New York Child Custody Legal Questions

Good morning Maritza, Is there currently any type of custody order?  If so, does it provide your son with joint legal custody?  If there is no custody order, it would be imperative for your son to seek a custody order.  He needs certain protections in place to make sure he is afforded legal (decision making custody) and parenting time.  Also, based on your post, perhaps it would be in the child's interest that your son have primary residential custody.  These are things that need a deep exploration and a proper legal strategy.   As far as the 3/28 date, is that for a hearing on the Order of Protection or something else?  If the basis is solely for your son yelling at your daughter-in-law, the petition should be dismissed.   These are very important issues that need a deep discussion.  If your case is in the NYC area and you would like to discuss further, feel free to contact me.... Read More

Good morning, With respect to adoption, generally speaking you are required to obtain the consent of the biological parents.  However, in a situation where the biological parent failed to maintain substantial and continuous contact with the child, consent may not be required.  Nonetheless, it is advised that you do some due diligence to locate the biological parent and seek his or her consent.  Thereafter, you have to file a petitition in family court. A name change is a separate petition that you would want to undertake after the adoption is complete.    ... Read More

You haven't provided enough information to determine whether you would be considered as a guardian for your grandchildren in the event they were removed from their home for any reason.  If you believe there is neglect, abuse, or that the children are being subjected to unsafe conditions, you can report that to childrens' services. You also have the option to petition the court for custody if you believe the children are not safe with their guardians.  Assuming that a court has ordered the visits you currently have with your grandchildren, and that arrangement is working in the child's best interests, that would certainly be a factor for the court to consider when making any custody determination, although many other factors will be considered as well. ... Read More

You should not be too worried about your income. It seems you have been the primary caregiver of your two children, so there is a good chance that the court would award you primary custody of your kids. Courts look at the best interest of the children when awarding custody, not the income of the parent. Your ex would then have to pay a substantial amount of child support - I take it you are not married?  Child support for 2 children is 25% of the non-custodial parent's adjusted gross income (to oversimplify). That would mean you should get close to 2k a month, plus certain additional expenses.  You can surely agree to 50/50 custody but these arrangements are difficult in practice. You could agree to physical custody for you (with liberal visitation) and joint legal custody.  You really should c onsutl with a lawyer in New York though. Bottom line, don't be afraid because you are just getting back into the workforce and don't make a lot of money.     ... Read More

Your parents have the right to determine where you live.  Thus if they both decide that you should be living with your father, you likely should try living with your father.   If, however, your mom put you out and your dad refuses to take you in, that might be give rise to a charge of "child neglect" against mom.  Same if living with dad is unsafe for you.   If, however, you just don't like dad's rules and that's why you're objecting then, I'm sorry to say, parents do have the right to make appropriate rules for their teenagers and teenagers are expected to abide their parents rules.   Good luck to you.... Read More

In all matters related to children, courts are mandated to determine and do what is in "the best interests of the children."  Thus, while what happened in the past will likely be relevant and considered by the Court, if you can, you [or preferably your lawyer] should argue that what happened in the past is no longer determinative of what is in the children's future best interest.  A judge may be skeptical so the more evidence you can muster to demonstrate that you are "new and improved" and that the "new you" would not be negligent or abuse drugs, and is a caring and devoted mother, the better your chances are to succeed.   Ultimately you will have to demonstrate a "change in circumstances" to allow the Court to reconsider the custody issue, and then demonstrate that your children are better off in your care than in the care of their dad.   Good luck.... Read More

That is a complicated situation.  The general rule (and particularly after the U.S. Supreme Court's Troxel v. Granville decision) is that grandparents do not have standing to seek custody where the parents object.  If your granddaughter is the daughter of your son and your son is deceased, that might change the calculus and give you standing under the grandparent visitation statute.  But otherwise, courts may not infringe on parental rights in favor of grandparents. The next question is how old is your granddaughter?  The older the child, the more inclined courts are to take their wishes into consideration.  That, too, however, may not be relevant in a contest between a grandparent and a parent (only between parents). It is for situations such as this that the Uniform Law Commission promulgated the Uniform Non-parent Custody and Visitation Act.  Had New York adopted that set of proposed laws, you might have standing to challenge your daughter[-in-law] for custody.  Without it, however, you have an uphill battle because, generally, grandparents lack "standing" to challenge a parent. The specifics of your case might give you further rights.  For example, you don't say how long you've been caring for your granddaughter.  You don't say what contact her mother has had with her during this time. So possibly with better knowledge of the facts a claim can be made successfully.  But the simple answer, unfortunately, is no, you can't prevail in a legal contest with your granddaughter's mother. Good luck and God bless for the good your doing. Chaim.... Read More

New York courts, when deciding custody of a child, have to determine what is in the child's best interest.  Thus, the question will not be who did what wrong but instead in whose custody will the child be better off? I find that it usually takes a mental shift to stop thinking in terms of "what do I want" to "what is best for my child."  Making this shift is generally good for parents and is vitally necessary for anyone considering entering a custody battle. Good luck to you. Chaim.... Read More

Hey Marsha, it would be beneficial to get the courts involved for your parents to obtain custody, temporary custody of your child while you are away. This will save a lot of headaches and troubles if the other parent wants to steer up a custody battle while you are away. Feel free to contact my office and speak with my case manager at 877-866-8665 to discuss in more details regarding your case. Thank you.... Read More

The situation you have described above demonstrate that their is no child custody order or visitation established by the Family Court of New York or any other state. Therefore, the first thing that needs to be done, is to register your case when the child is with you. This can typically run you about $1,000 to register the case and establish custody. You will then need to establish a Parenting Schedule, which can range anywhere from $250 - $1,500+ depending on the circumstances. Once you have these things in order, there should not be any problems, threats or whatever. Whoever registers the case first, will have the most advantage in winning the case and having an upper hand. Your situation as is can very well benefit from the support of my office at a reasonable retainer. If the situation gets worse, where she has the child and she registers the case than you will need to retain more aggressive counsel which our retainers will be beyond $4,000. So, the best option would be to register a court custody case establishing parenting time to avoid future problems. Hypothetical scenario, your ex-wants to move out of state, and she has things planned out. You didn't know about it until you called to pick up the child, but she was not answering, and when she does, she says, I am in la-la land. Now you have to travel to la-la land to fight for custody and visitation out of state. Which is a very tough thing to do, and only 40% of fathers get lucky fighting a battle out of state? Until the courts are involved, both parents have the right as parents to do what they wish, whether to stay in the same county or travel out of the country. Rights are endless, and there is nothing much you can do unless you have a very good counsel that prepares you well ahead of time and is ready to win for you. Feel free to contact my office and speak with my case manager at 1 877-866-8665 Thank you.... Read More

Relocation Clause is addressed in previous court judgments. Please review your most recent court-judgment regarding child custody and relocation. You might have to petition the court to relocate with the children. Please consult with an attorney for specific details. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager regarding your case at1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to start working with an attorney.... Read More

Since this is written from a third person point, there is not much of case-specific information available to elaborate on. A parent that is currently providing for the child, can petition the court for child support, even if both parents live together. The child support, will not get your money from the past if there was no child support order established. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager regarding your case at1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to start working with an attorney.... Read More

As a person providing for the child, you do have certain rights, as long as you can prove your relationship and responsibilities to retain those available rights. If there is no custody order involved, you should petition the court to do so, or seek a family law attorney to assist you with. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager regarding your case at1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to start working with an attorney.... Read More

It's never easy to get full custody. It is a time-consuming and expensive battle. You have to retain one of the most competent, assertive and aggressive family law attorney when taking on the task of going after full custody. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager regarding your case at1 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com to start working with an attorney... Read More

If your daughter's father wants to be in her life, he's entitled to a paternity test to prove he's the father, and if you simply acknowledge the same, that's not even necessary. And unless you have some reason to keep him away, he's entitled to visitation with your daughter. And your daughter is entitled to have her father in her life, and you should welcome and encourage it, because even after all these years of absence, it's good for her emotional health to have a father in her life. That doesn't mean YOU need to have a relationship with him- if you don't want to, that's your business. But if he wants to be in your daughter's life, you'll have to deal with him in that capacity for your daughter's whole life, so the sooner you accept that fact the better for everyone. That's the bad news. Here's the good news. Unless you are in prison, or a drug addict, or a child abuser, can't take care of your child or are otherwise an unfit mother, there's no way a father who suddenly appears after 8 years of absence can legally take your child away from you. And whether or not he's in your daughter's life, you're entitled to 6 years of back child support, child support going forward until your daughter is 21, to have him share in the cost of your daughter's health and dental insurance, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses, the cost of your daughter's activities (dance, sports, art, etc), religious education, summer camp, and even her college education. Regardless of whether you have a husband or boyfriend who your daughter has come to treat as a father, her real father has to pay you child support- period.  So unless the man is a danger to your child, do everything you can to help get him into your child's life- gradually. He'll have to understand it will take some time to get your daughter used to him, because he's a stranger to her.  But once you have all his contact information, take him to court ASAP and get all the child support out of him that you possibly can. Even if he's flat broke, the judge will make him pay something, and if he has any salary at all it will come straight out of his paycheck to you. The fact that he wants to be in your daughter's life is a blessing.  I know it's hard to see it that way now, but eventually you will. Good luck!... Read More

You are absolutely entitled to commence a proceeding to have a paternity test. If the child is yours you are also entitled to a court-ordered visitation schedule. While you are obliged to pay child support if the child is yours your entitlement to visitation is not dependent upon your payment of child support. If the paternity test shows you are the father, you will be responsible for child support but also entitled to regular visitation with your child. The regularity and schedule of visitation will depend on where you and the child's mother/child are located.... Read More

If you are primary, you should be receiving child support not paying. You need to discuss this matter with your attorney. Your attorney will be able to modify and terminate your child support and put the other parent on support. After that is done, you can progress to seeking and maintaining a custody/visitation to your liking. If you do not have an attorney, hiring one may be a good option. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com for clarification.... Read More

Hey Jennifer, you have the oppurtunity to modify the custody arrangement and be a part of your daughter. We would have to study and review your case history to predict the odds of winning the case. If we can get custody or even joint-custody we may be able to have him drop child support charges. You do have a great advantage as you have grandmother on your side. I think you should also get an attorney on your side. Child Custody Attorneys are not cheap, but they are well worth it, if they can reunite you with your daughter. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com for clarification.... Read More

I am sorry that you're fighting homelessness.  You don't say if you have a job, when you moved to Arkansas, or when is the last time you saw your daughters and their ages.  Your immediate goal should be to take care of yourself- a person who is fighting homelessness is not getting custody of a child. Make sure you have a job and a roof over your head and the income to ensure you are in no danger of homelessness. Once you have a stable household you need to re-establish a relationship with your daughters if you do not already have one- and then seek a schedule of visitation with their dad. If he fights you, sue for visitation.  If you do that, you will likely be counter-sued for child support, and you will be obliged to pay it unless you earn so little money it would impoverish you.  Take everything one step at a time. Good luck. ... Read More