Matter of E.V. v M.L.P.

Holding The Appellate Division affirmed the denial of the father’s petition for custody modification, finding that the child’s best interests were served by remaining in the mother’s primary custody. The court modified the contempt fine to $250 because the lower court failed to find actual loss or injury, and remanded the matter to determine the father’s reasonable counsel fees.

The court’s words

The mother has always been the child's primary caretaker, and nothing in the record warrants disturbing that stable custody arrangement

2026 NY Slip Op 06062, at the official text

The father established all of the requisite elements for holding the mother in contempt : that she violated a clear and unequivocal order

2026 NY Slip Op 06062, at the official text

Family Court made no finding that either the father or the child sustained any actual loss or injury as a result of the mother's noncompliance

2026 NY Slip Op 06062, at the official text

Family Court erred in denying the father's application for counsel fees incurred in prosecuting the contempt proceeding, as these fees are expressly authorized

2026 NY Slip Op 06062, at the official text