Henry C. v. Faith A.
Henry C., an incarcerated father, petitioned for visitation rights with his two children, Henry C. Jr. and Kelly Ann. The respondent, Faith (the natural mother), did not oppose visitation but sought limitations. A Law Guardian was appointed for the children and subsequently filed a motion requesting Henry C. to provide handwriting samples. This request aimed to verify the authorship of certain documents, including a birthday card that questioned Henry C.'s paternity and another containing hostile messages purportedly from the children. Henry C.'s counsel opposed the motion, arguing against the CPLR's applicability and the probative value of the samples. The court, emphasizing the best interest of the child in visitation cases and the broad scope of discovery, granted the Law Guardian's request for the handwriting samples, deeming them highly probative for the visitation determination.