Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Discipline & Abuse in Family Law & Child Custody Matters
As Rockland County family law attorneys who assist clients with child custody matters after divorce, we frequently hear concerns from one parent about child abuse and neglect. It can be difficult for couples who have to share children and in knowing that one’s children are safe when they are with the other parent. When… Read More »
Can My Mental Illness Cost Me Custody?
As attorneys who assist parents with child custody issues every day here in New York, we regularly hear concerns from parents when it comes to one parent using the other parent’s medical history against them, including any history involving mental health treatment. While it is critical to understand that, when awarding custody and visitation,… Read More »
New Study Sheds Light on Prenups: Couples Feel Better & Stay Married Longer
A new study revealed that couples feel more connected and stay married longer after signing a prenuptial agreement (“prenups”); Specifically, the study found that almost 84 percent of respondents reported feeling more connected with their partner post-prenup completion, and indicates that working with a Rockland County prenuptial agreement attorney to ensure that the right… Read More »
More and More Millennial Couples are Requesting Prenuptial Agreements
By getting married later in life, millennial couples are finding that they not only have more assets to protect, but also, in many circumstances, record-high student loans. There is no question that creating a plan under the best of circumstances helps protect couples from having to address and decide on sensitive issues under contentious… Read More »
How Family Courts Fail Domestic Violence Victims in Child Custody
Custody and visitation when one parent has an established history of domestic violence New York, like a number of other states, simply weighs whether there has been a history of domestic violence in the family when weighing a number of factors in deciding what is in the best interest of the child when it… Read More »
Child Support for Domestic Violence Victims in New York
August has been designated Child Support Awareness Month here in New York. To that end, the state recently announced that it is committed to making the child support process safer for domestic violence survivors: State agencies are coordinating a federally funded pilot program, the Safe Access for Victims’ Economic Security (“SAVES”), which, in part,… Read More »
When A Child Custody Case Is Against the City
One mother’s case made headlines in early September after she won her case against the city of New York, which had taken custody of her baby over her legal use of marijuana. The case against the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) is the first one to hold the agency accountable for violating provisions… Read More »
Birdnesting After Divorce: What It Involves
Birdnesting is an unconventional arrangement, whereby divorcing couples with children taking turns living in the family home, often on a week-by-week basis, with the rest of the time typically spent in a rental or other family-owned property. Some couples find that setting up an arrangement like this helps their children adjust to the divorce… Read More »
Disabled Parents, the Best Interest Standard & Custody Rights
The best interest of the child standard involves judges weighing a number of factors in deciding on what the best custody arrangement is for the child. In New York, two of those factors include “the child’s health and safety” as well as “mental and physical health of the parents.” This standard is arguably subjective,… Read More »
Parents of Children Killed in NY Family Court Disputes Urge Reforms
We’ve previously discussed the issue of risk of violence against children during and after divorce – an issue that sometimes leads one parent to stay with an abuser for longer than they should, out of fear for their children. The issue has reached such a level of seriousness here in New York that parents… Read More »