New York Family Legal Questions

This is a heart breaking situation- your niece is essentially being abandoned. Unless a court has appointed a guardian for your niece, her mother's "designation" of a guardian has no legal effect. Your niece can sue her mother for child support, to which she should be entitled until age 21, as well as petition the court for emancipation. If the father is in the picture and paying child support to the mother, your niece can ask the court to order her mother to pay it directly to her. In the alternative, you or another relative can petition for guardianship. Although courts do not usually order child support be paid to guardians, given the circumstances, you may win if you ask the court to order the mother to pay child support for her daughter. It does not sound like your niece is ready to be emancipated. I hope she has a responsible, caring adult in her life who will petition the court to be her guardian. If you can obtain the mother's consent to the arrangement, even better. Good luck. ... Read More

You need to do more than simply revoke a power of attorney. If your father is mentally competent, he can revoke the power of attorney and contact his financial institutions to inform them of the same. He can then start a lawsuit against your uncle for unjust enrichment to recoup the stolen money. If your father is not in a lucid mental state, and your uncle hasn't been appointed as your father's guardian by a court, you need to start a proceeding in Supreme Court for guardianship. If the court determines guardianship is appropriate, you will be able to act on your father's behalf, in which case you can do all of the above. ... Read More

Under certain circumstances, grandparents may be entitled to visitation rights separate and independent from those of the parents. If your ex-fiance's mother has established a close relationship with your son, she might prevail if she brought a lawsuit to assert her visitation rights, if the court determines it is in the best interests of your son. Since you give very little detail, it is unclear what the court might decide in your particular situation. ... Read More

Hi Under a case called Majauskas, in New York State, your wife would be entitled to a portion of your pension benefits when you retire -- called a coverture fraction -- from the date of the marriage to the date of commencement of the divorce action.  The way this is calculated is as follows:  You start working for your company and contributing toward your pension at age 25.  You marry at age 30.  The divorce action is commenced when you're 42.  You retire at 65.   Out of the 40 years you worked and contributed toward the pension, your wife would be entitled to half of 12 years of your pension.   So, for example, if your pension is $2000 a month which you earned over 480 months (40 years x 12 months), your wife would be entitled to half of what the pension would be for 144 months of work or 30% of the years you were working.  30% of your pension would be $600 a month; her share would be $300 a month. This amount would be adjusted in a Qualified Domestic Relations Order to reflect the coverture fraction, i.e., the years that the wife would have an entitlement over the entire period of your pension-covered employment.  The longer you work, the less her interest in your pension will be. This is how it works in NYS.   Once the divorce is commencement, her coverture fraction is determined, i.e., the number of months of the marriage during which you had an interest in a pension. Hope this helps. Ilysa    ... Read More