In New York a court must consider all of a parent’s resources in determining an appropriate amount of child support. So an inheritance or a gift can be counted as income or as a resource available for purposes of calculating child support. This is done more often in cases where the basic child support under [Read More]
Facebook is a complex trap for divorce litigants. Even if you do not post on Facebook and you just watch what your friends are doing on Facebook, you can still fan the flames of discord in your divorce. The “Like” button has become an issue in some divorces that I have seen. So before you [Read More]
I had a divorce client ask a very good question this week. She happened upon a house for sale that fits her needs perfectly. But we are nine months away from her scheduled divorce trial and she wanted to know what she could or should do since her divorce was pending. This is not the [Read More]
In some support cases or divorces we encounter a situation where a party is self-employed or has cash income and they fail to report all of their income on their income tax returns. In these cases it is a real challenge to prove what their true income is. There are a few ways to deal [Read More]
When you prepare a financial disclosure statement for court you need to be very careful. On a Financial Disclosure Affidavit for Family Court or a Statement of Net Worth for a divorce action accuracy is very important. You can hurt yourself if you are sloppy and put down inaccurate numbers on any type of financial [Read More]
In November 2011 a Connecticut Judge made national news when he ordered a divorcing couple to exchange their passwords for Facebook and dating websites. More than a year has passed since this made news and it appears that no similar cases have been reported. Nevertheless, the issue has not gone away. Facebook and other social [Read More]
Announcing a divorce or separation on Facebook or other social media is becoming more and more common. In November, racing sensation Danica Patrick used Facebook to announce that she was separating from her husband by posting “I am sad to inform my fans that after seven years, Paul and I have decided to amicably [Read More]
In New York State the equitable distribution of marital property frequently is somewhere in the fifty-fifty range. Courts may vary by a few percentage points, but reviewing the voluminous case law of equitable distribution shows a strong predisposition for roughly equal distribution. This is with a very notable exception of childless marriages. In childless marriages [Read More]
In the short time that New York has had "no fault" divorce there has been precious little caselaw on the subject. However, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, has recently rendered a decision that may have significant impact on "no fault" divorces. In Palermo v. Palermo, 2012 N.Y. Slip Op. 07528 (Nov. 9, 2012), the Appellate [Read More]
Many of the smart phones and electronic devices sold today employ technology that allows the device to be tracked electronically. As we discussed previously in this Blog, this technology has many implications in matrimonial cases. This technology also has many implications when dealing with children. Your child's iPhone, iPad, MacBook and even their iPod, [Read More]