Child Custody

Holidays are always rapidly approaching, and there are likely many things on you and your family’s to-do list. The holiday season is typically a joyous time, particularly for children. When a child’s parents are separated or divorced there may be conflicts regarding child visitation time that need to be resolved.

All New York family courts view matters involving custody and visitation with the same broad focus: the court makes decisions based on what is in the “best interest” of the child. Read the rest »

When you think of child custody battles, they’re typically divided between two parties: the mom’s side and the dad’s side. For decades, only the biological parents of a child could be granted custody—and if you were not a biological parent, you had to prove that one or both biological parents were unfit in order to gain custody.

Recently, a judge in Suffolk County made a game-changing ruling that could potentially affect the outcome of child custody cases in the future. The judge granted tri-custody of a child that had parents in a polyamorous relationship. Read the rest »

International travel has never been easier or more affordable. Taking a vacation overseas is a life-enriching and educational experience for a child. But it’s a little more complicated to “pack up and go” if you are co-parenting.

Ideally, you and your co-parent will work a holiday and travel visitation schedule together to reach an agreement. As your child gets older, or if family circumstances change, you can petition the court to revise your schedule to represent your child’s best interests. If you’re planning on taking a vacation overseas with your young children, you will need to make different arrangements than if you were travelling in the United States. Read the rest »

Child custody issues in New York are usually the responsibility of the family courts. The family courts hear a broad scope of cases in addition to custody, including:

• Adoptions
• Delinquency
• Child support
• Spousal support
• Marriage filings
• Cases involving child abuse or neglect
• Paternity-related concerns, and more…

Child custody cases ultimately designate who will be assigned the responsibility to care for and raise the child.  The family court’s decision is issued in the form of an “order of custody.” Child custody can be ordered, modified, or terminated until the children are 18. Read the rest »

The New York family courts hear child custody cases and issue custody orders. A custody order gives the responsibility for the child’s care to one or both parents, or others in some cases. The court issues custody orders for children up until the age of 18. There are several classifications of child custody as follows: Read the rest »

Extracurricular activities make up a large part of many Long Island children’s schedules.  Sports, the arts, and activities like spelling bees or robotics competitions, along with time spent with family or friends, can all fill a child’s schedule. Read the rest »

A New York judge recently ruled that a couple’s Facebook profiles could be used as evidence in child custody decisions. Lawyers were able to show that one parent was away from home too often to be the “primary caregiver,” according to an article in the New York Post. Read the rest »

Negotiating child custody during a divorce is never simple. Your relationship with your children is one of the central features of your life, when tensions run high between you and your former spouse, working out where the children will live with can be difficult. Read the rest »

When the parents of young children divorce, many friends and family members attempt to offer well-meaning advice about the child support and custody negotiations the parents will face. Although these people frequently give advice to show they care, it also means that myths about child custody in New York abound.

Some of the biggest child custody myths include:

Myth #1: “Courts always give custody to the mother.”

Read the rest »

Teenagers face challenges unique to their age group when their parents decide to divorce – and so do the parents of these rapidly-growing young people. Creating a custody arrangement that meets a teen’s needs and best interests also poses unique challenges.

Unlike custody arrangements for younger children, which typically focus on the parents’ schedules, a custody arrangement involving teenagers often has to account for a teen’s increasing school and extracurricular responsibilities, a part-time job, and activities like sports, clubs, and college prep classes.

When building custody and visitation schedules involving a teen, keep these three items in mind: Read the rest »