How to Keep Your Divorce Amicable & Not Contentious

How to Keep Your Divorce Amicable & Not Contentious

How to Keep Your Divorce Amicable & Not Contentious

Getting a divorce is hard, even if it’s something both you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse have decided is right for your family. Ideally, your separation will be amicable. However, due to the nature of divorce and the various legal cases under its umbrella, like child custody and alimony or spousal support, things can become heated quickly.

If you and your spouse are able to communicate, there are things you can do to help keep your divorce amicable and prevent if from degrading into an adversarial Contested Divorce. Here’s what it takes to have an amicable Long Island divorce.

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What Should I Say About My Long Island Divorce on Social Media?

What Should I Say About My Long Island Divorce on Social Media?

What NOT to Say About Divorce on Social Media

divorce social media

Getting a divorce is emotional and can make you feel very alone. You may be tempted to turn to social media to get support for the end of your marriage, but this could actually have very negative consequences for your case. What you say or pictures you post on social media have the power to strip you of things like child custody, alimony, and more. 

Here’s what you should know about discussing the dissolution of your marriage on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok and where to get legal help quickly. 

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Why Is My Long Island Divorce Getting So Expensive?

Why Is My Long Island Divorce Getting So Expensive?

Why Does Divorce Cost So Much on Long Island?

Why is my divorce so expensive?

When going through the process of getting a divorce on Long Island, you may notice that the cost of dissolving your marriage just seems to be getting higher and higher. When this is the case, it’s important to take a look at what may be driving up the cost of your divorce and what you can do to get your expenses under control. Here’s what may be blowing your divorce budget and how to get the legal help you need now.

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Why Is My Long Island Divorce Taking So Long?

Why Is My Long Island Divorce Taking So Long?

How Can I Speed Up My Divorce on Long Island?

why is divorce taking so long?

If your Long Island divorce is dragging out longer than you expected, this can have several negative consequences. The longer it takes to fully dissolve your marriage, the more expensive your divorce will likely be. It’s smart to manage your overall costs of divorce by minding how much time various aspects of your divorce take for you and your attorney.

Here are some common things that can inflate the time spent on your divorce and what you can do to try to avoid this.

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Top 10 Checklist for Your Long Island Prenuptial Agreement

Top 10 Checklist for Your Long Island Prenuptial Agreement

Top 10 Checklist for Your Long Island Prenuptial Agreement

It’s more important than ever to consider having a prenuptial agreement in place before entering into the legal contract known as marriage. While it’s great to think that your marriage will be a romantic adventure where you will both live happily every after, we don’t have to call up statistics to know that this isn’t always the case. With more couples marrying later in life when they may have more financial assets before the union, it’s important to discuss the protections a prenup can afford you with an experienced Long Island divorce lawyer prior to entering your marriage.

Here’s a checklist of top 10 things you want to be sure your prenuptial agreement will cover.  

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How to Set Yourself Up for Success in Your Divorce

How to Set Yourself Up for Success in Your Divorce

How to Set Yourself Up for Success in Your Divorce

Many divorced people wish they had gone into their Long Island divorce better prepared, especially when it came to asset division and alimony payments. This is true for those who were not the main income earner or were a stay-at-home parent who made non-monetary contributions to the household, but also for the main breadwinner. Taking some time to plan out your divorce before jumping in feet first will help you avoid regrets over a less-than-ideal result for many years to come. Here are few pointers to help you succeed before, during and after your divorce.

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How to Prepare Documents for Your Long Island Divorce

How to Prepare Documents for Your Long Island Divorce

How to Document Evidence in Your Divorce Case

divorce document preparation

Evidence is one of the most important factors in nearly every legal case, and Long Island divorce cases are no exception. What kind of supporting documentation you have can truly make or break your case. In instances of divorce, lacking the paperwork to back up your claims can cost you significantly, and for years to come, in more ways than one. 

Here’s what you need to know about getting documents ready for your divorce and how you can get the legal help you need during this process from a seasoned New York family lawyer.

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Divorce Attorney Family Law Document Review Services

Divorce Attorney Family Law Document Review Services

Need a Document Review Attorney on Long Island, NY

An Experienced Attorney Should Review Any Legal Documents to Protect Your Rights
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Divorce Lawyer, Long Island, NY

Do You Need a Lawyer to Review Your Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support & Alimony Documents?

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Legal document review attorney Long Island, NY

Legal documents in a divorce are among the most important issues and dictate the terms of your separation. They also influence how custody of a child, child support, alimony, and other divorce issues will be handled. No matter how much you may trust the other side, if someone puts legal papers in front of you to sign, it’s critical to ensure these family law documents protect your rights and the best interest of your family before signing on the dotted line. Even if you believe everyone has your best interests at heart, what may appear to be an inconsequential issue or an oversight now, could have lasting negative effects on your life and well-being for years to come. A family law attorney with extensive legal experience will know what to look for to ensure your best interests are protected now and in the future.

At Hornberger, Verbitsky, P.C., our family law practice has reviewed thousands of family law documents and found many issues that would have cost our clients many thousands of dollars and the peace of mind that enabled them to live their best lives going forward. We encourage you to get experienced legal counsel before signing any document to ensure you are protected and confident in the legal agreements you sign.

Here are just a few of the kinds of documents you should have reviewed by experienced family law attorneys before signing.

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Prenuptial Agreement Review by Experienced Family Law Attorneys

While often difficult to address with the person you are planning to spend the rest of your life with or with whom you have already spent several years of wedded bliss with, Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are  important documents to consider either before your marriage or even years into it. While often considered “unromantic”, especially in years past when couples married younger and with fewer assets, many couples are finding pre- and post-nuptial agreements essential, especially if they are marrying later in life when they have already acquired significant assets on their own.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are designed to protect you and your right to property that you own or rightfully belong to you. These documents, often called “prenups” or “postnups”, are legally binding documents signed by you and your soon-to-be or current spouse prior to or during your marriage. These agreements generally outline the assets, property, and debts of each individual. They further define what each person will receive should the marriage end in divorce.

Without a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement review to set the details for property distribution in the event of divorce, you will leave it up to New York state law to determine who gets what under the rules of Equitable Distribution.

While you don’t enter a marriage without a level of trust in your partner, many families find that proposed prenuptial or postnuptial agreements are heavily skewed in the other party’s favor. To ensure you understand your rights and that this is not the case, it’s crucial to have your agreement reviewed by a seasoned family lawyer prior to signing. Once the agreement is signed, it’s difficult to challenge or modify the agreement.

Legal Counsel for Divorce Settlement Agreements

Divorce settlement agreements dictate the terms of your entire divorce, including child custody, property division, alimony, child support, and more.

It’s especially important to ensure that your divorce settlement agreement doesn’t contain hidden language that can create problems for you later on down the road or language that heavily favors your ex-spouse. It’s also critical to ensure that all important issues are addressed to ensure something doesn’t come back to bite you in the future. Legal experience is key in addressing all critical issues so that nothing comes back to bite you in the future.

Handling Child Custody Agreements in Your Best Interests

For couples with children, child custody is perhaps one of the most sensitive issues in a divorce. Often, one parent thinks they each know what is best for their children, even if those ideas are entirely juxtaposed. Child custody cases are among the most difficult cases in divorce negotiations. It’s important to make decisions that are in the best interest of the child. Of course, it is emotionally heart-wrenching for most parents to envision living apart from their child or children for even a minute. Often, the emotion of the moment causes otherwise loving parents to take drastic measures that are often not in the best interests of the child.

Of course you and your spouse are entitled to make any child custody arrangements that work for you, your spouse and your children. While the most common are Joint Legal Custody and Joint Residential Custody, there are a number of other types of custody, including  Sole Legal Custody, Sole Physical Custody, and Joint Physical Custody.

If you work with a divorce lawyer or a divorce mediator or are able to reach an agreement regarding child custody with your ex-spouse on your own, you should have the paperwork reviewed to ensure that the child’s best interests are protected and that you have the legal and physical access you want with your children. You need to ensure that any child custody agreement you sign is reviewed by an attorney with extensive legal experience in child custody matters to ensure that both your interests and the best interests of the child are served.

Property Division Legal Counsel for Divorce Cases

Property division is often one of the more challenging aspects of getting a Long Island divorce. When the couple owns a home or business together, this issue becomes even more important.

Next to custody of the child and support matters (discussed below), dividing your and your spouse’s property can become one of the most contentious parts of any divorce. Deciding who gets what can be difficult and often emotions play a large part in the contentiousness of property division. Family law matters can escalate quickly when one spouse wants to make the other “pay” and leave them with nothing or as little as possible. This is unrealistic and often causes divorces to drag on and become more expensive as the legal fees add up when spouses cannot resolve their disputes.

New York utilizes Equitable Distribution laws to ensure that property is divided equitably in a divorce. Often, it is difficult for divorcing spouses to comprehend that “equitable” does not mean “equal”. For example, if a couple has a joint savings account with $10,000 in it, the court will not automatically award $5,000 to each spouse. Other assets of value must be brought to bear on the decision. In an oversimplification for example, assume the couple only has one car, the value of that car may be deducted from the savings account proceeds of the spouse who gets to keep it. Add in all the other assets, and debts of the couple and you can see how this can get very complicated very quickly.

Another complicating factor is the difference between Marital Property and Separate Property. Marital Property is subject to Equitable Distribution, while Separate Property is not.  Generally speaking, marital property is that property, including earned income, the marital home, and any other assets acquired by either spouse during the term of the marriage. The major exception would be gifts received by one spouse. These would be considered separate property. Separate property is generally considered any personal property acquired by one spouse prior to the marriage. This can include major assets like a house if it was purchased by one spouse prior to the marriage, as well as an inheritance or a personal injury settlement. Debts, both Shared and Separate, also fall into the Equitable Distribution formula as well.

Once you and your ex-spouse determine how your joint property should be allocated between you two, you should have an experienced lawyer look at the agreement to make sure you are getting everything that rightfully belongs to you.

Before signing any property division agreement, you should be sure to have an experienced divorce attorney review your agreement. The property you leave the marriage with is the property you will have to start your new life without your spouse.

Consult an Alimony Agreement Attorney for Spousal Support

Spousal Support, otherwise known as Alimony or Spousal Maintenance, is commonly awarded to a lower-earning spouse from the income from the higher earning spouse to help ease the transition to fully supporting themselves. This is often the case when one spouse has been the primary caretaker of the household and has not been earning any or enough income to support themselves during the term of the marriage. Spousal support is normally not permanent and has a defined time period until it expires.

If you are the higher-earning spouse, you want to ensure that you are not paying too much spousal support or for too long, while if you are the lower-earning spouse, you want to ensure that you receive enough support and for a long enough period of time to re-enter the workforce and support yourself and perhaps your children as you enter this new phase of your life. Legal experience is essential in determining how both of you determine what that amount and time period should be.

Review Child Support Agreements with a Family Law Attorney

In New York, as in most other states, each parent has an obligation to support their children until they reach an age where they can support themselves. The parent with whom the child primarily resides is known as the custodial parent. The parent with whom the child does not primarily reside is known as the non-custodial parent. Child Support is financial assistance generally paid by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent to support the child. This is the case even when a child spends equal time with both parents. In these cases, the higher-earning parent pays child support to the lower-earning parent to help care for the child.

On Long Island, the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) sets minimum standards for child support. The CSSA uses the income and expenses of each parent, as well as the number of children to calculate each parent’s share of support for their children.

If you expect to pay or receive child support you want to ensure that any child support agreement you sign is fair and equitable to support your child, but does not obligate you to pay more than you should or can afford. An experienced child support lawyer can help protect your interests.

It’s especially important to ensure that your divorce settlement agreement doesn’t contain hidden language that can create problems for you later on down the road or language that heavily favors your ex-spouse. It’s also critical to ensure that all important issues are addressed to ensure something doesn’t come back to bite you in the future.

Child Support, Alimony, and Other Modification Agreements

If you are paying or receiving child support, spousal support or alimony after your Long Island divorce, and you need a family law attorney to help modify the amount due to life circumstances, it’s important to have a lawyer review the agreement before you sign it.

Modification requests can sometimes be challenging because you have to prove that your circumstances or the circumstances of your ex-spouse have changed enough to warrant a modification of child support or alimony owed. Family law cases involving modifications require legal expertise to ensure the best possible outcome.

Petitions to Amend a Divorce Decree: A Guide by Long Island Divorce Lawyers

In some cases, a finalized divorce decree will need to be amended or modified. Whether you or your ex-spouse are the ones initiating the petition to amend the divorce decree, you should carefully consider having an attorney review the agreement or represent you in the action.

Work with an experienced attorney who can assist you in determining what amendments may or may not be in your best interests and whether you should proceed with the amendment petition as is. If your lawyer believes that you may benefit more from a different arrangement, they can help you submit a counter-petition.

Family Lawyer Providing Tailored Legal Counsel for Family Law Cases

The above-listed issues are just some of the most common family legal matters that involve a signed agreement between two parties. Nearly any agreement made with your spouse, ex-spouse or the other parent of your children can be legalized through the utilization of appropriate channels and legal document review services.

Family law is about much more than just legalities; it’s about protecting the family unit. It may be tempting to try to cut legal costs by reviewing and signing agreements that don’t seem too significant, however, this can result in significant challenges later on down the road.

Contact Long Island Family Law Firm Hornberger & Verbitsky, P.C. to Learn More

Hornberger, Verbitsky, P.C. offers comprehensive family law document review services. Contact our expert team to ensure your agreements are legally sound with a document review attorney Long Island. Call us at 631-923-1910 or fill out the form on this page to schedule your free initial consultation.

 

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Should You Record Your Ex During Your Divorce?

Should You Record Your Ex During Your Divorce?

Can Recording Your Spouse Help Your Divorce Case?

should you record ex during divorce

Recording Interactions with Your Ex During Your Long Island Divorce  

It’s important to cover your bases when getting a divorce on Long Island. You can be sure that your ex-spouse isn’t going to protect you, nor will their legal team. It’s up to you to make sure you have the evidence and support you need during your divorce.

Here’s what you should know about recording interactions with your ex and how to get the help you need during the difficult process of dissolving your marriage.​

 

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What Not to Say About Your Ex-Spouse During Your Divorce

What Not to Say About Your Ex-Spouse During Your Divorce

What Not to Say About Your Ex-Spouse During Your Divorce

What you say about your ex-spouse during the process of dissolving your marriage can either help or hurt your divorce on Long Island.

While no one is expecting you to sing their praises, there are some things you definitely shouldn’t say about your ex for your own protection.

You should avoid saying things like:

 

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