The Elliot Schlissel New York Law Blog

Judge John T. Hecht recently dismissed prostitution charges against a sixteen year old girl who was accused of hustling. Judge Hecht sits in the Criminal Court in Kings County. He has adopted the point of view young prostitutes are simply sexually exploited children. He stated with regard to the case of People vs. Samantha R, 2011kno 9255, “the criminal justice system is not always the best venue for addressing societal problems.”

In this case Samanthar R was arrested after she solicted males for prostitution. She was inititally charged with loitering for the purpose of prostitution. This is a noncriminal violation punishable only up to 15 days in jail.

Safe Harbor for Exploited Children’s Act

Judge Hecht, in his decision, stated the legislature in 2008 enacted the “Safe Habor For Exploited Children Act.” Judge Hecht interpretted this statute to mean sixteen and seventeen year olds who are charged with prostitution should be referred to the Family Court and not prosecuted criminally. Judge Hecht further stated “if she is incapable of consenting to intercourse, the incapacity does not change because she agrees to except money.” Judge Hecht’s position is that the Safe Harbor Act precludes prosecution for prostitution of cases such as the one involving Samantha R.

Criminal Defense Lawyers

Should you be charged with a crime, you need the best possible legal representation. The criminal defense lawyers at the Law Office of Elliot Schlissel have been representing New Yorkers and Long Islanders for more than thirty years. We have experience in handling cases involving white collar crimes, violent crimes, computer and internet crimes, drug offenses, driving while intoxicated (DWI), weapons possesssion charges, juvenile cases, assault and battery, and all other felonies and misdemeanors. Call us for a free consultation. Our phones are monitored 24/7. We can also help you arrange for bail and in some situations expunge matters from your record.

Supreme Court Justice, Robert J. Muller, has decided that under the new New York No Fault Divorce Law an objecting party is not entitled to a trial on the issue of fault the marriage is beyond repair. Justice Muller’s decision is an interpretation of New York’s year old No Fault Divorce Law. The Judge’s decision interprets the legislature’s intent that the new No Fault Divorce Law does not give an option to a spouse to demand a trial on the issue that the marriage is irreconciably broken.

The Judge in his decision stated “New York Legislature has enacted in DRL Section 170(7), a true No Fault Divorce Law which does not require proof of any fault, and which does not require or permit the government, through it’s courts, to put people seeking a divorce on trial regarding their marriage.” Justice Muller pointed out in his decision that his ruling is in agreement with a decision of Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Anthony J. Falanga in the case of AC vs. DR, where Judge Falanga ruled that a woman could not challenge her husband’s declaration the marriage was irretrivably broken. In that case the woman was also not allowed to have a trial on the fault ground.

Divorce Made Simple

The New Divorce Law eliminates litigation concerning fault issues of who did what to whom. However, issues involving child support, spousal maintenance, custody, orders of protection, visitation rights (parenting time) and attorneys fees in divorces are still subject to litigation.

Father’s Rights and Mother’s Rights

Mothers and fathers have equal rights regarding custody, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance and other issues in divorces. The Law Office of Elliot Schlissel have been litigating these issues for more than three decades. In addition, the law firm negotiates separation agreements, pre nuptial agreements and post nuptial agreements. In cases of one parent turning the children against another, the law firm litigates parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome related issues. Call for a free consultation. The offices phone numbers are 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802. The law firm phones are monitored 24/7.

Temporary Spousal Maintenance

During the past year New York revolutionized its divorce laws. It adopted a new no fault divorce law that allows men and women to obtain a divorce in the State of New York by simply alleging that there have been irreconcilabledifferences between them for a period in excess of six months. The pleadings to obtain this type of divorce do not require the parties indicate what the irreconcilable differences were! This presents New Yorkers with simpler grounds to obtain a divorce.

With the new divorce law came a new set of rules for spousal maintenance (alimony). Unfortunately, the new rules are complicated, burdensome and tie judges’ hands. In the past Judges had discretion to do what was fair concerning temporary spousal maintenance (alimony) payments. That discretion has been limited by these new laws.

Prior to this new statute, Judges used a “balancing act” to determine what temporary spousal maintenance was fair in each given situation. The Court would review the family’s finances, take testimony about family obligations and try to arrive at a fair figure for temporary spousal maintenance (alimony). The theory was that the court should maintain the parties financial status quo during the pendency of a divorce. Items such as expenses for mortgage, rent, medical insurance, food and other necessities were taken into consideration by the Judge making a decision with regard to the payment of maintenance by one spouse to the other.

The New World of Spousal Maintenance

The new statute provides 19 separate financial factors in a formula that is to be used by the court in making determinations concerning spousal maintenance issues. The new statute provides a cap of $500,000 of income that can be subject to the calculations of spousal maintenance. In certain situations, Judges can discard the formula, but in those cases they must fully explain why they’re circumventing the formula. Unfortunately, Judges are utilizing the formula in almost all situations.

The Formula Doesn’t Work in All Cases

Supreme Court Justice Shannon Townsend, sits in Erie County. She is presently the head of the Office of Court Administrations Matrimonial Practice Advisory Committee. She has identified several problems with the Temporary Maintenance Statute. She has stated that some of the factors used in the temporary maintenance equation simply don’t make sense. Justice Townsend has stated that Judges are being forced to “fill in holes in the statute on a case by case basis”.

Statute Helps Low Income Wifes

The statute was designed to “even the playing field” between men, who often are the primary wage earners and women, who either weren’t working or had lower income. Emily Rubin, an attorney who worked for the Legal Aid Society of New York, claims the changes in the law have assisted low income women. She states the awards of spousal maintenance (alimony) are much fairer for women in low income situations or for women who don’t work.

Law Revision Committee

There is a Law Revision Committee who is responsible for studying changes in the divorce process, which also includes this Temporary Maintenance Statute. They are currently working on amendments, changes and modifications to this statute that may assist the courts and attorneys in obtaining balanced results.

Father’s Rights Lawyers

The Law Offices of Elliot Schlissel have been seeing to it fathers have equal rights and they are protected in the Family Courts and the Supreme Courts in the State of New York. This firm deals with all aspects of Family Law Practice and divorce. Issues such as child abuse, child neglect, spousal maintenance, child support, child custody, changing child custody, orders of protection and child abuse defense are the types of cases the law firm has extensive experience in handling. In addition, the firm litigates father’s rights cases involving parental alienation syndrome, relocation problems, equitable distribution of assets in divorce and no fault divorce issues in Nassau County, Kings County, Queens County, Suffolk County and throughout the rest of the Metropolitan New York area. In amicable situations, the law firm is involved in arbitration and mediation of issues. The Law Firm also draft pre nuptial agreements, post nuptial agreements and separation agreements. Call for a free consultation. The phones are monitored 24/7

The SUNY CAP In Case Law

resources in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Although the mother was willing to pay for half of the cost of sending one of her sons to Syracuse University, the father was not. He only wished to pay half of the expense to send his son to the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Fathers who come to our law office often claim that they are treated like second class citizens in the Family Court regarding child custody, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony), orders of protection and issues involving child abuse and child neglect. They also relate to us that in divorce proceedings in the Supreme Court they are not treated fairly. Our law office represents fathers with regard to all types of proceedings in the Family Court and the Supreme Court. We aggressively protect fathers’ rights. We deal with difficult issues, such as downward modifications of child support, relocation problems, parental alienation cases and issues involving parental alienation syndrome.  For more than 33 years, we have been recognized as one of the premier fathers’ rights law firms in the Metropolitan New York area. If you have matrimonial or family problems, we can help you.  Call for a consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 and 718-350-2802.

There are many issues that come up in divorces. Who gets custody, child support, visitation (parenting schedules), equitable distribution of property and the payment of debts from the marriage. These issues can cause divorces to be contentious. Litigants in divorce cases spend large sums of money fighting to protect their rights concerning these problems.

College Expenses

If the parties to a marriage have children, how is the issue of college expenses dealt with? To start with, most litigants in a divorce will tell their attorney that their children are young and they don’t want to deal with the college expense issue now, that they’d prefer to wait until a later time. In those situations, the attorney should ask his clients how much they have saved up for college so far. The answer to that question is often either zero or a very small amount.

During settlement discussions on divorce issues, the parties often get together at one of the attorney’s offices and have a four party meeting. At this meeting, both spouses and their respective attorneys face each other across a conference room table and discuss, in a mature, intelligent, reasonable manner the issues involved in their divorce.

The purpose of these discussions is to try to work out an amicable settlement without the need for expensive litigation. When the issue of college tuition comes up, both of the spouses sometimes say they agree that we should pay for the college expenses for their children. Often the Attorney will inform them of something along the lines of: “well, your children are eight and ten, as of this point. You have saved very little towards their college expenses. Even though you seek to pay for your childrens’ college expenses, and this is admirable, since you haven’t saved money up until this point, it is unlikely that you will be able to save enough money to pay for the tuition in the future”

Divorce and Family Court Lawyers

I have been representing men and women concerning issues involving divorce, divorce grounds and family law problems for more than 33 years. I have been involved in hundreds of cases dealing with issues concerning orders of protection, child custody, child abuse, child neglect, division of marital property and regarding negotiation and separation agreements. My law office protects mothers’ rights and fathers’ rights in divorce and family court situations. Should you have questions or seek a free consultation, call me at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

There is a new application for the iPhone 4S. This application can track people. An interesting case involves a man who purchased a new iPhone 4S for his wife and loaded the “Find my friends app” onto her phone without her knowing about it. He had been suspicious about her meeting another man for liasons. She told him she was going to one place and he tracked her on the iPhone app. to another.

This new iPhone application can be used by boyfriends and girlfriends to track significant others to see if they are telling the truth as to where they’re going, should foul play be a possibility. The wonders of new technology. Now instead of hiring a private investigator to track your spouse, you can simply put an app on their iPhone and figure out where they’re going. So much for trust in relationships!

The new iPhone 4S has been a spectacular success. This new operating system has been purchased by more than four million people during its first three days on the market. It is too bad Steve Jobs didn’t live long enough to see this tremendous success of Apple’s newest product.

New York Divorce Lawyers

The Law Office of Elliot Schlissel can help you if you wish to divorce your spouse. We have extensive experience in dealing with divorce grounds, and other family law related issues. We can assist you with question involving child custody, annulments, amicable divorce, mothers’ rights, fathers’ rights and the mediation of divorce related issues. We also have extensive experience in dealing with high net worth divorces and family owed business issues. Call us for a free consultation.

Paul McCarthy Re-married

Being Alone

Fathers’ Rights Lawyers

When marriage fails what you need is a good lawyer! The Father’s rights lawyers at the Law Office of Elliot Schlissel have been helping men protect their rights for over 33 years. We litigate all aspects of divorce, including child custody, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony) and equitable distribution of property. We also represent fathers with regard to proceedings in family court. We litigate issues involving paternity, downward modifications of child support, relocation problems, parental alienation cases and issues involving parental alienation syndrome. We also negotiate separation agreements for our clients. Feel free to call us for a free consultation.The Law Firm handles cases in Nassau County, Kings County, Queens County and throughout the Metropolitan New York area.

Have men’s rights in Family Courts become a civil rights matter? Do men need to band together to protect their rights that are being abused in Family Courts? Is there an inherent bias against men in the Family Courts? Do Family Courts make presumptions that have a negative effect on men’s rights?

Women as Nurturers

women have had equal rights regarding custody of their children. So why have men not faired well in the Family Courts?

Primary Care Givers

Fathers’ Rights

Fathers who come to our law office often claim that they are treated like second class citizens in the Family Court regarding child custody, visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony), orders of protection and issues involving child abuse and child neglect. They also relate to us that in divorce proceedings in the Supreme Court they are not treated fairly.

Our law office represents fathers with regard to all types of proceedings in the Family Court and the Supreme Court. We aggressively protect fathers’ rights. We deal with difficult issues, such as downward modifications of child support, relocation problems, parental alienation cases and issues involving parental alienation syndrome.  For more than 33 years, we have been recognized as one of the premier fathers’ rights law firms in the Metropolitan New York area. If you have matrimonial or family problems, we can help you.  Call for a consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 and 718-350-2802.

Adulterous relationships occur in approximately 50% of all marriages. The discovery of the adultery by the spouse can bring profound changes to the marital relationship. The betrayal causes pain and instability within the marriage. It is estimated that in less than a third of the situations involving adultery, the relationship between the couple ultimately returns to normal.

Handling Affairs

Dr. Tammy Nelson has recently written a book deals with how to successfully save relationships after the discovery of adultery. In her book, Dr. Nelson states “often affairs are like viruses, in that they’re opportunistic and they feed on a part of one’s self that is kept under ground, unknown even to one’s self.” Dr. Nelson discusses in her book reconnecting to the basic relationship between the parties.

She suggests the parties shouldn’t go into details about the facts of the affair. Instead, the couples should concentrate on re-connecting with each other. They should open up and deal with the insecurities and other problems in their relationship.

The Book: “Getting the Sex You Want”

Dr. Nelson, in her book, talks about the shame, anger and guilt experienced by couples when illicit affairs are discovered. She discusses the fact that an affair is usually an expression of sexual energy. She suggests the couple reinvent their relationship and deal with each others’ erotic needs. Forgiveness is not the answer to an affair. Re-establishing the relationship and dealing with sexual needs is more important.

This article discusses how to save a marital relationship. However, there are cases where the relationship can not be saved. In those situations, it is important to educate yourself with regard to the various issues involved in a divorce. The Law Office of Elliot

Schlissel can assist you in these matters. We have developed an expertise involving issues related to family law, child custody, separation agreements, annulments, division of property, amicable divorce, fathers’ rights, mothers’ rights and the mediation of divorces.Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Republican politicians have recently referred to Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme”.  This is an absurd misrepresentation of a program that has helped keep many of America’s senior citizens out of poverty. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, in a recent debate, stated “it is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you’re paying into a program that’s going to be there. Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and that’s not right.” What’s not right is that Governor Rick Perry is clueless as to the nature and makeup of the Social Security system!

Governor Rick Perry

The Social Security Trust Fund will have a surplus that will reach it’s peak in the year 2022. At that time, the surplus in the fund will be 3.7 trillion dollars. Social Security is a program that has worked for more than 50 years. Politicians shouldn’t mess with a system that already works well.