JOSHUA BOULTER PLAINTIFF RESPONDENT v. APPEAL NO (2017)

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KIMBERLY A. WOOD, ATTORNEY FOR THE CHILD, WATERTOWN.

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed without costs.

Memorandum:  Defendant mother appeals from a judgment which, inter alia, granted plaintiff father custody of the parties' child.  The mother failed to preserve for our review her contention that North Carolina was a more convenient forum for the action by failing to raise that contention before Supreme Court (see Ciesinski v. Town of Aurora, 202 A.D.2d 984, 985).  We reject the mother's contention that the record does not support the court's determination to award custody of the child to the father.  Indeed, the court properly considered the totality of the circumstances in determining that the best interests of the child are served by awarding custody to the father (see Eschbach v. Eschbach, 56 N.Y.2d 167, 174), including the stability of the existing custody arrangement and the relative fitness of the parents, the ability of each parent to provide for the emotional and intellectual development of the child, and the financial status and ability of each parent to provide for the child (see Fox v. Fox, 177 A.D.2d 209, 210).

Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court