In New York there is a presumption that a child born to a marriage is the legitimate child of both parents. The issue before the Supreme Court of New York, Wendy G-M. v. Erin G-M is whether his same presumption also applies to both parties in a same-sex marriage. Background…
In Wissink v. Wissink, there was conclusive evidence that the father physically abused the mother. However, there was also conclusive evidence that the father never physically abused the daughter and that the daughter wanted to live with him. The issue that the Appellate Division considered was the impact of a…
In Weisberger, the Supreme Court was asked to enforce a religious upbringing clause in the parties’ separation agreement that required to the mother to practice full religious observance in accordance with the Hasidic practices or be relegated to supervised therapeutic visitation. Background Plaintiff Naftali Weisberger and Defendant Chava Weisberger married…
With the increasing number of people involved in polyamorous relationships, it is not surprising for the issue of child custody to develop where there are three individuals are in the household raising the child. In Dawn M. v. Michael M., a husband (biological father), his wife, and another woman (biological…
Child-rearing decisions are often challenging when couples divorce or otherwise end their romantic relationship. In some cases, there is so much animosity between parents that they are unable to effectively communicate with respect to the needs of the child. In J.R. v. M.S., the New York Supreme Court was asked…
Generally, child support and custody are two different issues. Parental access is not based on the amount of child support is paid or whether it is paid on time or is in arrears. This means that a parent who has been ordered to pay chid support cannot stop paying child…
The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) was enacted in response to practices that separated large numbers of Native American children from their families and tribe. See 25 USC § 1901 et seq. It is common for representatives from the relevant Indian tribe to intervene in child custody proceedings involving Indian…
In Schechter v. Schechter, the court considered whether a religious arbitration tribunal could determine child custody and whether the Supreme Court could then confirm the arbitration decision. Background David Schechter, the plaintiff and Wendy Zehava Schechter, the defendant entered into an agreement pursuant to which they agreed to arbitrate all…
At the time that this case was decided, New York did not recognize same sex marriage. The law changed on June 24, 2011. Before that time, it was common for same sex couples to get married outside of New York in jurisdictions that did recognize same sex marriage. Just like…
In this case the Appellate Division examined whether the family court considered the 14-year-old child’s wishes when granting the father visitation. In making decisions about custody and visitation, the Family Court’s primary concern is to do what is in the best interests of the child. The determination of what is…