This week the Huffington Post featured an article entitled, “Prenuptial Agreements for Peace of Mind and Post-Coital Bliss.” The article, co-authored by a family lawyer and a financial planner, focused on the potential benefits of entering into a prenuptial agreement with a future spouse. A prenuptial agreement is a contract entered into before marriage. The…

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A recent article detailed how changes in parenting styles are taking a toll on marriages throughout the United States. The piece argues that over the past few generations, parenting has become synonymous with religion and that like faith, parents must never go against their children or speak negatively about them to others. However, it seems…

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Today, U.S. News featured an article entitled, “Remarriage on the Rise in the U.S.,” which focused on the rising trend of remarriage in our country. According to statistics from a report by the Pew Research Center, in 2013, 40% of new marriages included at least one partner who had been married before. In 2013, nearly…

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On Monday November 10, 2014, Sue Ann Hamm, the ex-wife of Oklahoma oil tycoon Harold Hamm, was awarded more than $1 billion dollars as part of a divorce award. As part of the judgment, Harold was ordered to pay his ex-wife $995 million, plus their California ranch and their Oklahoma home, worth tens of millions…

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The divorce rate nationwide has doubled over the past 25 years and experts expect that by 2030, more than 800,000 American couples will be divorcing each year. Legal separations and divorce can be difficult on nearly every aspect of your life so it is essential to plan accordingly.   The New York Times recently featured…

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             In a recent Second Department case, the court dismissed a father’s appeal, challenging the lower court’s award of sole custody of the parties’ three children to their mother. The appeal was dismissed by the Second Department because the parties’ oldest son had reached the age of majority. The court…

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During the process of his father’s divorce proceeding, Michael Arnold brought a family offense petition in Suffolk County Family Court against his stepmother alleging she had committed harassment against him. Specifically, Mr. Arnold alleged that his stepmother had told people he was stealing from her and was threatening to ruin his life and career. The…

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Can your actions during a legal separation affect your custodial rights in a subsequent divorce judgment? In a recent Second Department case, the court answered this question in the affirmative. In Eison v. Eison, a married couple chose to legally separate instead of filing for divorce. The couple remained separated for several years, and during…

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In a recent Second Department case, Saravia v. Godzieba, the court modified a custody agreement to include a provision directing that when one parent is working, that parent, prior to making babysitting arrangements with a nonparent, shall first afford the other parent the opportunity to care for the child during such work period. In the…

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Did you know that failing to discourage your parents from talking badly about you ex-spouse can jeopardize visitation with your child? On August 6, 2014, in a case called Weiss v. Rosenthal, the Second Department revoked a father’s visitation based on the paternal grandparents’ persistent bad mouthing of the child’s mother in the presence of…

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