NY appeals court upholds father's custody after mother's addiction treatment

A New York appeals court has upheld a decision giving a father primary physical custody of his two children after they spent a school year living with their grandparents in North Carolina while their mother received treatment for alcoholism. In a ruling issued on November 12, 2026, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, upheld a December 13, 2023, decision by the Family Court of Chemung County. A five-judge panel rejected the mother's appeal.

The mother, identified in court papers as Annette D., had asked the court to overturn the order giving the father, Scott E., primary physical custody and final authority over major decisions about the children. The dispute began with what was meant to be a temporary arrangement for the 2022-2023 school year. According to the appeals court decision, written by Justice McShan, the father took the couple's son, born in 2014, and daughter, born in 2019, to their maternal grandparents' home in North Carolina in 2022.

This allowed the mother to enter a nearby facility for substance abuse treatment.