Klat v. Klat

In Klat v. Klat, 176 A.D.2d 922 (2d Dep't 1991), the Court awarded custody of 8 year old boy to mother and 17 year old girl and 14 year old boy to father. The 8 year old demonstrated a need for attention which was beyond the father's capacity to provide on a full time basis. In that case, the brothers had been separated for several months prior to trial and the situation had been well received by them. The older brother visited his mother's house after school several times a week to play with his younger brother in addition to seeing him during court ordered visitation. Apparently, the 8 year old was very attached to his mother and required constant attention. The father worked full time as a school psychologist and in a private practice which took him away from the home 2 -3 nights per week. The mother, on the other hand, was a full time mother who did not work outside the home on a regular basis. She had greater flexibility to accommodate the 8 year old's schedule and to devote to him the time and attention he needed. With regard to the older boy, the Court found that he had shown significant improvement under his father's care and that it would have been psychologically disastrous to return him to his mother's care.