Commissioner of Social Services v. Kastriot D.

Respondent failed to demonstrate a reasonable excuse for his default (see CPLR 5015 [a] [1]). Before the date of the support hearing, respondent was present in court and advised that he needed to document his financial condition on the next court date or the support order would be based on the children’s needs on a public assistance budget, pursuant to Family Court Act § 413 (1) (k). Nonetheless, respondent failed to appear at the support hearing. Although he was incarcerated at the time of the hearing, he took no action to notify the court of his unavailability (see Matter of A.C.S. Child…