Articles Posted in Separation

Negotiationpic-300x207Legal 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.

For instance, legal professionals can act as a consultant for people attempting to generate the best possible outcomes from a separation agreement or divorce case. If an individual decides to pursue mediation as a tool for planning a separation agreement, they can avoid some of the complexities and emotional hardships associated with litigation.

However, a mediator is an objective party, unable to give direct guidance or advice on how a specific party can serve their own interests in a case. As such, clients are usually advised to seek out support from a review attorney during the mediation. The review attorney can provide legal advice and support to the client, without necessarily taking on the role of litigator. Continue reading ›

Baby-and-Mom-300x200During 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.

Sometimes, to ensure a child continues to access the opportunities they would have had should their parents have stayed together, or to simply take care of their needs, the court will need to order child support. This payment, given to the primary caregiver or the residential custodial parent of the child, helps to ensure they can give the child the best quality of life without the presence of the other parental figure.

In most cases, child support is calculated according to a specific formula. However, certain children will have advanced or specific needs which require the standard formula for child support to be reconsidered. For children with special needs, additional considerations will often contribute to the decision of how much child support a non-custodial parent should pay. These special needs can also influence how long support is awarded for.  A law just signed into effect in New York now extends the age of child support for special needs children.  This can mean proceeding with or defending against an onslaught of child support petitions in Family Court, or post-divorce judgment motions in the Supreme Court for special needs children that have already aged out. Continue reading ›

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Upset couple having a disagreement at the beach

I’ve been updating my blog regularly recently with bullet point lists designed to curate some of my older articles and insights on divorce litigation into bite sized chunks. These guides might prove useful to you if you have questions about divorce litigation and want to get answers quickly. Today, the focus of our guide will be on senior divorces, and the unique issues that need to be addressed when an older couple parts ways.

There are many reasons that a couple may choose to pursue a divorce later in life, and like with younger couples, these individuals may find that alternative dispute resolution options like mediation aren’t suitable for them.  I am always a fan of mediation for couples of all ages, but, when an agreement cannot be reached outside of court, that is the reason we have judges.  If you’re considering litigation later in life, you may need to consider some of the issues I address here. Continue reading ›

Couch-fight-300x200Stipulations of settlement are a sometimes confusing aspect of family law.

A final stipulation of settlement is a contract that settles all the aspects of a divorce. Both parties agree on the distribution of marital property in these cases. If there are minor children, custody and parenting time, child support, and the payment or waiver of maintenance (alimony) should all be discussed in the agreement when a marriage ends.

Stipulations of settlement, like many issues in divorce law, require careful consideration by the courts and parties in questions. While couples can often easily submit a stipulation of settlement with support from the correct divorce attorney, it’s up to the courts to decide when a stipulation should be upheld, and when it needs to be set aside upon a proper request by one side of the case.

When is a Settlement Enforceable and Valid?

New York Domestic Relations Law Section 236B(3) highlights that an agreement by the parties, made before or during that marriage, should be enforceable and valid in a matrimonial action (such as separation or divorce), if the agreement is in writing and the parties have subscribed, acknowledged or proven the agreement with the same specific formalities that would entitle a deed to be recorded..  A valid and enforceable stipulation of settlement means that the parties have subscribed to a specific agreement and are entitled to record a deed. Continue reading ›

Welcome back to our second set of bullet points for the divorce and litigation series guide. If you read my previousHurt-Couple-300x204 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.

In this part of the series, we’ll be looking at relocation clauses and how they work when it comes to child custody agreements made in litigation. I’ll also touch on the concept of separation agreements, and when they’re helpful in a divorce case.

Relocation Causes Agreed To in Divorce Litigation

Family law is made up of many complicated areas, from maintenance, to equitable distribution. However, there are few aspects more stressful for most families than deciding on divorce with custody and visitation times. Continue reading ›

Skypepic-300x200For 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.

In an ideal situation, separating and divorcing couples would get the most out of their mediation session by both coming into the same room to talk. I try to offer my clients a warm and welcoming environment where they can discuss their issues with my help as a divorce mediator. For those who need additional guidance, I even offer the option for mediation by caucus, and preliminary planning sessions too (if both parties are willing). However, when people move apart after a separation, or need to travel frequently for business, finding time to get together in the same mediation environment isn’t always possible.

Couples can’t always stop their lives to take part in mediation, but that doesn’t mean that decisions don’t need to be made about everything from child support to maintenance. Divorce mediation through video conferencing tools like Skype, conference calls, or other tools could be an answer to a number of complicated situations. Continue reading ›

Negotiationpic-300x207The courtroom is rarely a place that most people want to visit when dealing with their matrimonial issues. More often than not, a day in court is a stressful experience, particularly when it comes to dealing with things like divorce, child custody, and visitation rights. It’s no wonder that many individuals prefer to negotiate their divorce outside of court if possible. While there are ways for people to avoid the courts, such as using divorce mediation, not all spouses know for definite whether their spouse will agree to an alternative dispute resolution process like divorce mediation or collaborative law. In these circumstances, it’s important to keep your options open.

When a spouse contacts my office to arrange their initial consultation (free for up to 30 minutes with the potential to move to paid consultations after), we try to screen them first to see if they are looking to utilize me as their neutral divorce mediator. It’s important for us to find out whether they want a one-on-one consultation with me as an attorney, or whether they are looking for a divorce mediator. Meeting with someone one-on-one when they’re considering mediation could compromise my position as a neutral party in the eyes of their partner. If the individual tells me that they want to have a one-on-one consultation with me, I may not be able to be their mediator, but we can keep their options open. Continue reading ›

In previous blog posts, we’ve discussed the benefits of separation agreements, and how they can affect the divorce procedure in New York. When you’re unsure whether you’re ready MatureBusinessPeople-300x200to 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.

If a couple negotiates a separation agreement and signs the appropriate documentation, they will have more options available to them in the future. For example, if a couple decides that they no longer want to get divorced and instead want to pursue opportunities to fix their relationships, they can simply nullify the separation agreement and go back to living together as normal. On the other hand, if the spouses involved in a separation agreement decide that they do need to get a full divorce, they will be able to apply for an uncontested divorce as all the issues were ostensibly settled in the separation agreement. This means that they won’t have to argue about issues like equitable distribution, child support, child custody and maintenance in court. Continue reading ›

In recent blog posts, I have discussed the concept of separation agreements, used both as a way to give couples a break when they’re not sure whether they want to Mediating-Couple-Bright-Window-300x200end their marriage and as a precursor or first step in full divorce experience that ensues immediately thereafter. A separation agreement is a document that outlines various answers to questions that a couple might have at the end of their marriage. For instance, your separation agreement might dictate what’s going to happen to your family home when your divorce is final, or who will be responsible for having custody of the children.

Because separation agreements require both parties to agree on what happens when their marriage comes to an end, there is a lot of negotiation involved. As a divorce mediator, I’m able to help parties collaborate during this complicated process and discuss the things that are most important to them. For instance, I can provide a safe environment, where both parties can come together to discuss everything from equitable distribution to visitation or parenting time agreements. Acting as a mediator, my job won’t be to provide any legal counsel or guidance, but to provide instead a neutral space where decisions can be made about your future after marriage. Continue reading ›

In a previous blog post, I spoke about separation agreements, and how they can sometimes be helpful, regardless of whether or not a couple decides to progress with Mediation-Therapy-pic-300x200their divorce. While there doesn’t necessarily need to be a legal agreement written up for people to start living apart and to say how parties should act during their separation.  These kinds of agreements, however, can be helpful in some circumstances legally. Many couples find that going through the details of their separation with a divorce attorney or divorce mediator, like me, can help them to protect their rights, improve the predictability of the experience and eliminate unnecessary arguments.

Frequently, separation agreements are particularly useful when the two parties considering divorce are involved in attempting to work out their finances. For instance, if one partner has been raising the couple’s children up until now, and hasn’t had a job, and the other is the wage earner, separation agreements may help to ensure that the needs of the family continue to be met. Some of my clients also find that separation agreements are useful if they haven’t yet decided whether they’re ready to officially dissolve their marriage with a divorce. Discussing the details of how you’ll live after the divorce may help you to decide whether completing the process is the right thing to do. Continue reading ›

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