DULCE CUCO v. SANDRA MATOS

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-3170-07T33170-07T3

DULCE CUCO,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

SANDRA MATOS and

RAFAEL CABRERA,

Defendants-Respondents.

_________________________________

 

Submitted April 1, 2009 - Decided

Before Judges Fisher and King.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Union County, Docket No. FD-20-337-03.

Joel C. Seltzer, attorney for appellant.

Law Firm of Gabrielle N. Gallagher, attorney for respondent Sandra Matos (Ms. Gallagher, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM

This is a Family Part child custody appeal from Judge Kessler who granted custody of S., age about eleven, to her biological mother, Sandra Matos. Plaintiff Dulce Cuco, S.'s maternal grandmother, appeals.

The judge awarded both legal and residential custody to Sandra Matos but allowed generous visitation to the grandmother. The court-appointed expert, Dr. Moorehead, favored the mother while the plaintiff's expert, Dr. Katz, favored "shared custody."

This was fundamentally a dispute of fact, and a question of sound judgment. The child's father, Rafael Cabrera, supported the mother's contentions. Judge Kessler found the plaintiff grandmother generally less credible than the mother and the mother a more suitable residential custodian.

The judge in a very thorough twenty-six page oral decision on January 24, 2008 recognized the presumption in favor of the natural mother over the grandmother in such situations. Watkins v. Nelson, 136 N.J. 235, 246 (2000). After making his credibility findings, and explaining his thought process, he ruled on custody in favor of the mother. We affirm on the opinion of Judge Kessler in the Family Part.

Affirmed.

(continued)

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A-3170-07T3

April 17, 2009