Last Updated on: 27th May 2023, 12:17 pm

New York child custody law is complex, and child custody proceeding are often full of unpleasant surprises for parents who elect to go it alone, without the help of a skilled and experienced Family Court lawyer. In the state of New York, child custody law can be particularly challenging because the framework for the proceedings is heavily reliant on the body of case law, rather than the use of statutes to guide judges in their rulings. There is also a high degree of subjectivity and imprecision. This is due to the unique nature of child custody cases. Rather than attempting to piece together incidents that have already taken place in order to establish guild or innocence, the Family Courts attempt to look into the future to establish what situation will best serve the interests of children.
This predictive task is far from perfect, and it often leads to heavy reliance of such evidence as that which established patterns of past behavior and the ability of parents to effectively interact with their children. By their very nature, proceedings on this kind often lead to very personal encounters with opposing lawyers, case workers and judges.

For these reasons, it is extremely important that, if you want to maximize your chances of enjoying a favorable outcome in a child custody hearing, you should always hire a competent and experienced lawyer that specializes in these types of cases.

The Family Courts look at many factors when ruling in custody cases

The number of factors that the judge is likely to be closely examining in making their decision in your case are too many to even begin to list. And in many cases, there will be little that you can do to change factors that may weigh against you. An example of this would be if there were ever a police call placed to your home for domestic violence.

However, there are many other factors over which you and your legal team can exert significant control. Things such as how you present yourself in court can make a decisive difference in child custody cases. One way in which you can assure a good presentation before the court is by having a lawyer handle all courtroom interactions, speaking for you most of the time. A good lawyer can also help you to mitigate the potential negative effects of things such as your interviews with state employees, any criminal convictions you may have had that could weigh on the court’s decision and making sure that your overall living situation appears in as positive a light as possible to the court.

While there are statutes that directly govern the operation of Family Courts, such as Domestic Relations Law 70, most of the controlling law for the Family Courts of New York comes from the body of relevant case law. This case law is both vast and complex, requiring someone who has spent many years specializing in the field to fully understand how best to use the precedents that the court will refer to in order to maximize your chances of a desirable outcome.

The truth is that, if the opposing parent in the custody hearing has hired competent legal counsel and you haven’t, there is very little chance that you will prevail with anything resembling a satisfactory outcome. It is, therefore, imperative to get a skilled and experienced lawyer working in your corner.

Any time you enter a child custody proceeding, understand that there is a chance that you could not only lose custody of your child, you could even lose your visitation rights. Hiring a good lawyer is the best move you could make.

If you are facing child support issues in Staten Island or anywhere else in the state of New York, the first thing that you should do is to find a good lawyer who specializes in family law to fight on your behalf. In the state of New York, all matters relating to child support are handled by the Family Courts. This is a unique area of legal practice that relies heavily on both case law and the weighing of largely circumstantial evidence by the presiding judge. A lawyer who specializes in this area of law is your best bet for ensuring that you have the best possible chance at a favorable outcome.

In New York, child support orders are serious business

Many parents, mostly fathers but, increasingly, a significant number of mothers, find out the hard way that whenever you are summoned to the Family Courts to resolve a matter relating to child support, it is among the most serious issues that you will face in your adult life. Those who do not take these proceedings with the utmost seriousness may find themselves saddled to decades of extreme financial woes and may even end up spending months or years of their lives behind bars.
Our law offices are staffed by attorneys who do nothing but handle Family Court cases. We have the know-how and experience to get results, and that means making sure that you are not shackled to a lifetime of payments that you not only will not be able to pay but also that will very likely result in your repeated imprisonment.

Child support can land you in jail, and money due is never forgiven

The most important thing you can do anytime you are facing a potential court action regarding child support is to get a competent lawyer involved with your case and fighting on your side as soon as possible. All too often, we have people come in to our offices requesting legal assistance when the horrors of the child support process have already taken their toll and are far beyond remedy. Once the court establishes that you are responsible for supporting a child and the amount that you owe, it can be extremely difficult to get that amount reduced, even if your financial situation changes.

If you are facing a court proceeding regarding child support on an infant or young child, you should be aware that, should the court find you responsible for the payments, you will need to pay according to the amount stated in the court order until the child turns 21 years old.

As serious as this may appear, many non-custodial parents are unaware that, should they accrue child support arrears, those debts do not magically disappear when the child turns 21. On top of this, child support payments may include state fees, recovery costs and other additional charges that may add up to 50 percent of the total payment owed by the parent. This means that, in practice, it is not uncommon to see fathers continuing to pay back child support 30 years after the date of their court order.
To make matters even more dire, so long as the money owed to the state is related to child support payments, even if the amount in question is mostly fees and the child is well past the age of majority, this is still considered by the state to be a criminal infraction. If you fall too far behind on your child support, the state of New York will send you to jail.

Each case is different. Call our law offices today, and let us help you prevail.

New York’s child custody law is complex, and the proceedings can be full of unpleasant surprises for parents who don’t have the help of an experienced Family Court lawyer. The state’s child custody proceedings rely heavily on case law to guide judges in their rulings, leading to a high degree of subjectivity and imprecision. A competent and experienced lawyer can help parents understand the many factors the judge will examine when making a decision.
In addition to getting a lawyer, it is important to approach child custody proceedings with the utmost seriousness, as they can have lasting effects on parents’ and children’s relationships, as well as on parents’ financial situations.