In a recent New York Court of Appeals decision, the Court held that, unless the parties to an agreement express otherwise, or the Court expressly states in a judgment or order, the custodial parent has sole decision-making authority with respect to practically all aspects of the child’s upbringing.  The Court rejected the father’s argument that the right of a non-custodial parent to participate in educational decisions for his or her children is implied. 

 

While the Court found that a non-custodial parent is not prevented from requesting data about his or her child’s education, the authority to control educational decisions lies with the custodial parent

 

The facts of the case, Fuentes v. Board of Education of the City of New York, 12 N.Y.3d 309 (2009), were as follows:  The father and mother divorced in 1996 and the mother received exclusive custody of the parties’ three children.   One of the parties’ children is legally blind and received special education services from a New York City school.  The father decided that the services received by his son were inadequate and sought a review of the services by the education department. 

 

After the educational department determined that the father lacked standing to make educational decisions for his son, the father commenced a federal action, claming that he was denied a right conferred by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  The Federal District Court dismissed the father’s action for lack of standing.  On appeal, the Federal Circuit court held that New York law, which governs the matter, was unclear.  That Court then asked the New York Court of Appeals to resolve the issue on a certified question:  whether the non-custodial parent retains decision making authority on educational matters for his or her child when the custodial parent is granted exclusive custody of the child and the divorce decree and/or custody order are silent as to the right to control educational decisions.   The New York Court of Appeals held that the non custodial parent did not retain that decision making authority. 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Custody and Visitation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.