Usually not, and filing on grounds like adultery or inhuman treatment require that you develop sometimes complicated legal cases against your spouse. With New York’s irretrievable breakdown ground, you can have a much simpler, and much less expensive, divorce without the need to prove that your spouse is responsible for the end of the marriage. […]
Category Archives: Divorce
Yes, if the court agrees that only one parent is appropriate to hold both the decision-making role of legal custody and the day-to-day parenting role of physical custody, then one parent can be awarded both. In extreme cases, the second parent may be denied visitation entirely, but usually the court will err on the side […]
No, you shouldn’t need to appear in court if your divorce is uncontested. In an uncontested divorce, you and your spouse are able to arrive at agreement on the major issues of the action, including child custody and support payments, an equitable distribution of marital assets and debts, spousal support, if applicable, and other issues […]
If you and your spouse genuinely cannot come to terms about the living situation, financial support, and other matters related to your children, a trial will have to be held. This process is expensive, emotionally exhausting, and, in most cases, extremely combative. Your children may be assigned an advocate who will represent their interests, while […]
For some couples, one spouse earned and managed the money, and the other may not have liquid resources to dip into when it’s time to hire a lawyer. That’s alright. New York law is very clear that even destitute individuals have a right to terminate a marriage, and if your spouse was the breadwinner and […]
You are legally divorced when you receive a copy of the Judgment of Divorce, which unfortunately can take a number of months after the final negotiated settlement is submitted to the court. For some people, the delay represents a period of reflection and adjustment, while others find the delay agonizing as they wait to fully […]
That’s an issue that will have to be discussed as part of the child support agreement. By providing (and paying for) health insurance for you child, you may be subject to lower support payments, or a lesser obligation when it comes to things like your share of medical costs. On the other hand, your spouse […]
If your spouse has locked you out of your home without a judge’s authorization, they are acting illegally. While your instinct may be to go back to the home and bang on the door, or stand outside and call the police, the best option is to notify the court of the situation. Approaching the problem […]
When a parent can’t let go of their animosity toward their ex, it often spills over into veiled manipulations of the children they continue to share. By sharing opinions and attitudes about their ex or telling children factual information that isn’t age-appropriate, a parent may think they are “winning” against their ex spouse. However, even […]
Grounds matter a lot less than they used to. In recent decades, as women have achieved greater parity in the workplace, judges have simultaneously become less interested in hearing the ins and outs of marriages that failed, who was responsible, and why. Rather than applying a divorce agreement as a punitive measure against one spouse, […]