Best Adoption Lawyers near New Rochelle, NY

In order to file for a divorce in New York State you must have a ground (a legally acceptable reason) for the granting of a divorce by the New York courts. The seven legally acceptable reasons, or grounds for divorce are:

Our flat-fee legal services are limited to "uncontested" divorce. In the event that your spouse contests the divorce by filing a Notice of Appearance or Answer with the Court, your case will be transferred to our litigation branch where you will have the option of continuing with our "of-counsel" legal representation (a new retainer will be required at that time) or you may always opt to proceed as a pro se litigant (self-represented). In any event, our staff and attorneys will be available to discuss these options and assist you with the transition.

Yes. However, before we can proceed with a divorce, we will need to have your spouse served. In cases where your spouse has abandoned you and his or her whereabouts are unknown, the Court will require that we take steps to locate him or her. We must document our efforts to locate your spouse in a process called "due diligence." This will require retaining the services of a private investigator (additional fees apply). In the event that our efforts to locate your spouse are unsuccessful (and we are not able to obtain a valid address at which he or she may be served), we will need to file a formal motion (application) with the Court requesting alternate service on a family member or via publication/legal notice (posting the Summons with Notice in a court approved newspaper). Once all these procedural requirements have been satisfied, we will be in a position to request that the court enter a default judgment of divorce against the defendant. In such cases, the procedures and additional investigative service will delay the divorce process significantly. For a comprehensive breakdown of the fees and expected timeframe required in such cases, please be sure to inquire directly with our legal team.

The Courts, in most cases, require a Social Security Number (if available) as a method of identification in a divorce proceeding. If there are children of the marriage, Social Security Numbers will also be used to run a DRL Section 240 registry search in which the court searches the Family Court records for any relevant proceedings that may impact custody or visitation of the minor children. If either party does not have a Social Security Number, the Court will require an alternative form of identification.

Child support may be paid weekly, bi-weekly (every two weeks) or monthly depending on the parties' preferences. Child support may be paid directly to the custodial parent by check or money order or through the Child Support Services of the Support Collection Unit in your specific County. If you opt for child support to be paid through Child Support Services, the payor spouse may have his or her Child Support obligation deducted (if employed) from his or her paycheck on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Child Support funds are then forwarded to the Support Collection Unit by the payor's employer and the payee spouse will receive regular child support payments through the Support Collection Unit.