Articles Tagged with Abuse

The Family Court in New York has the jurisdiction to hear cases involving allegations of abuse and neglect of children.  They are commonly referred to as “N” docket cases since the docket number starts with the letter N.  Generally the case belongs in the county of residence of the subject child or children.  There is nothing to prevent criminal proceedings at the same time as the family court proceedings, however, the family court cases are intended to be about protecting the children, whereas criminal proceedings are about crime and punishment.  Services might be ordered by the court to help protect a child, improve the family situation or to aid in getting children out of foster care while the case is ongoing.

One of the first acts that a court will take when an abuse or neglect proceeding is initiated will be to appoint an attorney to represent the child or children who are the subjects of the case.  The job of the attorney for the children is to advocate for what the children want.  This is their same role whether they are appointed as attorneys for the children in a child custody case, which are commonly referred to as “V” docket cases, or in an “N” docket cases.  In the case of children not old enough or mature enough to formulate their own opinions of what they want an attorney for the child is permitted to substitute their judgment for that of what the children say they want.  It is the job of the judge to determine what is in the children’s best interests.

Often child custody, abuse and neglect cases proceed at the same time in front of the same judge since they involve the children and what is in their best interests.  I often represent a parent or a relative in such cases.  Many times my client is attempting to get custody for themselves when someone else is facing the allegations of abuse or neglect. Children might be ordered to be removed from their home when an abuse or neglect case is ongoing,  Relatives are supposed to be located and informed that the case is ongoing and that they have the possibility to seek custody, become foster parents, or in cases where reunification with the parents is not necessary or possible, that they may seek to adopt the children themselves.  When there is an appropriate relative to live with, and the children need to be removed from their current home, the court can give that relative custody, place the children with that parent, or in the care of the social services agency to place with the other parent, relative or in foster care when there are not other appropriate options.  Sometimes the court might decide that the child should remain with the same parent despite that the neglect or abuse case is ongoing. Continue reading ›

Neglect or abuse allegations come up frequently in child custody matters. The purpose of this blog entry is to discuss some of the nuances of how abuse and neglect accusations come into play in a custody case. Like me, Long Island Child Custody Lawyers and attorneys that handle cases in and around the New York City area acquire this information through years of practice.

A notable procedural matter in the New York Family Courts concerns when an abuse/neglect case is pending at the same time as a custody case involving the same parties. In most instances, the custody case cannot be resolved until such time as the abuse or neglect case is completed. Therefore, the custody case usually will be assigned to the same Judge that has the abuse/neglect case.   The custody case will then follow along with the abuse or neglect case.   In the New York family courts an abuse/neglect case is commonly referred to as an “N” docket case as the docket number starts with the letter “N”. Custody/visitation cases (parenting time) cases in the family court are called “V” dockets as the docket numbers in those cases begin with the letter “V”.

Often, an N-docket case might be resolved if the Respondent in the N-docket case agrees to V-docket custody be given to the other parent or petitioner in the custody case.   What this means is that the County or protective services agency that is proceeding with the case against the Respondent will request to withdraw the N-docket case if they are satisfied that the child is safe with the other parent or other party in the V-docket matter. If there is not an agreed upon resolution, and the N-docket case proceeds to a hearing, the Judge that is listening to the evidence on the N-docket case can consider whatever evidence is adduced at that hearing when deciding the V-docket child custody cases. Continue reading ›