Staten Island child support lawyers

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.