Appeal from an order of the Family Court of St. Lawrence County (Potter, J.), entered August 3, 2007, which dismissed petitioner’s application, in a proceeding pursuant to Family Ct Act article 6, to modify a prior order of visitation.
The parties are the parents of two children born in 1998 and 2000. Respondent (hereinafter the mother) has sole custody of the children and petitioner (hereinafter the father), who is incarcerated, was granted permission to write to them by an order entered September 20, 2005. The order also provided that the father could apply for contact visits with the children once his relationship with them was reestablished. In May 2007, the father filed a petition seeking modification of the prior order, stating, “I have not been able to successfully establish any legitimate contact with either of my children.” The mother moved to dismiss the petition for the father’s failure to state a cause of action due to the absence of any allegation of a change in circumstances. On that ground, Family Court dismissed the petition without prejudice. The father now appeals and we affirm.
Since “an existing custody [or visitation] order will be modified only when the party seeking the modification demonstrates a sufficient change in circumstances since entry of the prior order to warrant modification thereof in the child’s best interest” (Matter of Kerwin v Kerwin, 39 AD3d 950, 951 [2007]), the father’s failure to “factually aver any change in circumstances . . . which would warrant modification” supports Family Court’s summary dismissal of the petition (Matter of Deuel v Dalton, 33 AD3d 1158, 1159 [2006]). The father’s petition and supporting affidavit allege only that, despite his attempts at unspecified “communication” with the children through his own
Nor are we persuaded by the father’s argument that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The record offers no evidence that counsel failed to communicate with the father or that the father provided counsel with any relevant facts other than those alleged in the original petition. Thus, we cannot find that the father was prejudiced by counsel’s failure to specify some other ground for modification in an amended petition or in opposition to the mother’s motion to dismiss (see Matter of Anson v Anson, 20 AD3d 603, 605 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 711 [2005] ; compare Matter of Mitchell v Childs, 26 AD3d 685, 687 [2006] ).
We have reviewed the father’s remaining contentions and find them to be unavailing.
Mercure, J.E, Peters, Carpinello and Kavanagh, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.