New York Family Law Blog

Am I Married? Part 2: Wedding Ceremonies Without a Marriage License

While New York requires a marriage license, marriages may still be recognized even in the absence of a such a license.  Domestic Relations Laws (“DRL”) §13 requires a couple to obtain a marriage license prior to being married. The license must then be provided to the officiant who will perform the ceremony. However, DRL §25…

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Marriage in The Time of Covid-19

On April 18, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would be issuing an executive order permitting New York residents to obtain a marriage license online and allowing clerks to perform marriage ceremonies via video conference.   Each county within New York state has its own criteria for issuing a marriage license and may be…

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Custody and Coronavirus  

  Over the past century, pandemics have been relegated to the realm of academia. However, the novel Coronavirus has brought some new practical complications to the forefront of everyday family life. Especially where families do not all reside in the same home. Prior to the present outbreak, child custody agreements and custody orders did not…

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Marital Lifestyle: Is It Still the Most Important Factor in Setting Maintenance?

The 2015 Session Laws of New York Chapter 2691 imposed wholesale changes to post-divorce maintenance (“2015 Amendment”). Domestic Relations Law (DRL) § 236 was amended to provide a guidelines calculation for awards of post-judgment maintenance.2 Those guidelines are now well known and operate to streamline post judgment maintenance awards where the payor spouse earns income…

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Changing sexual orientation is not a basis to lose custody

For some, divorce and separation follows a parent’s change in sexual orientation.  While some parents may argue that a change in sexual orientation should be hidden from the children.  Or, that a change in sexual orientation should form the basis to change custody.  In New York, a parent’s sexual orientation should not be considered as…

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