practice areas

Making the decision to dissolve your marriage and file for divorce is never easy. Divorces are wrought with emotional turmoil and parties often lose sight of the ultimate goal. This is why it is important to have an experienced divorce attorney help you stay on track and move through your divorce as swiftly and painlessly as possible.

New York State is now a "no fault" state. What this means is that one can now obtain a divorce without the Court finding "fault" on the part of either party, and only one party has to claim that the relationship is irretrievably broken. However, before a divorce can be granted based upon this ground, all issues surrounding the divorce must be resolved. Resolving such issues can be complicated, especially when there's children involved.

Most divorce cases are ultimately settled without going to trial, with the help of skilled and experienced attorneys who come up with creative solutions to contested issues. Unfortunately, there are some cases that cannot be resolved without going to Court. Often, these cases are settled after attending court conferences and completing discovery. However, if a compromise cannot be reached, the only option left is to go to trial and have a Judge make a decision.

It is essential that you have a professional and experienced divorce attorney on your side who knows the law, can properly advise you as to how to proceed to protect your interests, and, if necessary, can skillfully and effectively conduct a trial and elicit the testimony and evidence necessary to ensure the best outcome for you.

The issue of custody and parenting time is perhaps the most emotionally charged issue in divorce and family law. Any Order or agreement regarding custody and parenting time will directly impact your child's day-to-day life and future. Having an experienced attorney help resolve this issue, whether in Court or out of Court, is essential to ensuring that your child's needs are met and his life is not negatively impacted.

Negotiating a custody and parenting time agreement requires great attention to detail to make sure that there are no holes or unaccounted for scenarios that could land the parties back in Court. Parties are often tempted to keep agreements vague to allow for flexibility, which almost always leads to arguments about how the agreement should be interpreted. Only an experienced divorce and family law attorney can make sure that you have a professionally drafted agreement that adequately reflects the parties intentions.

It is equally, if not more important to have an experienced divorce and family law attorney if the question of custody and/or parenting time cannot be resolved out of Court. Your attorney will help convince the Judge and Attorney for the Child/Children (an attorney appointed by the Court to represent your child(ren) and ensure they have a voice in the proceedings) why you should have custody of your child or why your proposal for parenting time is in the best interests of your child.

There are many reasons you many want to opt to enter into a Separation Agreement rather than immediately initiating a divorce proceeding. First, in New York, you are entitled to a "conversion divorce" if you have been living separate and apart from your spouse for a period of at least one year pursuant to a separation agreement. What this means is that once your Separation Agreement is a year old, as long both parties have substantially complied with the terms, your lawyer can simply fill out some paperwork, submitted to the Court, and obtain a Judgment of Divorce on your behalf without ever having to step inside a courtroom.

Another reason is that once a Judgment of Divorce is obtained, you are no longer eligible to be covered under your spouse's health insurance plan. Thus, many people enter into separation agreements so they can continue to be covered by their spouse's health insurance. This allows them more time to plan for their own health coverage while having piece of mind that the issues surrounding the dissolution of their marriage has been resolved.

Separation Agreements, like Stipulations resolving a divorce, must resolve the issues surrounding the separation such as custody, child support, maintenance/alimony and equitable distribution. Thus it is important to have a professional and experienced divorce and family lawyer draft your agreement to ensure that your rights are protected, that the agreement is legally binding, and that it accurately reflects the intentions of you and your spouse.

In New York, Child Support is determined based upon a formula incorporated into a law known as the Child Support Standards Act. When both parties are W-2 employees, determining Child Support is usually simple and can often be resolved without Court intervention. However, if one or both parties are self-employed, recently became unemployed, or there was a recent change to a party's income determining Child Support becomes more complicated. Additionally, when both parties' incomes added together (known as the combined parental income) is greater than the statutory cap for mandatory child support, several factors must be considered to determine how much income above the cap (if any) should be considered for child support purposes. In this instance, it is imperative that an experienced family lawyer represent you to ensure that your financial future, as well as your child's, is safeguarded.

Similar to Child Support, there is now a formula the governs the amount of spousal support, if any, that is to be paid in a divorce case. Click here for a maintenance and child support calculator that can give you an idea of the amount you could be required to pay or entitled to receive.

Also like child support, there is a statutory income cap for spousal support, and if the combined income of both parties exceeds the cap, then certain factors must be argued and considered to determine how much income, if any, above the cap should be considered when calculating spousal support.

Additionally, how long spousal support will last is somewhat discretionary, and determined by a variety of factors. An experienced divorce and family lawyer is essential to negotiate a reasonable spousal support obligation and duration and/or argue this issue to the Court.

A pre-nuptial agreement is an agreement entered into prior to marriage providing for certain stipulations in the event of a divorce, separation or death of a spouse. These agreements commonly provide for how certain property should be divided, but can also provide for payment of child support and spousal support if the parties desire. It is important to have a pre-nuptial agreement in place prior to entering into a marriage if you have precious or valuable assets (such as a business or a home) in order to make sure these assets are protected in the event the marriage is dissolved.

Additionally, if this is not your first marriage and there are children involved, it is recommended that a pre-nuptial agreement be signed if there are certain assets you would like your children to inherit .

A post-nuptial agreement has the same function as a pre-nuptial agreement, but it is entered into once the parties are already married. Post-nuptial agreements are especially important if you acquire any substantial assets during the marriage that you want to protect, as these assets will be considered marital property and be subject to equitable distribution in the event of a divorce. For example, if you start your own business during your marriage, in the event of a divorce your business (as well as your business property) will be appraised, and subject to equitable distribution, even if your spouse had little to no involvement in the company. It is in your best interest to protect these assets during your marriage, rather than having to negotiate their distribution in the context of a divorce when your relationship with your spouse will most likely be less than amicable.

In cases where there are many valuable assets, it can be hard to come to an agreement on property distribution. Arguments often arise as to the value of certain assets and whether the asset is marital or separate property (separate property is not subject to distribution in a divorce).

Additionally, if you own a business, the question of whether your spouse should be entitled to a percentage of the value, what that percentage is, and what the business is worth is not easily answered.

Lastly, it becomes more difficult to determine awards of child and spousal support in high net worth cases, as the payor often is not a W-2 employee and receives income from multiple sources, including investments and rental income. Also, a determination must be made as to how much income exceeding the statutory cap should be considered in determining support.

Orders of Protection are Court Orders that instruct abusers not to contact, harass, stalk, go near or commit any action that will inflict harm upon their victim(s). If an abuser violates this Order the police can be called and the abuser will automatically be arrested. Orders of Protection are sometimes issued in Criminal Court after a police report is made, but the victim has a lot more control over obtaining an Order of Protection in Family Court. The Family Court will not entertain petitions for Orders of Protection unless parties are family members or are/were involved in a "significant relationship". This includes not only spouses, ex-spouses and those who share children, but those who were never married nor have children together, but were together intimately. An experienced divorce and family lawyer will help you draft your petition so that the wording is clear that a family offense has been committed and the issuance of an Order of Protection is warranted. She will also represent you in Court and help convince the Court that a permanent Order of Protection (for a period of 1 year or more depending upon the circumstances) should be granted on behalf of you and/or your children.

Many times a Judge misinterprets the law or facts and evidence before it, and, as result, issues an Order that is unfair and contrary to Court precedent. In that case, in order to get the Order overturned, you must file an appeal.

Appeals do not allow you to relitigate your case. The Appellate Court may only consider the testimony and evidence presented to the trial Court in determining whether to overturn an Order. This involves providing the transcripts and evidence to the Appellate Court and drafting a lengthy and particular brief summarizing the case and what the Court did wrong, citing legal precedent to support your argument.

Notices of Appeal must be filed and served within 30 days of receiving the Court Order you want to appeal, and briefs are usually required to be filed within 60 days after the transcripts are received (although extensions are regularly given). It is important that you do not delay if you are seeking to appeal a Court Order, as the deadlines are very strictly adhered to by the Appellate Division.

Please contact us for more information on any of these issues and we will set up an in depth consultation. We are only a click away!