I get a lot of questions from client regarding spousal maintenance (or alimony) and when it terminates. No matter how much maintenance is awarded or how long the duration of the maintenance is, in all cases maintenance ends upon remarriage of the recipient spouse, cohabitation of the recipient spouse with another man or woman (even if you are not legally …
Want To See What A Divorce Consultation With Me Is Like?
I will be giving a Mock Divorce Consultation to my BNI Chapter on December 2nd from 6 to 7:30pm at Club 101 in Midtown Manhattan. BNI is a great networking organization. For those of you in New York City, please come visit! More info here. If you are interested in visiting, please let me know.
A Primer on Matrimonial Law in New York
I will be giving an overview of New York divorce law at Fordham Law School on January 24, 2015 for the Bridge the Gap CLE along with Veronica Escobar titled “A Primer on Matrimonial Law in New York.” Veronica and I will give an overview of New York matrimonial law beginning with the two different paths to divorce: the contested …
Ten Legal Tips for the New Parent
Something must be in the air – I have a lot of friends having babies! Having a baby and becoming a parent for the first time is exciting, but also very scary. There are many legal implications of having a baby and/or expanding your family. Here are my top 10 tips to make sure that you take legal steps …
Five Years? How’d That Happen? Happy Five Year Anniversary to Rincker Law
Time flies when you’re having fun, right? Last month, Rincker Law (and this blog) celebrated its Five Year Anniversary. Seems like just yesterday that I was writing this blog celebrating four years of my business (see my first, second, and third anniversary posts). The highlights of my fifth year in business have been writing my *first* book, being an Adjunct …
Family Court Order of Protection
I am oftentimes asked about when an order of protection can be obtained in Family Court. You may obtain an Order of Protection in Family Court if you are related to the respondent in the following manner: A current or former spouse; Someone you have a child in common with; Another family member that you are related to by …
When a Couple Calls it Splitzo, Who Gets Custody of the Dog?
In young couples and/or childless couples, custody of pets has been a sore subject that has come up in my practice. Pets are interesting because they are not children, but they are not exactly purely personal property either. Custody over a mini dachshund named Joey was at issue in the interesting case of Travis v. Murray, 42 Misc.3d 447 (Sup. …
Child Custody and Visitation Disputes that Cross State Lines
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) is followed by the State of New York and is codified in New York’s Domestic Relations Law Sections 75-78. Its applicability is with child custody and visitation disputes that cross state lines. The family law community regularly uses the statutory acronym UCCJEA – hopefully this post will dissect some of the …
An Annulment in New York Based on Fraud
You can obtain an annulment based on one of the five reasons set forth in New York Domestic Relations Law (“DRL”) Section 140. This post will focus on an annulment based on fraud-DRL 140(e). Pursuant to this statute: An action to annul a marriage on the ground that the consent of one of the parties thereto was obtained by force …
Why Hire an Attorney for an Uncontested Divorce When Forms are Available Online?
Filing a New York uncontested divorce or an annulment can seem easy to do. In the case of an uncontested divorce, there are forms available on the court’s website. For annulments though, there are no forms available to the public, but it is substantially similar to filing for an uncontested divorce. That being said, there are over 15 documents that …
Forgery, Identity Theft and Divorce
Sometimes one spouse will sign the other’s name. Most times, this is consensual; however, there are times where it is nonconsensual and the other spouse had no idea it was done. This can come to a head when a divorce action ensues. New York is a no fault state, which means that courts do not “punish” parties of a divorce …
The 4-Step Divorce Mediation Process
It’s as easy as 1,2,3… 4! Okay, okay, divorce mediation isn’t always so “easy” but this document that I created demonstrates the 4 step process. Initial Consultation – this is where an initial consultation agreement and confidentiality agreement is signed and the mediation process is discussed Mediation Period – this could take a bit depending on the complexity of the …