You are in a conference with the court or opposing counsel and you allege the other party has unreported/hidden cash, when the magic words are spoken: “They signed joint tax returns, your client is bound by the income set forth—Mahoney-Buntzman!”1 We hear this (and say it) all the time. But is it always true? We know … Continued

Recent Legislation New York legislature addresses custody and medical treatment of transgender children New York is considering a bill that broadens jurisdiction for custody cases involving transgender children. The bill, S.7506-A/A.7687-A, would allow state courts to accept jurisdiction in cases where a parent asserts that they have moved to New York seeking a refuge where … Continued

Introduction American Indian, Indian, Native American, or Native, are acceptable and appropriate terminology and are often used interchangeably when describing American Indian people. The terms tribe and nation are used interchangeably but carry very different meanings for many Native people. Many tribal groups are known officially by names that include nation.1 Although Indian Tribes are spread out across the state of New … Continued

In its 1977 decision in Kahn v. Kahn,1 the Court of Appeals held that “unless a court alters the legal relationship of a husband and wife by granting a divorce, an annulment, a separation or by declaring a void marriage a nullity, it has no authority to order the sale of a marital home owned by the … Continued

Just in case you haven’t noticed, our court system is not working well at all. There need to be more judges, more support staff, and more efficiency. Hearings, trials, applications and appeals take altogether too long to be heard and resolved and long delays are standard fare. Legal costs are prohibitive. In such an environment, … Continued

Spouses who are or have been subjected to domestic abuse by their spouses (or ex-spouses) may find themselves dealing with threatening notices from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the state taxing authorities seeking to collect tax from them for understatements or underpayments of tax on joint returns previously filed with the abusing spouse. Fortunately, … Continued

Family Courts in New York State and the United Kingdom operate under the same burdens; both have many more cases than their systems can reasonably manage, leading to long delays in hearing and resolving cases. Inevitably, families, and especially children, suffer the consequences of these backlogs which can lead to egregious errors, making lurid headlines … Continued

Recent Legislation New income caps for support, effective March 1, 2024 Pursuant to increases in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, mandated as required by Social Services Law 111(i)(b) for the Child Support Standards Act, and by § DRL 236(B)(5-a)(b)(5) for temporary maintenance, and … Continued

In Volume 54, Number 2 of the 2022 issue of this publication, my article addressed the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.1 That article, entitled “The Evisceration Of Fundamental Rights by the United States Supreme Court Is Just Beginning,” addressed in part the additional dangers proposed by the concurring opinion of Justice Clarence … Continued

In matrimonial actions and proceedings in the Supreme Court, orders of every kind have been the subject of reargument motions.1 Motions for leave to reargue have also been made in every type of family court proceeding,2 although they have been deemed inappropriate in certain situations.3 Application of CPLR 2221(d) “A motion pursuant to CPLR 2221(d) or (e) … Continued