I am splitting with my partner and we have two kids

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.