Divorce Lawyers Brooklyn Ny

When legal intervention is required to deal with family conflicts, it can cause great emotional distress for everyone involved. This is especially true when a couple decides to divorce. Divorce involves not only the dissolution of marriage, but also the separation of living quarters, division of marital assets and debts, spousal support, child custody arrangements, and child support obligations.

divorce lawyers brooklyn ny

Not all divorces need to be litigated in court. In New York, you and your spouse have the option of utilizing dispute resolution (ADR) processes such as mediation, arbitration, settlement conferences, and collaborative divorce to help you reach a marital settlement. These ADR processes are non-adversarial and designed to foster and promote cooperation and negotiation.

Dividing the marital estate is one of the central components of a divorce. We can assist with all aspects of property division including the classification of marital vs. separate property, valuation of property, and allocation of assets and debts. The end goal is to establish a property settlement agreement that is fair and ensures your future financial security.

When there are children involved in a divorce, emotions are usually at an all-time high. At Brooklyn Family Divorce Lawyer Mary Katherine Brown, we understand that it can be terribly painful to consider the possibility that you may not be able to see your kids every day. Our top priority is to help you and your spouse achieve a child custody arrangement (sometimes called a Parenting Plan) that you and your children are comfortable with and that promotes healthy parent/child relationship dynamics.

If you or your spouse need immediate relief while the divorce is pending for such things as spousal support, child custody, or possession of the marital home, we can petition the court to put temporary orders in place until you receive the final judgment of divorce.

If you have already received a judgment of divorce and there has been a change in your financial circumstances, we can help you amend your spousal maintenance order or obtain child support modifications.

If you and your spouse have agreed to part ways amicably and have reached consensus on all the major issues related to the dissolution of your marriage, you can file for an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce enables you to settle matters outside of court without interference from a judge. The process ensures privacy for you and your family and is quicker and more cost-effective. When issues are negotiated in good faith, the end result is a mutually beneficial marital settlement agreement. This agreement is prepared by your attorney and submitted to the court for approval.

Reasonable initial retainers will vary from a few to several thousand dollars, but you should expect that the more complex and contentious the issues in your divorce, the more costly it will be to resolve them.

Dividing and distributing property can be one of the most overwhelming tasks a couple can face in a divorce. Under New York law, all assets, property, and debts acquired during a marriage is presumed by the court to be joint marital property and thereby subject to equitable distribution in a divorce. The legal concept of equitable distribution does not automatically imply that property will be divided 50/50. Rather, the court will consider several factors in order to produce a fair division of property, including:

Spousal maintenance or alimony is a court-ordered mandate that requires one spouse to provide financial assistance to the other spouse during or after a divorce. Spousal maintenance is often awarded by the court when there is a large discrepancy in income between the spouses. Maintenance may be awarded to either spouse without regard to gender.

If financial support is urgently needed during a divorce proceeding, a spouse can petition the court for temporary spousal maintenance. Temporary support payments are designed to help during a period of transition and to ensure that the spouse seeking support is able to maintain the same standard of living experienced during the marriage.

Temporary spousal maintenance is distributed for a pre-determined term period and is often terminated after a Judgment of divorce has been issued. There is a specific formula used to calculate temporary spousal maintenance as well as a formula for maintenance paid in conjunction with child support.

Rehabilitative spousal maintenance is the most common type of support awarded in a New York divorce. This type of support is meant to assist one spouse who needs to go back to school or learn a new skill in order to become self-sufficient and earn a satisfactory living. Rehabilitative spousal support is temporary.

As a parent in New York, you are financially responsible for your children until they reach 22 years of age. In a divorce, the non-custodial parent is required to pay a percentage of his/her income to the custodial parent as child support.

The only family law matter that cannot be heard in Family Court is divorce. Divorce actions are under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. If any of the issues above are being addressed in the context of divorce, they will be transferred to the Supreme Court.

Getting a divorce can have serious, long-term effects, both emotionally and legally. There are also strict legal requirements that cover everything from choosing a method of legal separation to selecting where and how to file, to deciding how the property should be divided. The divorce process can be confusing, especially without legal assistance. FindLaw's directory can connect you with trusted divorce lawyers in Brooklyn, New York to guide you through the divorce process and minimize the stress you experience during this difficult time.

First, legal separation may be a court-mandated step of the divorce process, with some states requiring that potential divorcees spend some time living apart in a form of legal separation before proceeding to formal divorce.

Outside of this requirement, legal separation is reversible, while divorce is not. Once you have been declared divorced from a former spouse, there is no going back. Legally separated spouses retain the right to inherit property as well, and may not remarry (as they are still considered married, despite separation).

Depending on your circumstances, you may have other options for ending your marriage besides a divorce. Many states offer legal separations, which can allow spouses to make some of the same decisions as a divorce regarding their shared property, child custody, and child support. This option doesn't legally end the marriage and is generally used when couples want to retain their marriage status for religious or health care reasons.

An annulment, on the other hand, has the same legal effect as a divorce but does so by declaring your marriage was never valid in the first place. Reasons for an annulment could be that one spouse was already married, was tricked into the marriage, or was too young at the time to legally marry.

The division of marital property after a divorce will generally depend on whether or not you live in a community property state. The best way to determine whether your state is a community property state is to talk to a local attorney who can tell you what the law is and who can help you understand how that affects your situation.

Community property states consider nearly all property obtained after the marriage as equally owned by both spouses. As a result, the property will generally be equally split after the divorce. Absent community property statutes, it's typically up to the court to divide marital property between both parties. In either case, courts will normally accept a property division agreement if the spouses can create their own.

Attorneys aren't needed for every divorce, but in many cases, legal assistance can be beneficial, if not crucial. With the complex nature of some divorce procedures and emotions running high, it is often a good idea to have a knowledgeable resource for information and a skilled advocate for negotiations and possible court proceedings.

If both spouses are on speaking terms and being relatively fair-minded and pleasant with one another, a single divorce lawyer may be able to help them navigate their divorce proceedings. This may be the case for several no-fault divorces.

However, in instances where a fault is established, or combative divorce proceedings are expected to take place, it is highly advised that both spouses hire a skilled divorce lawyer to represent their best interests. Not only can a negotiation between professional legal counsel lead to a much more streamlined process, but this method may also remove some of the emotions associated with painful divorce proceedings.

Alimony and spousal support are interchangeable terms that refer to monthly payments from one ex-spouse to another following a divorce. These payments can be court-ordered or arranged by the parties involved and are intended to account for the adverse economic effect a divorce can have on one party. All spousal support agreements and amounts are unique, depending on the spouses' individual incomes and property, their earning capacity, the duration of the marriage and whether children and child support are involved, among other factors.

Yes, it is legal for individuals to fill out a divorce petition themselves. However, it is highly recommended that you find a divorce lawyer with experience for a consultation regardless, even if you are planning to have a mutually acceptable no-fault divorce.

If you are uncertain about your future, now is the time to develop a plan that can enable you to make a successful transition to life after divorce. The attorneys at our firm will help you identify your goals and create a plan to reach them. Then, we will work to achieve a successful resolution of the issues of divorce, including property division, child custody/visitation and child support.

If you need a lawyer to help you with a divorce or another family law matter, you are likely going through one of the most stressful times of your life. You may feel as if you are on an emotional roller coaster. There are so many important decisions to make, it can be hard to keep track of all of them while focusing on your future. 041b061a72