The founder of the “No Spin Zone” may think that New York judges are “pinheads”, and that’s because they ruled against him this week in his bid to have his teenage children live with him, rather than his ex-wife.
Last year the Nassau County Supreme Court awarded his ex, Maureen McPhilmy, age 49, full residential custody of 13-year-old Spencer and 17-year-old Madeleine, although O’Reilly, age 66, has full visiting rights and shares legal custody.
As is typical in custody cases involving teenagers, both teens expressed their views, which given their ages, were highly persuasive to the judges hearing the case. The children wanted to remain living with their mother.
The Appellate court, however, spoke in favour of continued joint legal custody saying:
“…the record supports the court’s finding that if either parent were awarded sole decision-making authority, there would be a danger that it would be used to exclude the other parent from meaningful participation in the children’s lives.”
An unfortunate finding that suggests this custody battle has been high-conflict and that the once-married O’Reilly’s can no longer say anything positive about the other. It has also been reported that O’Reilly’s daughter advised a child custody assessor that she had witnessed domestic violence in the home, a charge that O’Reilly has adamantly denied.
What is not so unusual about this case is that the name O’Reilly does not appear in the court registry or in court documents, undoubtedly to protect the children.
The case is listed as Anonymous 2011-1 v Anonymous 2011-2 which indicates their fight has raged on for 5 years.
Lawdiva aka Georgialee Lang
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