Child Custody In The Interests Of Children And Parents

Custody and child support are not just issued ot be addressed in a Divorce of in Supreme Court. At the Law Offices of Alexandria Lipton we frequently represent clients in Family Court regarding custody and child support. These cases can be time consuming and complex. The Court, and the Law, consider both the rights of each parent to a child and what is in the child’s best interests in these cases. It is imperative to have an advocate who can articulate your position, present your evidence properly to the Court, and successfully make convincing arguments to the Judge. We often will file emergency requests in custody cases to address immediate concerns:

• The health and safety of the child
• Parental Relocation with the child
• Parental alienation or interference
• Sudden change in custody
• Physical/mental abuse, harassment, stalking,etc.
• Immediate need for child support or an order of arrears
• Enforcement or modification of a prior child custody and/or support order
• Downward modification of child support
• Request to increase parenting time

At the Law Offices of Alexandria Lipton, servicing New York City and State, my clients benefit from the responsive, one-on-one attention that I, my attorneys, and my staff, provide. We believe that good client communication, quality individual client care, and zealous advocacy are crucial to getting the fastest, most optimal results for our clients.

How is Child Custody Determined in New York? The Best Interests Standard

• In New York State, the guiding legal principle in custody cases is what is in “the best interest of the child.” This amorphous phrase includes the consideration of a set of factors the Court uses to determine what that means in every case, such as:
• which parent has been the main care giver/nurturer of the child
• the parenting skills of each parent, their strengths and weaknesses and their ability to provide for the child’s special needs, if any
• the mental and physical health of the parents
• whether there has beendomestic violence in the family
• work schedules and child care plans of each parent
• the child’s relationships with brothers, sisters, and members of the rest of the family
• what the child wants, depending on the age of the child
• each parent’s ability to cooperate with the other parent and to encourage a relationship with the other parent, when it is safe to do so
• Stability, including financial stability
• Access to quality education and child care
• Continuity of an established primary caretaker role
• Preservation of sibling groups and/or access to other extended family members, such as grandparents
• Children’s preferences are considered depending on their age

Cautionary factors include whether either parent has a history of any of the following:

• Drug or alcohol abuse, mental health issues, spousal abuse, child abuse or abandonment
• A tendency to interfere with each other’s visitation rights
• Safety concerns regarding a parent’s home environments

The Court will consider all of these factors, and more, in determining custody and parenting time. It is important to have a knowledgeable attorney to guide you through the law as it is applied in real life, advocate your position, and help you obtain settlements or orders that address your needs and concerns and insure the safety of yourself, your child, and your family.

Let’s Put Our Heads Together For The Benefit Of Your Children

Going to trial is not likely the best way to resolve a custody dispute. Negotiations or mediation resulting in settlement, keep you, the parent, in the driver’s seat of decision-making about your children’s custody arrangements. Once you enter litigation, and if your case goes to trial, your fate is decided by a Judge who ultimately will never know your case, your life, your child, or your ex as well as you do. So we encourage clients, where possible, to take control of their own decision making by engaging in negotiation to achieve agreement. But where that proves impossible or unproductive, we are here to zealously advocate your position.