Custody
What Dad’s Need to Know Before Entering Into A Custody Battle
Preferences Preferences Huffington Post published an article titled, “Custody Battles: The Top Five Things Dads Should Know Before Setting Foot in Court,” which discusses what happens when an actively involved dad is faced with a contentious custody battle. The article provided the top 5 things a Dad should know before setting foot into a Court…
Read MoreWhen Can a Parent Relocate From New York With a Child?
Best Interest Of The Child Standard In the New York Court of Appeals case Tropea v. Tropea, 87 N.Y.2d 727, 665 N.E.2d 145, the custodial parent sought permission to relocate from Onondaga County to the Schenectady area so that she could settle into a new home with her fiancé and raise her sons within a…
Read MoreWho Gets Doggy Custody?
Many families have a very special connection with their pets and even consider them to be part of the family. So what happens when two spouses are arguing over who gets to keep the pet in the mist of a divorce? New York Law Journal published an article by Tania Karas, titled Divorce Judge Considers…
Read MoreHow DNA Testing is Changing Fatherhood
Imagine discovering that your child you raised from birth, took to dance recitals, tucked into bed each night, and loved unconditionally was not actually your child. New Yorks Times article “Who Knew I was Not the Father” describes a father’s worst nightmare. The article reports that a man who had raised his daughter for four…
Read MoreCan Movies Help Children Going Through A Divorce?
Perhaps one of the most heartbreaking aspects of a divorce is that of child custody. Children often do not fully understand the situation and it can be difficult to explain it to them. Not only that, but parents have the difficult decision of how to divide custody. According to a family therapist at the Children’s…
Read MoreDiscrediting Parenting Skills
Despite popular belief, discrediting the parenting skills of an estranged spouse does not necessarily prove that the complaining party is the more fit parent in regards to receiving sole custody of a child. Take, for example, the case of Angela Voelkert. Ms. Voelkert recently made headlines when she elicited incriminating statements from her husband regarding…
Read MoreConstructive Emancipation in New York Families
We’ve heard the stories of celebrity children emancipating from their parents in order to take control of the money they are making: Actress, Drew Barrymore; Olympic gymnast, Dominque Moceanu; and Actor, MacCaulay Culkin, to name a few. But, what about us regular folks? Can the average child emancipate himself or herself from the control of…
Read MoreParental Alienation on Planet Earth: How Courts are Protecting the Alienated Parent
Have you, as the non-custodial parent, ever felt like your spouse is alienating you from your children? That your child no longer wants to visit with you for no apparent reason? Or that your child has been uttering words or phrases that are not age appropriate regarding why they do not want to visit with…
Read MoreVirtual Visitation: Judge Orders Skype Visits To Allow Mom To Move With Children
The ABA recently published an interesting article regarding a local Suffolk County matrimonial action. The case, Baker v. Baker, involved an ex-wife who was looking to relocate to Florida with the parties’ two children to be closer to her family and find better employment. As noted in my July 27, 2010 blog post “What to…
Read MoreNew York Passes No Fault Divorce Bill
On Sunday, August 15, 2010, Governor Paterson signed a bill making New York the last state to allow no fault divorce. This means that instead of accusing your spouse of committing adultery, constructive abandonment, or cruel and inhumane treatment, or, entering into a separation agreement for one year, one spouse must swear under oath that…
Read More