
$60,000 bond ensuring the father's visitation at least once a month,
and pay his travel and hotel expenses.
"Visitation with a parent is not the privilege of the parent but the
right of the child. Both [the father and the boy] must have this
right preserved by maximizing defendant's opportunity to maintain a
positive and nurturing father-son relationship," Bivona wrote in the
recent decision.
However, he added the mother's "past conduct does raise concern as
to whether she will cooperate and abide by the order of this court."
Bivona directed that Fischtein post a $60,000 bond in the escrow
account of the lawyer for her ex-husband, John Andrade, until her
son becomes 18.
Fischtein's attorney, Sari Friedman of Garden City, said the judge
had later specified that her client put up $60,000 in cash in the
account, which will be returned to Fischtein when her son is 18.
"This is very unusual," said Friedman. "I think the judge was
concerned that the relocation he was allowing was out of the country
and out of U.S. jurisdiction ... and there could be problems for the
father jurisdictionally if there is a proceeding for enforcement."
Bivona cited as precedent a 1997 opinion in which a Supreme Court
judge from New York City allowed a mother to relocate to Saudi
Arabia with her child but ordered that she post a bond guaranteeing
the father's visitation and adherence to the court's jurisdiction.
Fischtein said she was surprised by Bivona's actions.
"We are grateful for the decision but I was also dumbfounded. I was
prepared to be generous in some way, letting [the child] spend a lot
more time with his dad, but I wasn't prepared for this bond," she
said in a phone interview.
"It's a tremendous financial strain," Fischtein said. "It's like
sending your child to law school."
Andrade's attorney declined to comment.
In requiring the bond, Bivona cited instances in which Fischtein had
interfered with Andrade's access to his son since the couple's
divorce last year.
"Based on past history, plaintiff has dictated terms of visitation
according to her whim," the judge wrote. Despite a separation
agreement and both having joint custody, "plaintiff acts
unilaterally."
Fischtein said she didn't need the bond to follow the court's
directives. "I have complied with every court order and never did
anything out of turn. This is like a punishment," she said.
