Staten Island child custody Attorneys
Spodek Law Group has been fighting for Staten Island families since 1976 — in that time, we’ve worked on child custody cases of every imaginable degree of complexity. From high profile clients requiring discretion to major trials involving forensic and psychological experts, we offer the same level of compassionate legal expertise to everyone we represent.
If you need a child custody lawyer in Staten Island, our offices are just a quick ferry ride away in downtown Manhattan. Make us your first call and see for yourself the difference our commitment to our clients makes.
Innovating Legal Solutions for Child Custody Cases
Whether you and your spouse are in the process of separating, or you’re trying to alter an existing custody agreement, Spodek Law Group will work to find legal solutions that ensure you and your children get the time together you need. Every case is assigned a pair of child custody lawyers who work in tandem, giving you the benefit of two family law attorneys working for you. Each of our attorneys has extensive trial experience and is prepared to fight for you both in court and at the negotiating table.
Around-the-Clock Service
As a family-owned law firm, we realize the amount of stress our clients are under. Nothing is more important than one’s family, and, when you risk losing it in a legal decision, the pressure is intense. That’s why we give our clients around-the-clock access to our legal team. Whether you’ve got a question about your case or simply want to vent, our offices are staffed 24 hours a day. You can also reach our attorneys directly on their personal cell phones.
For over 36 years, our child custody lawyers have been representing clients in Staten Island and throughout NYC. Contact us today for your free, unlimited consultation, either in person or by phone or Skype. Page updated on 11/14/13.
If you are undergoing a child custody dispute in the Staten Island area or anywhere else in the state of New York, you need a highly experienced and skilled lawyer to help guide you through the hearing process and maximize the chances that you’ll receive a favorable outcome from the presiding judge.
Unlike other areas of the law, such as civil and criminal cases, all child custody hearings in the state of New York are handled by the Family Courts. This arm of the state judicial system has a number of quirks that make it a unique and challenging environmnet in which to practice law.
Unlike almost every other area of the legal system, which seeks to reconstruct past events to establish facts related to the guilt, innocent, liability or lack of it of the defendant, in the Family Courts, the chief goal is to establish what is likely to happen in the future. The main goal of the Family Court system is to create the best future environment for children. For this reason, there are a number of unique aspects to operating in this area of jurisprudence.
One example of this is the fact that expert testimony is often given a very heavy weighting in the decisions taken in Family Courts. In child custody hearings, character witnesses and things such as employment histories, arrest records and past alcohol and drug problems, which would normally only be used at sentencing in criminal cases, will, in effect, be used directly in the decision of who will win or lose. This means that a good lawyer can add a tremendous amount, through their ability to control what evidence is introduced, who gets to testify and how the courtroom narrative plays out. As valuable as a good criminal lawyer is in deciding the final outcome of a case, in child custody hearings, a lawyer who is a specialist in the Family Courts may be even more valuable.
There are two types of custody in the state of New York
New York family law recognized two main categories of custody. The first is known as physical custody. This is normally granted to the parent who continues to live in the marital domicile or with whom the child spends the majority of the time living. Although it is possible for a court to grant joint physical custody, it is not common in practice. This is due to the simple fact that most cases appearing before the Family Courts involve couples that have physically separated and now live in different residences.
The other type of custody is what’s known as legal custody. This involves the right of the custodial parent to participate in all decisions that may affect the well being of the child. It also entails the ability of the custodial parent to veto any decision by the other parent that may adversely affect the life of the child.
Because of the right of absolute veto power conferred by legal custody, the Family Courts are not enthusiastic about granting joint custody in any case where there is any demonstrated level of contention or outright animosity between the parties. This is because these situations often lead to endless deadlock on every parenting decision, requiring the intervention of the Family Court on even small matters.
However, even if one parent is denied all legal custody, this does not mean that the parent has no rights with respect to the child. Almost all parents are allowed visitation rights to see their children under certain circumscribed conditions. And all parents have the right to petition the Family Court if a decision contrary to the well being of their child is made by the other parent.
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