In a divorce involving children, parenting issues can stir a bitter custody battle. Our firm has litigated and won thousands of custody matters for our clients, and we know the importance of gaining, exercising and understanding parenting rights. In New York, two fundamental types of custody must be agreed upon by parents or decided by the court before a divorce…
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed two cases before it concerning the rights of same-sex couples. The response of the court on these two issues was as follows: United States v. Windsor — The court ruled Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional and deprives citizens of their liberty under the Fifth Amendment of the…
In high-conflict divorce matters, the use of a parenting coordinator is sometimes suggested. What is a parenting coordinator, and can one really help? According to the American Psychological Association, parenting coordination is a nonadversarial dispute resolution process ordered by a court or agreed to and paid for by parents. For families routinely using lawyer-assisted negotiation and litigation to resolve disputes,…
The divorce process legally ends a marriage and necessarily creates agreements about spousal support, division of assets and child custody if there are children. Many couples can make decisions themselves or with the aid of an attorney or mediator. However, if you are not lucky enough to be half of one of those couples, your case will continue toward trial…
A few years ago, a cluster of celebrity divorces gave rise to the idea that divorce could be contagious. It was thought that seeing high-profile couples calling it quits was having a ripple effect on people in general deciding to separate. Yet, there are still many people who stay in an unhappy marriage for decades before deciding they are done.…
When your spouse asked to separate, you agreed. Because you have children, you urged your spouse to work through divorce collaboratively or through mediation. Seven months down the road, you feel stymied. Your spouse appears to have no interest in recognizing the issues and, worse yet, is making serious, unfounded accusations against you. What’s going on? While it takes two…
In a marriage without a prenuptial agreement, the assets and liabilities of divorcing couples are split equitably. If you’re considering a second marriage, you should consider a prenuptial agreement to protect your financial well-being. While the divorce rate is high for first-time couples, it’s even higher for those who marry a second or third time. When you marry for the…
Which of these examples would be considered marital waste? Upon being asked for a divorce, a spouse goes on a spending spree, running up the balance on jointly held credit cards. Throughout the marriage, a spouse drinks to excess and gambles away the proceeds of an investment account held by the couple. A couple separates when one spouse learns the…
Divorce at any age is stressful, destabilizing and often economically difficult. But a divorce that comes after many years of marriage, at a time when most couples are thinking of retiring, is especially difficult emotionally and financially. In March of this year, a study from the National Center for Family Life and Marriage Research reported the divorce rate of couples…
The marital estate includes property, goods and debt accumulated by a couple during their marriage. In a New York divorce, those marital assets are divided equitably. But what happens to assets in the digital domain? As a resource for evidence of over-the-top spending and other unsavory behavior of opposing parties, Facebook and other social media can prove popular during a…