by rhornberger | Aug 29, 2017
As a Family Law Attorney practicing on Long Island for many years, I have seen an increasing concern with the issue of paternity, or establishing the identity of the father of those children over the past several years.
40% of Children Born in U.S. are to Unwed Mothers
Did you know that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 40% of all babies born in the U.S. in 2015 were born to unwed mothers? While this percentage is actually slightly lower than in previous years, establishing paternity is still a large issue for many Americans, and Long Islanders.
What is Paternity?
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by rhornberger | May 24, 2016
When Natural Fathers Rights to Consent is Required for Adoption
As a family law attorney practicing on Long Island, protecting biological fathers rights in the complicated adoption process is often part of my job. When a parent is unable to care for the needs of his or her child and considers adoption as an alternative to parenting, or when a natural and custodial parent wishes for his or her new spouse to adopt the child and become a legal parent, New York adoption laws come into play. (more…)
by rhornberger | Dec 8, 2015
As a Family Law attorney whose practice mainly serves residents of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island, we see many second marriages where the couple has a desire to adopt their spouses children.
In some circumstances, when a natural parent is remarried, a child can be adopted by a stepparent. Because the relationship between a child and stepparent plays an important part in a child’s development, stepparent adoption is a choice that in many cases supports the best interest of the child and the family as a whole. Adoption laws in New York are geared toward serving the best interests of the child while protecting the birth parents. Because of New York’s strong public policy in favor of providing children with their parents’ emotional and financial support, stepparent adoption is often supported by the law when the noncustodial parent is not involved in the child’s life or does not provide support for the child.
Stepparent Adoptions are Simpler on Long Island (more…)
