Saunders, Brandon P. v. Stull, Jennifer M., 133 A.D.3d 1383 (N.Y. App. Div. 2015). · Go Syfert
Saunders, Brandon P. v. Stull, Jennifer M., 133 A.D.3d 1383 (N.Y. App. Div. 2015). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
12 citation events (12 in the last 25 years) across 1 distinct court.
Strongest positive: Matter of Jones v. Serna (nyappdiv, 2026-06-26)
Top citers, strongest first. 6 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Matter of Jones v. Serna
N.Y. App. Div. · 2026 · confidence medium
We also reject the father's contention that the court should not have suspended his visitation and access to the child inasmuch as the mother did not foster or encourage the child's relationship with the father ( cf. Matter of Saunders v Stull , 133 AD3d 1383, 1384 [4th Dept 2015]).
examined Cited as authority (rule) Matter of Leonard v. Davis (3×)
N.Y. App. Div. · 2025 · confidence medium
We reject the mother's further contention that the court erred in granting the father sole legal and primary physical custody. "[A] court ' s determination regarding custody . . . issues, based upon a first-hand assessment of the credibility of the witnesses after an evidentiary hearing, is entitled to great weight" ( Matter of Saunders v Stull , 133 AD3d 1383, 1383 [4th Dept 2015] [internal quotation marks omitted]), and such a determination "will not be disturbed as long as it is supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record" ( Sheridan v Sheridan , 129 AD3d 1567, 1568 [4th Dept 2…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Matter of Riley v. Kidney
N.Y. App. Div. · 2022 · confidence medium
We reject the mother's further contention that the court erred in granting the father sole custody of the subject child. "[A] court's determination regarding custody . . . issues, based upon a first-hand assessment of the credibility of the witnesses after an evidentiary hearing, is entitled to great weight" ( Matter of Saunders v Stull , 133 AD3d 1383, 1383 [4th Dept 2015]; see Matter of Dubuque v Bremiller , 79 AD3d 1743 , 1744 [4th Dept 2010]) and "will not be disturbed as long as it is supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record" ( Sheridan v Sheridan , 129 AD3d 1567, 1568 [4t…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Matter of Shepherd v. Shepherd
N.Y. App. Div. · 2022 · confidence medium
We reject the mother's further contention that the court erred in granting the father sole custody of the subject children. "[A] court's determination regarding custody . . . issues, based upon a first-hand assessment of the credibility of the witnesses after an evidentiary hearing, is entitled to great weight" ( Matter of Saunders v Stull , 133 AD3d 1383, 1383 [4th Dept 2015] [internal quotation marks omitted]), and such a determination "will not be disturbed as long as it is supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record" ( Sheridan v Sheridan , 129 AD3d 1567 , 1568 [4th Dept 2015]…
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Matter of McCarthy v. Kriegar
N.Y. App. Div. · 2018 · confidence medium
Contrary to the mother's further contention, "a court's determination regarding custody and visitation issues, based upon a first-hand assessment of the credibility of the witnesses after an evidentiary hearing, is entitled to great weight and will not be set aside unless it lacks an evidentiary basis in the record" ( Matter of Saunders v Stull , 133 AD3d 1383, 1383 [4th Dept 2015] [internal quotation marks omitted]).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) OWENS, MIRIAM M. v. POUND, RICHARD G.
N.Y. App. Div. · 2016 · confidence medium
In addition, the hearing evidence, including evidence that the mother moved more than an hour away from the father’s home with the child when the parties separated and denied the father access to the child for over a month, supports the court’s finding that the father is the more willing of the parties to foster the other parent’s relationship with the child (see Matter of Saunders v Stull, 133 AD3d 1383, 1384 [2015]; see generally Matter of Hill v Dean, 135 AD3d 990, 993-994 [2016]).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
In the Matter of Brandon P. Saunders, Respondent,
v.
Jennifer M. Stull, Appellant
CAF 14-01014.
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
Nov 20, 2015.
133 A.D.3d 1383
Cited by 9 opinions  |  Published

Appeal from an order of the Family Court, Steuben County (Gerard J. Alonzo, Jr., J.H.O.), entered May 16, 2014 in a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6. The order, inter alia, granted petitioner sole custody of the subject child.

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

Memorandum: In this proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 6, respondent mother appeals from an order that, inter alia, granted petitioner father sole custody of the parties’ child, with visitation to the mother. The mother contends that Family Court did not give proper consideration to the father’s history of domestic violence. We reject that contention. The record establishes that the court fully considered the evidence that the father committed an act of domestic violence against the mother (see Domestic Relations Law § 240 [1] [a]; Matter of LaMay v Staves, 128 AD3d 1485, 1486 [2015]), and we agree with the court that it is in the child’s best interests to remain in the custody of the father despite the evidence of domestic violence (see LaMay, 128 AD3d at 1486; Matter of Booth v Booth, 8 AD3d 1104, 1105 [2004], lv denied 3 NY3d 607 [2004]; see also Matter of Viscuso v Viscuso, 129 AD3d 1679, 1681-1682 [2015]).

Contrary to the mother’s further contentions, the court properly determined that an award of sole custody to the father was in the child’s best interests. “ ‘Generally, a court’s determination regarding custody and visitation issues, based upon a first-hand assessment of the credibility of the witnesses after an evidentiary hearing, is entitled to great weight and will not be set aside unless it lacks an evidentiary basis in the record’ ” (Matter of Dubuque v Bremiller, 79 AD3d 1743, 1744 [2010]). Here, the court’s determination that the father is better able to provide for the child’s needs is supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record and thus will not be disturbed (see Matter of Flint v Ely, 96 AD3d 1681, 1682 [2012]; Matter of Fox v Coleman, 93 AD3d 1187, 1188 [2012]). Although the award of sole custody to the father will limit the amount of time the child will spend with his half-siblings, and “sibling[*1384] relationships should not be disrupted unless there is some overwhelming need to do so” (Matter of O’Connell v O’Connell, 105 AD3d 1367, 1368 [2013] [internal quotation marks omitted]), we note that the visitation schedule fashioned by the court is a countervailing benefit inasmuch as the child will be able to spend a substantial amount of time with his half-siblings during the summer (see generally id. at 1368-1369). Moreover, we conclude that sole custody to the father is the most appropriate result in this case in light of the evidence at the hearing that the mother was attempting to exclude the father from the child’s life while the father was willing to foster a relationship between the child and the mother (see Matter of McTighe v Pearl, 8 AD3d 951, 951-952 [2004], lv dismissed 4 NY3d 739 [2004]; Matter of Erck v Erck, 147 AD2d 921, 921-922 [1989]; see generally Matter of Koch v Koch, 121 AD3d 1201, 1203 [2014]).

The mother further contends that the court erred in determining that portions of her hearing testimony were not credible. We reject that contention. The court’s “ ‘determination regarding the credibility of witnesses is entitled to great weight on appeal, and will not be disturbed if supported by the record’ ” (Matter of Burke H. [Tiffany H.], 117 AD3d 1568, 1568 [2014]), and we conclude that the court’s credibility determinations are supported by the record. Present — Scudder, P.J., Centra, Peradotto, Lindley and Valentino, JJ.