As reiterated in a recent New York Court of Appeals decision (Galetta v. Galetta), separation agreements and pre-nuptial agreements must be properly executed (in the same manner a deed is executed) and must be notarized. The failure to do both of these items will almost always result in the agreement being invalidated. This is why there’s a danger in getting…Read More
I face many situations in which a mother has voluntarily given custody of her children over to the father. Many times this happens because the mother wants to go back to school to obtain a degree, or because the mother’s house is cramped & the father just moved into a new, larger space. Regardless, the mother feels in doing so…Read More
Q: I have a 5 month old baby who was born very sick the baby had open heart surgery at birth and one up coming and many more to come. The baby selfish father wants nothing to do with her and recently had a baby with his girlfriend and lives with them and fully supports them 2 babies 4 1/2…Read More
Many people contemplate divorce, but are still living in the same household with their minor children. The question then becomes – how is custody handled? De Facto Agreement One way to resolve the issue is for the parties to agree on which parent may have custody, and then allow him/her to move out with the children while the case is…Read More
If circumstances change, and there is a basis to file for a change of custody, don’t delay – or else Judge may think you’ve acceded to the situation. File for change of Custody as the situation arises I had a potential client recently come into my office, who informed that the child wasn’t happy living with her father, and often…Read More
Sometimes parties settle on custody, but then 1 parent wishes to move with the child or children out-of-state. Relocation Should be Done in Court Preliminarily, the parties are always free to settle on the issue of the custodial parent moving with the child to another state. But even if the parties execute an out-of-court agreement to that effect, the parties…Read More
Q: I have residential custody of our ten year old daughter. I live in the city and he lives over an hour away by train. He has dinner with my daughter one night a week. I have a work dinner so I’ve asked him to drop her off at my friend’s house until I pick her up. He refused and…Read More
Q: My daughter has conflicting diagnoses. ADHD from some dr’s , autism from others. My ex doesn’t want her overnight at my house during the week and is citing the diagnosis as a reason. Are there precedents about this and the courts not allowing overnights during the week due to a child having special needs? A: David’s Answer: There are…Read More
Q: I would like full custody of my 11 year old daughter. Her father has been in and out of her life her whole life. He was in jail twice 4 years each time. He was recently released October 2014. while he was incarcerated he would always call and write to our daughter, but since he was released he has…Read More
Q: Hello, my spouse and I are filing a same sex divorce. This is a link to the instructions we are using to fill out the form. https://www.nycourts.gov/litigants/divorce/UCS_… Our understanding is that N.Y.S. removed the words “husband” and “wife” from all uncontested divorce forms to accommodate same sex marriage/divorce. We filled out the uncontested divorce forms and these words do…Read More
