Private Schools and the Autistic Child Child support in all fifty states in the United States is based on the Child Support Standard Act. This statute lays out a schedule of child support payments and ancillary expenses the non-residential custodial parent must contribute to. However, private school tuition is not one of the items included as a … [Read more...]
Autism and the Child – Part II
Special Needs For The Autistic Child Autistic children require expensive therapy and special education regimes that are not available in local school districts. This results in additional expenses for families. Judges hearing divorce cases involving autistic children need to pay special attention to the needs of the autistic child. Residential … [Read more...]
Autism and Divorce – Part I
Divorce is a common occurrence in today’s world. In some states almost half of the marriages end in divorce. When a married couple has an Autistic child it further complicates the home situation. The inability of one or both parents to deal with the stress and problems in raising an autistic child can be a cause of divorce. Parents of children … [Read more...]
Lie To The Court and Your Divorce Gets Dismissed
Justice Charles J. Markey was recently presented with two cases involving divorces that had similar fact situations. In both cases judgments for divorce had been granted to the parties based on sworn statements that there were no children from the marriages. However in both situations the court eventually discovered that there were children of … [Read more...]
Problems Men Face in Family Courts
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 Prior to 1989, there … [Read more...]
Suspects In Abuse Cases – Phone Calls are Taped
New York City jails tape all phone calls made by prisoners with the exception of calls to doctors and lawyers. Prosecutors have been using these tapes against these prisoners. More than 8,200 calls were taped last year in New York City jails. The largest use of these taped calls comes in domestic violence cases. Domestic Violence Men charged … [Read more...]
Prenuptial Agreement In, Lawyer Out
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 … [Read more...]
Obama Administration Refuses to Defend the Defense of Marriage Act
In 1996, a Federal Statute was passed by Congress that prevented federal recognition of same sex marriages. President Obama has recently directed the Justice Department to stop taking legal action to defend this law in court. The Obama Administration's decision was presented to members of Congress by a letter written by Attorney General Eric H. … [Read more...]
Six-year-old’s Video Testimony Rejected by Family Court Judge
Judge Richardson-Mendelsohn, a Family Court judge sitting in Queens County, New York, has refused a request to allow a six-year-old boy to testify via a closed circuit television hookup in a Family Court proceeding seeking an order of protection against his uncle. Z. Shareef, the boy's mother, had brought a proceeding in the Queens Family Court … [Read more...]
Father Loses Custody of Children
In a case before Justice Sunshine, sitting in the Supreme Court located in Kings County (Brooklyn, NY), the judge was presented with a situation where the father had initially been awarded custody by default in a divorce in the year 2005. In 2008, the mother moved for a change in custody in the Family Court. Her application was denied. In the … [Read more...]
