Matrimonial and custody determinations have long been noted for their detrimental effect on the litigants, their children, their counsel … and even the judiciary. In the wake of the current pandemic, the trauma is exacerbated. Magnified social and psychological tensions affect all—and inflict damage, often permanent, particularly on the children subject to the conflict. Ellen C. Schell, “How the Public Health Crisis Makes Preventing Domestic Violence Harder,” NYSBA.org, May 1, 2020.

Supreme Court Justice Jeffery Sunshine’s excellent article published in the New York Law Journal on March 27, 2020, titled “COVID-19 and Future Custody Determinations,” is a “must read” for matrimonial practitioners representing clients in custody and visitation disputes. Judge Sunshine, Statewide Coordinating Judge for Matrimonial Cases, notes that the courts will consider the behavior of the parent during the litigation as relevant to their future conduct that will affect their children. He notes that a party’s failure to obey court orders may be relevant to the court’s conclusion as to the likely behavior of the party after conclusion of the court’s proceedings. Judge Sunshine reminds us that custody and parenting decisions are one of the most difficult the Court is required to make. He advises parents that:

[h]ow they conduct themselves at parenting during a time of a pandemic crisis … will shape their relationship with each other as divorced parents in the future … . Through the eyes of a child, their world turned upside down—their school disrupted and social interactions with friends now almost impossible. One of the only things that should and can bring comfort to a child is parents cooperating. Not only is it in the best interest of the child—the time-honored standard—it is the best interest in their divorce and their relationship to come.

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