Matter of Strachan v Gilliam
2015 NY Slip Op 05370 [129 AD3d 1679]
June 19, 2015
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, August 5, 2015


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 In the Matter of Delsenior Strachan, Appellant, v Linda Gilliam, Respondent. (Appeal No. 1.)

Timothy P. Donaher, Public Defender, Rochester (David R. Juergens of counsel), for petitioner-appellant.

Paul B. Watkins, Fairport, for respondent-respondent.

Sara E. Rook, Attorney for the Child, Rochester.

Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Monroe County (Patricia E. Gallaher, J.), entered July 19, 2013 in a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6. The order dismissed the petition for a modification of an order of visitation.

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

Memorandum: In appeal Nos. 1 and 2, petitioner mother appeals from orders that dismissed her petitions seeking to modify a prior order of visitation. Contrary to the mother's contention in both appeals, we conclude that Family Court did not abuse its discretion in sua sponte dismissing the petitions without conducting a hearing. "A hearing is not automatically required whenever a parent seeks modification of a custody [or visitation] order . . . and, here, the mother failed to make a sufficient evidentiary showing of a change in circumstances to require a hearing" (Matter of Consilio v Terrigino, 114 AD3d 1248, 1248 [2014] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Matter of Sierak v Staring, 124 AD3d 1397, 1398 [2015]). Present—Smith, J.P., Peradotto, Carni, Valentino and Whalen, JJ.