The Elliot Schlissel New York Law Blog

Justice Palmieri in the Supreme Court located in Nassau County, New York, has rendered an unusual decision in a divorce case.  Divorce Law in New York does not make fault a factor in equitable distribution of assets unless there is “egregious marital fault.”  In this case, the wife’s husband of ten years had been convicted of sexually molesting her eight year old granddaughter from another marriage.  The attorney for the wife sought to make an inquiry with the husband with regard to his conduct being a potential factor in the equitable distribution of the property.  The husband’s attorney brought a protective order application alleging that this conduct is not material to the equitable distribution of assets.

Sexual Abuse Is Egregious Fault

Judge Palmieri, in his decision, stated “it cannot be seriously argued that this could never be a sufficient basis…for finding ‘outrageous’ or ‘conscious shocking’ conduct no matter what disclosure of the underlying facts might reveal.”  He therefore, allowed the discovery of material to develop the facts in this situation.

Mrs. G stated that after her husband was convicted she had a nervous breakdown.  She was forced to take medication which prevented her from functioning properly.  She needed therapy, but could not continue with the therapy because her husband refused to pay for the treatment.

Judge Palmieri in his decision stated “notwithstanding the plea, no trial Court can fairly determine whether the defendant’s conduct was sufficiently outrageous or conscious shocking to affect equitable distribution on a conviction alone.”  This is due to the fact plea bargains are often the result of negotiations in which various factors come into play.  The judge went on further to say “the issue is his conduct and the effect on the plaintiff and his alleged victims cannot be used as shields.”

Conclusion

Judge Palmieri has deviated from the established law with regard to allowing fault to be taken into consideration in the equitable distribution of assets.  I presume this case will be appealed.  It is my expectation that it will be reversed by the Appellate Division.

Fathers Rights’ Lawyers

Sometimes when fathers come into Court, they find the playing field is not level.  The Family Court is often referred to as “mommy’s court.”  However, there is a way to level the playing field and that is to hire the most experienced, most competent aggressive fathers’ rights lawyers available.

The attorneys of the Law Offices of Elliot Schlissel are recognized throughout the metropolitan New York area as the premiere father’s rights lawyers.  We litigate issues involving divorces, child custody, visitation, changing child custody, child support, child abuse, child neglect, annulments, parental alienation cases, as well as orders of protections. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802.

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.

Judge Dregger, sitting in Manhattan Supreme Court, denied a very successful private equity firm executive from presenting evidence in a divorce case that he had “unique personality traits” prior to the marriage that allowed him to accumulate 450 million dollars in business assets during the thirty year term of his marriage. Justice Dregger, in her decision, stated that “in purporting to prove that the success of the business is solely attributable to his innate genius, the expert opinion evidence offered by the husband provides no assistance to the finder of fact in fashioning an equitable distribution of the estate based on the contributions of each party to the marital partnership.” Mr. and Mrs. Silverman were married for more than thirty years prior to a divorce lawsuit being brought. They had married in January of 1978.

Innate Talents

Mr. Silverman claimed that he had unique innate talents that allowed him to be successful in this business. Mr. Silverman argued that his talents in business should be considered in determining equitable distribution. Justice Dregger stated that intangible assets may be considered as marital property, referring to the enhanced earning capacity of an investment banker, someone with celebrity status or someone involved in a political career. However, she stated the question is “to what degree the spouse not possessed of the intangible asset was entitled to a distributive aware arising from the enhanced earning capacity of the career developed during the marriage and not the degree of fame, skill or political acumen possessed at the time of the marriage.”

Henry Silverman is out of luck. The 450 million dollars he amassed is subject to equitable distribution with his wife. I’m sure he’ll end up with enough money to prevent himself from starving.

New York and Long Island Divorce Lawyer

The law office of Elliot Schlissel have been handling divorces in the Metropolitan New York area for over thirty-three years. We litigate all aspects of divorce related proceedings in the Supreme Court and Family Court. These proceedings involve divorce grounds, no fault divorce, child custody, mothers’ rights, fathers’ rights, child support, downward modification of child support, spousal maintenance (alimony) and domestic violence issues. In addition, we negotiate separation agreements, prenuptial agreementsand post-nuptial agreements for our clients. We litigate equitable distribution issues involving doctor, dentist and lawyer licenses. Call us for a free consultation.

Kathleen Scott-Gonzalez appeared in court for a hearing on her divorce in Plantation, Florida. She expected this to be the final day of the trial on her divorce case. What she didn’t anticipate was that she would be beaten up by her husband in the judge’s chambers and end up with a broken nose and fractured jaw!

Kathleen and her husband Paul Gonzalez were in Judge Rothschild’s chambers. A hearing was underway concerning the issue of child support. Paul Gonzalez was acting as his own attorney. Both Paul Gonzalez and his wife Kathleen are ex marines.

Child Support

Judge Rothschild was talking about child support. At that time Paul Gonzalez stood up and left the room. Judge Rothschild invited both litigants into his chambers to discuss the matter. When Paul Gonzalez entered Judge Rothschild’s chambers, he started punching his wife. He was behind her and started punching her in the back of her head. Unfortunately, there was no court officer in the room to prevent the assault. Both Judge Rothschild and Kathleen Gonzalez’s lawyer helped stop the beating. Eventually court officers came in to the room and subdued Mr. Gonzalez.

Paul Gonzalez has been charged with felony battery and resisting arrest. He is currently spending his time in the Brownwood County jail. His bail has been set at one million dollars.

Kathleen Gonzalez advises men and women if they are afraid their spouse, even in a court setting, they should ask the court for additional security. Kathleen Gonzalez thought she was safe in court. In the case of her divorce, she wasn’t!

Father’s Rights Lawyer

Fathers should never represent themselves in a divorce. They should have knowledgeable father’s rights lawyers by their side at all times during matrimonial or family court proceedings.

The attorneys at the father’s rights Law Firm of Elliot Schlissel have extensive experience in dealing with issues involving paternity, child custody, orders of protection, child visitation and child support. We represent fathers wrongly accused of child abuse and child neglect by CPS and ACS. We deal with the attorneys for the child also in these proceedings. When fathers are downsized or lose their jobs, we bring applications to reduce their child support.

Our law office has extensive experience in dealing with parental relocation problems (when one parent moves), grandparent’s rights and equitable distribution of assets in a divorce. Our attorneys represent men in the Supreme Courts and Family Courts of Nassau County, Queens County, Kings County and throughout the rest of the Metropolitan New York area. Call for a free consultation.

Getting divorced is not fun. It can be one of the most stressful times in men and women’s lives. Even in amicable situations, men and women tend to find themselves being stressed out. Divorce involves an emotional break up as well as a financial break up. Issues involving custody and visitation of children can be gut wrenching. There are things that you should do and that you should avoid doing that may make your divorce less antagonistic and stressful.

Don’t Do The Following

Don’t decide to take a job in another state or move out of the country until all aspects of your divorce are resolved. Avoid violating temporary custody or temporary visitation arrangements. If you don’t comply with the temporary custody or visitation arrangements, you may not be able to obtain permanent custody. Do not hide your assets, or lend your assets to your friends. You’ll find this is counter productive and may lead to large legal fees to straighten out these issues.

Hire An Attorney

Only a fool would represent himself or herself in a divorce. The laws in the State of New York are complicated and the legal system is full of problems for the unweary.

Things To Do When You’re Divorced

Try to be reasonable! Take into consideration your spouses point of view. Cooperate with your lawyer and the court. Be prepared to make reasonable compromises.

You should provide child support to your children during the divorce process. Divorce is a process where adults break up a relationship. Children are the innocent victims in divorces. Try to avoid having your children pick sides as to who is right and who is wrong.

When you’re visiting with the children, let your spouse know where the children are. See to it that the children can maintain reasonable telephone communication with the other parent when they are in your company.

Create a list of your assets and property and disclose them all to the other side. If you seek to hide your assets or engage in financial deception, you can end up litigating your divorce again and again in the future.

Maintain an appropriate level of communication with your lawyer. Don’t be afraid to ask him or her questions. The lawyer works for you! His or her job is to help you. If you feel you do not understand the divorce process, have the attorney explain it to you.

Father’s Rights Lawyers

Elliot Schlissel, Esq. and his associates have been representing fathers in divorce and family court proceedings for more than 30 years. The firm deals with issues involving orders or protection, paternity, child abuse defense, CPS and ACS problems, child neglect issues, child support, child custody, visitation and spousal maintenance (alimony). The firm handles no fault divorces as well as fault divorces. Issues involving attorneys fees in divorces are expertly handled by the firm. In the appropriate situations, the firm obtains annulments for our clients.

Issues involving grandparent’s rights, equitable distribution and relocation problems are dealt with on a regular basis by the firm.  One of the more difficult issues we have developed in expertise is that fathers face is parental alienation of the fathers by mothers that create parental alienation syndrome issues for their children. Call for a consultation regarding any of the aforementioned issues.

The Child Support Standards Act provides a formula for child support payments. A non-residential custodial parent pays child support of 17% of gross wages, less FICA and less New York City taxes (where applicable), when there is one child receiving support. The figure goes up to 25% for two children, 29% for three children, 31% for four children and 35% for five children.

What happens to the child support when the he or she attends college?

The main expenses in college involve tuition and room and board if the child is not living at home. Recent cases hold that a parent paying child support should receive a dollar for dollar credit for all monies paid by the parent for room and board while the child is attending an out of town college.

Issues with regard to payments of tuition are more complicated. Some courts have held that parents should pay tuition up to the cost of a state university of New York college education based on the earnings of each parent. An example of this would be if one parent made $70,000 a year and the other parent made $30,000 a year. The parent making the $70,000 a year would pay 70% of the tuition costs and the parent making $30,000 would pay 30% of the tuition costs. This only works if the parents have the financial ability to make these payments.

College funding gets more complicated when there is more than one child receiving child support. Since most divorce cases are settled, the issues of college expenses, whether they be room and board, transportation or tuition, should be clearly delinated in the stipulation of settlement or settlement agreement entered into between the parties. These agreements are quite technical in nature and should only be drafted by qualified attorneys with extensive experience in handling matrimonial and family law matters.

If you are involved in a divorce or negotiating a separation agreement, it is important to consider the interaction between college expenses and child support at the time the agreement is being negotiated.

Fathers’ Rights Attorneys

If you’re a father with matrimonial and family law problems, the law office of Elliot Schlissel can help you. For 34 years, we have aggressively litigated all types of issues on behalf of the fathers we have represented. We have an expertise in dealing with child abuse and child neglect situations. We litigatepaternity, child support, child custody, child visitation, spousal maintenance (alimony), and we bring proceedings for the downward modification of child support on behalf of our clients.

We advise our clients with regard to all types of issues in divorce proceedings. We assist our clients in obtaining divorces on the basis of irreconcilable differences under the new New York No Fault Divorce Statute. We litigate equitable distribution of property in divorce proceedings. When the mother relocates, we bring relocation litigation to bring the child back to New York or change custody to the father. Should the mother turn the child against the father, we litigate issues involving parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome. In addition, we assist grandparents with grandparents’ rights cases. Feel free to call us for a free consultation.

Justice Janowitz, sitting in the Supreme Court of Nassau County, recently dealt with a case involving a father who voluntarily retired, for the sole purpose of reducing his financial obligations for child support. In this case, the wife sued her husband based on cruel and inhuman treatment for a divorce. A stipulation was entered into dealing with custody, support, maintenance and equitable distribution of property.

Retirement Reduces Father’s Income

The father was a former police officer. He voluntarily retired, which had the impact of reducing his income from $210,000 a year to $60,000 a year. Query: Did I make a mistake in going to law school?

Justice Janowitz’s decision pointed out that the father’s voluntary retirement took place one week after he granted the divorce. Justice Janowitz found that the father’s reasons for retiring were not credible. The father had argued that his retirement was based on maximizing his pension benefits. Judge Janowitz pointed out, in his decision, that this was unsubstantiated by the evidence submitted to the court. The Judge stated in his decision that the reason for the father’s retirement was solely related to reducing his child support obligations. Judge Janowitz imputed to the father his pre-retirement income and awarded the mother $34,680 annually in child support.

Fathers’ Rights Attorneys

If you’re a father with matrimonial and family law problems, the law office of Elliot Schlissel can help you. For 34 years, we have aggressively litigated all types of issues on behalf of the fathers we have represented. We have an expertise in dealing with child abuse and child neglect situations. We litigate paternity, child support, child custody, child visitation, spousal maintenance (alimony), and we bring proceedings for the downward modification of child support on behalf of our clients.

We advise our clients with regard to all types of issues in divorce proceedings. We assist our clients in obtaining divorces on the basis of irreconcilable differences under the new New York No Fault Divorce Statute. We litigate equitable distribution of property in divorce proceedings. When the mother relocates, we bring relocation litigation to bring the child back to New York or change custody to the father. Should the mother turn the child against the father, we litigate issues involving parental alienation and parental alienation syndrome. In addition, we assist grandparents with grandparents’ rights cases. Feel free to call us for a free consultation.

A father brought a custody petition in New York State. The next day, the mother who resided in Texas brought a custody petition for the parties child in Texas. There was litigation to determine whether New York or Texas would be the appropriate jurisdiction to determine who receives custody of the child.

The Parties Were Divorced In Michigan

The parties were originally divorced in the state of Michigan. Issues involving child support, child custody, visitation and parenting time were still pending at the time the proceedings were brought in New York and Texas. Judge Statler, sitting in the Family Court of New York County, was presented with a sticky issue as to what state has jurisdiction. The father claimed that New York not Texas should be the state to determine custody. In her decision, Judge Statler found that, under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, Texas would be the appropriate state to handle this child custody case. Her reasoning was that the child had resided in Texas with the mother for approximately one year at the time of the initiation of the custody proceedings. Under this law, the state that the child lived in for the past six months is the appropriate state to determine custody. Judge Statler also found there were more significant contacts with the child and the mother in the state of Texas than in New York. She therefore dismissed the case and the case will now have to be dealt with in Texas.

Fathers’ Rights Law Firm

The law office of Elliot Schlissel is one of the premier fathers’ rights law firms in the country. Our attorneys have more than ninety years of combined legal experience in handling fathers’ rights cases. We litigate divorce matters, orders of protection, child custody, child visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony), child abuse and child neglect proceedings. In addition, we deal with CPS and ACS problems related to child abuse and child neglect. When our clients lose their jobs or have reduced income, we bring proceedings to reduce child support payments. We litigate numerous cases each year involving issues concerning paternity, equitable distribution, grandparents’ rights and high net worth divorces. We also are negotiating separation agreements, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Supreme Court Justice Daniel Palmari recently disqualified Jeffrey S. Stephens from representing Edward Scannapieco, pursuant to a New York ethics rule that bars an attorney from working as an advocate in a case when his presence may have a “significant issue effect.”

Justice Palmari found that attorney Stephens of Greenwich, Connecticut, had “testified because he had submitted an affirmation to the court indicating the facts related to the execution of an undisclosed pre-nuptial agreement.” The pre-nuptial agreement is being contested by Machiell Scannapieco.

Justice Palmari stated his decision, “counsel here was a major participant in the event, as such his testimony is relevant to significant factual issues.” Mr. & Mrs. Scannapieco were married December 30, 1989. Mrs. Scannapieco filed for divorce in 2010.

Mr. Scannapieco brought a proceeding to deny his wife spousal maintenance. He indicated in his motion that there was a November, 1989 pre-nuptial agreement that limited Mrs. Scannapieco’s right to obtain spousal maintenance. He initially was unable to locate the document, but he found it shortly prior to bringing the application to the court.

Attorney Stephens stated in his court papers, “he prepared the agreement, negotiated the changes with an unidentified attorney representing the plaintiff-wife and he only recently found it in storage.”

Justice Palmari indicated in his decision that the application of the pre-nuptial agreement will have to wait until the discovery process in the divorce proceeding is concluded. But since attorney Stephens may be a witness in this proceeding, he cannot represent one of the litigants. Justice Palmari stated, in referring to an earlier Nassau County decision, “that the preventing of an attorney from representing a litigant in a case where the lawyer may be a witness prevents any unfairness from arising from the lawyer’s opportunity to present his case twice.”

Justice Palmari indicated in his decision that since the case was in the initial stages, the elimination of Mr. Stephens from representing Mr. Scannapieco will not create a “substantial hardship.”

Fathers’ Rights Lawyers

The law office of Elliot Schlissel has been litigating fathers’ rights matters for more than thirty years. We have extensive experience in representing fathers in divorce proceedings, regarding orders of protection, concerning issues involving child custody, child visitation, child support and spousal maintenance (alimony). We have litigated child abuse and child neglect proceedings on behalf of fathers involving Child Protective Services and Association for Child Services. We have brought proceedings requesting the reduction of child support for fathers. We can assist fathers concerning no-fault divorce issues, equitable distribution of assets, family relocation problems, as well as negotiating separation agreements. We are also very knowledgeable concerning the parental alienation of children by mothers. Feel free to call us at your earliest convenience should you need a fathers’ rights attorney. Our phone numbers are 1-800- 344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.