Protecting Your Children

One of the most difficult aspects of divorce is the effect it has on children. When issues of custody, decision-making and parenting access are in dispute, these “battles” are often time consuming and expensive. We recognize that there simply is no price that can be placed on the safety and welfare of our children. Children are our most valuable asset and protecting them is our top priority.

In deciding whether to aggressively litigate any custody dispute, I will carefully discuss the potential involvement of a child in such a dispute and what effect it may have on them, based on my years of experience.

In New York State, it is often common that when issues of custody, decision-making and parenting access cannot be resolved, the Court will often attempt to exhaust various remedies prior to proceeding to trial. These procedures include:

1. The court may direct the parties to attend “Parent Education” whereby they will take a course on how to deal with the affects of divorce on children and now not to involve children in the dispute.
2. The court may refer the parties to a court social worker who will endeavor to resolve the issue through mediation.
3. The court will often direct that each parent submit a proposed Parenting Plan with parenting access schedules and decision-making provisions in order to determine “how far apart” the parties are and whether some reasonable compromise is viable.

ATTORNEY FOR THE CHILD

In the event that no agreement can be reached regarding custody, the Court will often appoint an Attorney for the Child or Children. The Attorney for the Child is responsible for representing your Child, period. They are also often constrained by applicable law to advocate for their client, the Child, irrespective of their age. This often results in situations where children have undue influence over custody determinations and requires experience and sensitivity to situations where a child is being psychologically manipulated by a parent.

I have always found it extremely beneficial to have already worked with a particular Attorney for the Child as it enables our office to plead our case to an open mind who we have dealt with before. I cannot stress the importance of successfully dealing with the Attorney for the Child in obtaining our client’s desired result. Given my experience in contested custody disputes, I am confident that my firm is ready, willing and able to handle the most difficult custody disputes.

Naturally, given that the child has his own counsel, this entails an additional expenditure of funds on this lawyer, typically by both parties, which should be factored in when weighing the financial reality of a contested dispute.

FORENSIC EVALUATIONS

In many cases, where the matter is still unresolved after the Attorney for the Child becomes involved, the court will often direct that psychological evaluations be conducted by a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. These professionals will often interview the parties, the child as well as collateral sources (teachers, doctors, childcare providers) to ascertain the psychological make-up of a particular family going through divorce and assist the court in its ultimate determination on the issue of custody.

Forensic examinations can be time consuming and costly, typically taking between four to six months and costing tens of thousands of dollars. In the event that our client “goes down this road”, we pride ourselves in carefully navigating what is a treacherous and costly process.

However, I can say without reservation that I have had great success in custody matters over the years and have handled matters regarding custody, decision-making, relocation and parenting access effectively for the last 17 years.