Hughes v. Davis

*1675Memorandum: Upon her return from active military duty, petitioner mother filed a petition seeking to modify a prior order of custody. Family Court granted respondent father’s motion to dismiss the petition without conducting a hearing based on its determination that the mother had “failed to show a change of circumstances.” We conclude, based on the recent enactment of Family Court Act § 651 (f), that the petition should be reinstated.

It is well settled that, in seeking to modify an existing order of custody, “[t]he petitioner must make a sufficient evidentiary showing of a change in…