Before adopting a child, you and your partner (if applicable) must make several considerations. One important consideration is whether you want an open adoption or closed adoption, or if you want an arrangement that falls somewhere in between the two. Considering...
Year: 2020
Get the facts about common divorce myths
Even if a family member has divorced, it can be difficult to know what to expect when going through the process yourself. As with any life experience, misinformation can lead to misunderstandings about ending your marriage. Prepare yourself by exploring the facts...
Understanding New York’s child support requirements
For divorcing couples with children, determining custody and child support payments can be a contentious issue. In New York, it is common for a judge to grant one parent with primary physical guardianship. After deciding who gets custody, the courts must determine the...
Does a work bonus affect your child support?
All income that a person receives, whether from employment or other sources, is counted toward child support. If you expect a bonus at certain times of the year or know that your child’s other parent will be receiving a bonus, how does that affect your child support...
Are you ready to adopt?
When New York parents decide to adopt, they must go through the entire adoption process. This may cost an unexpected amount for some. For others, they may not expect the amount of time the process takes. You should always be sure that you are ready to adopt before...
Why have international adoptions decreased?
If you have an interest in adopting a child from a foreign country, you may have some difficulty. Though once a common practice, international adoption has seen a dramatic decrease of 72% since 2005 when there were approximately 23,000 children adopted internationally...
Can an alcoholic get child custody?
For many people, alcohol is an ever-present substance in their lives. From after-work drinks to power lunches to backyard BBQs to wine with dinner, alcohol is, for all intents and purposes, “normalized.” However, despite that, alcohol is still a major contributing...
Who can file for visitation in New York?
In most cases, when the New York family courts make custody arrangements, they then leave it up to the parents to decide with whom the child will spend time, and how much time each extended family member will get with the child. However, what happens when the courts...
Understanding the custody process in New York
Custody disputes are a difficult situation for all family members. Parents are usually concerned about what their role may be in the child’s life going forward. For anyone going through the process, it can be useful to understand the expected court process. The...
Keeping the house or selling it in a divorce
When a couple in New York owns a home together and makes the tough choice to get a divorce, they must add determining what to do with their home to the long list of things they need to address. Because people tend to place a high degree of emotional attachment to a...