Often, when people envision the divorce process, they see a hotly contested legal battle with two expensive lawyers in a big courtroom and an intimidating judge that wields the power to control their finances, their lives, and even the lives of their children. The truth is, most cases, even those…
Naturally, when it comes time to split stuff up in a divorce, we want to at least keep what we had before the marriage. For the monied spouse, it’s one thing to have to give up a large percentage of assets he/she acquired during the marriage to the other spouse,…
There is nothing equitable about separate property in a divorce action. If you have it, you get to keep it – all of it – unless, of course, some part of it has changed into marital property. Only marital property – property acquired during the marriage – is divided between…
The right to be with your child, along with rights to care and supervision, are some of the most basic liberties we enjoy. We can all agree that assuming basic fitness of the parents, nothing should stand in the way of these rights, even after the parents break up. Unfortunately,…
UPDATE: Governor Cuomo signed the bill into law on September 25, 2015. The Temporary Maintenance provisions are effective for divorce cases filed on or after October 25, 2015, and the balance of the law is effective for cases filed on or after January 23, 2016. Long-awaited revisions to the spousal maintenance…
One of the primary concerns when a couple decides to separate is child custody. It’s difficult to envision not living with your children all the time, but it’s the reality of separate households. What post-separation parenting arrangement is best for your children? Consider shared custody. Absent extraordinary circumstances such as…
An all-too-common scenario involves the separating couple who prepare their own settlement agreement which contractually resolves all of their issues – everything from custody and support, to property and debt division — only to find out months or possibly years down the road that their agreement is defective and unenforceable….
There are special rules which govern attorney billing in New York, and there are particular requirements for attorneys handling domestic relations matters (divorce, child custody, child support, etc.). You should never hire, nor continue to work with, any lawyer who doesn’t comply with these rules: The attorney is required to…
These days it goes without saying that intercepting email is a violation of the law. Although the occasional hapless employee is surprised to learn that his or her employer can lawfully view personal emails sent or received on office equipment, by and large, most people know to avoid overt efforts…
It should not surprise anyone that parties to a divorce action are often unable to agree on who should keep the prized family pet. As with any other issue, when they are unable to agree, the parties must look to the court for a determination. Until recently, the results were…
