Long Island Family Law and Mediation Blog
A letter on a matrimonial lawyer’s letterhead has a way of making a marriage problem suddenly feel official, and frightening. If you open your mail or email and see that your spouse has retained an attorney “in connection with your marital difficulties,” your mind may immediately move several steps ahead. Has a divorce been filed? Am I about to be served? Do I need my own lawyer?
The first thing to understand is that what I refer to as a “matrimonial difficulties letter” is not a court paper or a document required by New York law. It is simply an initial communication from an attorney intended to open a discussion about marital issues and how they might be resolved.
When I send one of these letters, mine is usually short. I tell the other spouse that I have been retained, explain that my client would like to address the parties’ marital difficulties amicably if possible, and ask the spouse, or an attorney the spouse chooses, to contact me. Continue reading ›
When it comes to ending a marriage, couples often face a daunting array of choices, from navigating litigation to negotiating settlements. As a practitioner in matrimonial law, I engage in all facets of this process—litigation, negotiation, mediation, and even collaborative legal methods. Of these, negotiating or mediating a Separation Agreement before filing for divorce can often provide the most straightforward path forward. Here’s why.
Legal experts like family lawyers and divorce attorneys can offer today’s clients a lot more than just assistance with litigation. While one of the most common ways to work with a lawyer is to hire them to help fight your case in court, it’s also possible to explore alternative ways to benefit from the insight and expertise an attorney can give.
During a divorce or separation between parents, and for parents that were never married, there are various issues which need to be considered to ensure the long-term safety and wellbeing of the child. In New York, the courts will often do everything in their power to ensure the negative impact of a divorce, or parents that do not live together, on a child is as minimal as possible. While the end of a relationship, whatever the length (long term or a one-night stand), or a marriage between two parents can be upsetting for a child, it shouldn’t negatively influence that child’s ability to thrive in life.
Stipulations of settlement are a sometimes confusing aspect of family law.
blog, you’ll already know that I’m using this several-stage guide as a way to provide quick and useful information about divorce litigation to anyone who might be considering starting their own case. These guides will act as a source of quick-fire knowledge when you have questions that you need to answer as quickly as possible.
For residents of Long Island and New York, I have long offered divorce mediation as an alternative form of dispute resolution. While I do litigation and traditional settlement negotiations for divorce too, divorce mediation is an opportunity for divorcing or separating parties to come together and negotiate the terms that dictate the end of their relationship. Using divorce mediators, couples can keep the courts largely out of their divorce process, while maintaining more control over what happens next. What’s more, for many people, mediation can be a lot less expensive than paying for litigation.
to go through with a full divorce, or you need to come to terms with your partner about your future before a divorce takes place, a separation agreement can be a useful process. Whether addressed as part of a divorce mediation process or negotiated between divorce attorneys, these agreements allow clients to lay out the details of their upcoming divorce as quickly and efficiently as possible.