Child Support

Published on: June 18, 2012

Court Decides on Relocation of Parent in Shared Custody Arrangemet

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts:

The parties were divorced in 2004. The parties had joint legal custody of their children with the mother having physical custody and the father having certain rights of parenting time. A New York Family Lawyer said at the time of the divorce, the parties were living in Albany, New York, having relocated together from Long Island. Immediately after the divorce was finalized, the parties continued to live together for financial reasons but eventually moved into separate apartments in Albany with the children living with the mother. The father exercised his parenting rights during this time, though the extent to which he did so is in dispute.

Sometime after, the mother met her current husband, a resident of South Carolina, in an online chat room and began a long distance relationship which resulted in one of them traveling once every few months to see the other. At other times they would both travel and meet somewhere in the middle. In 2005, the mother had a hysterectomy which she blamed for causing her to lose her job. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the loss of her job and the father’s alleged failure to provide regular child support placed her in dire financial straits which she believed could only be remedied by relocating to South Carolina where, aside from her current husband, her mother and sister resided.

Published on: May 16, 2012

Court Rules on Common Law Marriage

by Stephen Bilkis

Whenever people attempt to defraud another, it is a criminal situation, however, when married people defraud each other, it is somehow worse. A New York Family Lawyer said in some cases that reach the Family Court, the lines that define right and wrong can become blurred. This is what happens when people attempt to circumvent any system for their own personal gain.

In 1935, a woman from Turkey and her husband ran a business in Atlanta, Georgia where they purchased oriental carpets from an Iraqi man who was born of Jewish parents. The relationship between the parties was amicable and provided a good working base for all involved. In 1941, the Iraqi man was returning to New York after a sales trip to meet with the couple in Atlanta when he had a bad traffic accident near Folkston, Georgia. Following the accident, the Iraqi man was taken to a hospital in Folkston and then transferred to Emory University Hospital for further treatment. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the Turkish woman spent many hours assisting the Iraqi man in his recovery. As a result of this close connection, the two developed a strong friendship. When he recovered, the man asked the woman if she was interested in running one of his Hotels in Miami Beach, Florida. She agreed and moved to Miami. In 1945, she divorced her husband and lived in a suite at the hotel that she managed for the Iraqi man.

They soon began a more intimate relationship. The man would visit her frequently at the hotel and was known to sometimes stay over with her at the hotel. In November of 1945, a few months following her divorce, the man bought a house in Miami Beach, Florida and told the woman to redecorate it in her own taste since it would be their marital home. The woman proceeded to redecorate and renovate the house to meet her qualifications for it. In December of 1945, the woman collected the man from the airport after he flew down from New York. They drove to the house where he told her that he loved only her and that he wanted her to be with him for life. She agreed and the following day, the went to the hotel and informed the staff that they had married.

Published on: May 14, 2012

Parent’s Visitation Rights Suspended

by Stephen Bilkis

A husband and wife had two children of their own and the wife had a child by a former partner. All of the children are minors. The ACS filed petitions in family court alleging that the eldest child, the wife’s child by another former partner was neglected. ACS alleged that the husband and wife inflicted excessive corporal punishment on the child resulting in bruises on the child. The mother beat the child using an extension cord while her husband punched the child.

A New York Family Lawyer said the ACS also filed a petition of derivative neglect upon the two younger children of the couple alleging that since these two minors witnessed the abuse of the eldest minor child, they were considered derivatively neglected as well.

After a hearing at the family court, A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the children were ordered removed from the home of their parents. The eldest child was placed with his great grandfather on the mother’s side, his nearest relative.

Published on: May 11, 2012

Court Unravels Money Laundering Scheme

by Stephen Bilkis

Seven insurance companies are the plaintiffs in this case and they are appealing a decision that was made in favor of the defendant, Dreyfus Service Corporation granting a summary judgment dismissing the case. A New York Family Lawyer said that throughout the decade of the 90s, the insurance companies were looted by a fraud scheme that was perpetrated by Martin Frankel. The insurance companies (the receivers) in the original case at hand were seeking to impose civil RICO liability and tort on Dreyfus Service Corporation as they were the investment company that was used by Frankel to funnel money through the funds of the insurance companies.

The district court heard the case and reviewed the federal and New York laws in the manner granted a summary judgment that was in favor of the defendant for each claim made by the insurance companies. For the court came to the conclusion that there were 8 accounts where no duty came to the seven insurance companies and the receivers failed to exhibit causation for the other 5 accounts regarding the tort claims. The court decided that there was no way to find anyone at Dreyfus Service Corporation who deliberately ignored the money laundering activities of Frankel in regard to the RICO claim.

A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the plaintiffs are appealing this initial verdict of a summary judgment in favor of the defendant.

Published on: May 10, 2012

Court Decides on Relocation of Child

by Stephen Bilkis

In the instant proceeding, the petitioner/father seeks to modify custody and enjoin the parties’ six and half year old child (“the child”) from relocating with the custodial parent, the respondent/mother to the Aramco compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

A New York Family Lawyer said the respondent opposes the petition to modify custody and requests permission to allow their child to permanently reside in Saudi Arabia with respondent, respondent’s husband or the child’s “Step-Father” and the child’s two half-siblings.

Is it in the child’s best interest to award petitioner custody and compel the child to remain in New York with petitioner or to maintain custody with respondent and allow the child to relocate to the Aramco compound in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia?

Published on: May 8, 2012

Court Determines Custody Issue

by Stephen Bilkis

A former husband filed a petition to modify a divorce decree order made by another court and seeks a sole custody of his son. A decree of divorce was filed and was made by the Supreme Court. The basis of authority for the decree was a separation agreement entered into between the couple which had been adhered to by them for one year prior to the commencement of the proceeding. A New York Family Lawyer said the separation agreement entered into between the husband and his wife was filed in the county clerk’s office. The terms of the separation agreement were included but not merged in the decree of divorce.

The decree ordered that all matters arising in the future pertaining to the enforcement of the decree or to requested modifications of any provision whether pertaining to child support, visitation or child custody, be and the same are referred to a family court or to the appropriate court having authority to the issue. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the separation agreement indicates that the couple was married and lived in New York and the wife shall have custody of the children of the marriage. The husband’s visitation rights were outlined in some detail.

The issue came on for a proceeding and the father appeared by counsel but the mother failed to appear. The court was informed that the child who is the subject in the proceeding lives in Connecticut but runs away and is in New York with the father.

Published on: May 6, 2012

Mother Takes Child Out of State Due to Abuse Suspicions

by Stephen Bilkis

The father, who is thirty-two years of age, and the mother, who is thirty years old were married in New York. A New York Family Lawyer said while married, the father worked as a first grade teacher and the mother worked as a mandarin interpreter. The couple knew each other for only a short time prior to their marriage, at which point, the mother became pregnant with their child. The mother gave birth to a son and at the time of the son’s birth the couple was living separately. However, during the early days of the marriage, the couple lived at the mother’s relative’s residence in Brooklyn. A great amount of the couple’s marriage can be characterized as tumultuous and there were incidents of domestic violence.

The father commenced a divorce action alleging cruel and inhuman treatment. Initially, the mother appeared without a counsel but later retained one. The mother was allegedly served with the summons with notice in an action for divorce at a Family Court.

In support of her request that she be awarded full legal child custody, the mother alleges that the father is merely trying to avoid paying child support and that he does not really care about child custody. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said she argues that, until recently, the father lacked involvement with the child since the child was conceived. The mother contends that the father demanded a paternity test to prove his relationship to the child, but even after paternity was established, the father had little to do with the child. The mother avers that, as recently as 2005, the father was willing to forego child custody, in favor of the mother.

Published on: May 2, 2012

Court Grants Divorce Based on Constructive Abandonment

by Stephen Bilkis

A couple was married in Albania. The couple had five children and all of the children are free from restraint. The children are ages are thirteen, eight, seven, five and four. A New York Family Lawyer said the four youngest children reside with the mother at a shelter in a confidential address, while the eldest child resides with the father at the marital residence, a rented apartment in New York. The couple is both in good health. An Albanian interpreter was provided for the wife throughout the litigation since she does not speak English. Although the husband testified in English during the child custody and visitation trial, he requested the use of an interpreter for the financial trial. The husband’s former attorney was relieved as counsel for the husband shortly after the child custody and visitation decision was rendered. The counsel was substituted.

During the marriage, the husband worked in the construction industry which enabled him to financially support the family and send funds to Albania. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said the wife is as a stay-at-home mother as established during the child custody trial. The couple and their children traveled to Albania. The husband returned to the United States after two weeks, however, the wife and children were left in Albania at the parents’ house of the husband for two years. The wife and youngest child left the husband’s parents’ home and went to live with the wife’s family in a nearby village over the objections of the husband and his family while the four eldest children remained with the husband’s parents. Thereafter, the marriage fractured and the husband returned to Albania to bring the four eldest children back to the United States. The wife and youngest child returned to the United States and moved directly into a domestic violence shelter, where the wife and the four youngest children resided. The events of the couple’s life in Albania and their return to New York are the subject of the court’s extensive child custody and visitation decision.

The husband testified to grounds for divorce. He testified that his wife ceased having sexual relations with him. The abandonment took place at the marital residence in New York. The husband further testified that he has requested that the wife resume sexual relations with him. He testified that the wife had no cause or justification for her actions and that there are no physical impairments to him having sexual relations with the wife. He did not condone or consent to her actions. A Nassau County Child Support Lawyer said the parties were married in a civil ceremony therefore there is no barrier to remarry. The wife remained silent, neither admitting nor denying the husband’s testimony. The court reserved its judgment pending the resolution of the supplementary issues.

Published on: April 30, 2012

Court Discusses Jurisdiction Issue

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts:

A “husband” (also referred to as decedent or deceased) and his wife were married for forty years at the time of his death. They had four children together, and she had two from a previous marriage. A New York Family Lawyer the husband was Jewish and his wife was not. They celebrated some religious holidays with the family, but they did not belong to a temple, nor did the children regularly attend services. The husband never had a bar mitzvah ceremony. The husband’s family had a family plot in Mount Hebron Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in New York, purchased by the husband’s grandfather. All of the husband’s family and their spouses were buried there. The husband and his wife lived in New York until 1998 when they moved to Florida.

After relocating to Florida, the husband began to have health problems. Around 1999, the husband told his wife that he wanted to be buried in his family plot in Mount Hebron with her. However, in May of 2001, when the husband went into the hospital, he and his wife first discussed being buried together in Florida.

Published on: April 27, 2012

Court Determines Visitation and Custody Issues

by Stephen Bilkis

A man and a woman met in New York. The man was a resident of Florida. The woman got pregnant and gave birth to a son on August 9, 2007. A New York Family Lawyer said the father stayed in New York at the mother’s apartment for a fortnight after the baby was born. But the father left New York and returned to Florida. He did not disclose any plans to return to New York nor did he have any plans to bring his son to Florida.

Two months after the child was born, the mother filed a case in the Family Court of New York for the sole child custody of her son. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said five months during the pendency of the mother’s petition for sole child custody, the father appeared and filed an application for sole child custody or at least visitation rights.

During the pendency of the mother’s action for child custody, their son remained with her but the father was able to have one-day visits with their son nine times. He was able to get one overnight visit and one weekend visit with their son in New York. And the child was able to stay with his father for one week in Florida.