Title: Bistawros v. Bistawros

State: delaware

Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
BAHEG BISTAWROS, 
 
Petitioner Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
KAREN BISTAWROS, 
 
Respondent Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§ 
§  No. 263, 2002 
§ 
§  Court Below—Family Court 
§  of the State of Delaware, 
§  in and for New Castle County 
§  File No. CN97-11624 
§  CPI No. 97-37762 
§ 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: July 12, 2002 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: August 23, 2002 
 
Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, WALSH, and STEELE, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 23rd day of August 2002, upon consideration of the appellant’s 
opening brief, the appellee’s motion to affirm, and the record below, it 
appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The petitioner below-appellant, Baheg Bistawros (“Father”), 
filed this appeal from the Family Court’s denial of Father’s motion to set 
aside a September 10, 1998 judgment awarding custody of the parties’ minor 
children to Mother.  The Family Court treated Father’s motion as a motion 
for relief from judgment under Family Court Civil Rule 60(b) and denied the 
motion as moot.  This appeal ensued. 
 
2 
 
(2) 
We have reviewed the parties’ contentions and the record 
carefully.  We conclude that the Family Court did not abuse its discretion in 
denying Father’s motion as moot.  The record reflects that the Family Court, 
in a separate dependency/neglect proceeding, issued an order dated January 
29, 2001 awarding custody of the children to their maternal grandparents.  
That judgment, which superseded the September 1998 judgment awarding 
custody to Mother, remains in effect.  Accordingly, Father’s claims of fraud 
and “cover-up” with respect to the proceedings leading to the September 
1998 judgment are moot.  Summary disposition of Bistawros’s claims was 
appropriate, and we find no error in the Family Court’s restriction of future 
filings by either party absent compliance with 10 Del. C. § 8803(e). 
 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 
Family Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ E. Norman Veasey 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chief Justice