staten island legal separation lawyers
Divorce is probably one of the most trying times in life. Unfortunately, the courts can often complicated the process. While some might think that they can navigate through the system on their own, the most prudent advice is for you seek out an attorney.
Expert Analysis
The law is more complicated than many people think. There are a lot of nuances, clauses and precedents that a layman could easily overlook. Think of surgical techniques. If somebody said that she was going to remove her tonsils on her own, you would likely advice against it. The complexities of the law are similar.
Losing Too Much
The reason that divorce court is so taxing is that you could lose property rights and even the rights to your children. Your spouse might unjustly come after your home or provide too many restrictions on your visits with the kids. Divorce is difficult enough in and of itself. Let a lawyer prevent further damage.
Emotions Cloud Judgment
The separation has probably left you as an emotional wreck. This will distort your ability to think clearly about the legal issues surrounding the divorce. Beyond that, you might be tempted to communicate your emotions in the court of law. This could result in an unsightly performance in front of the judge. A counselor will be sympathetic to your emotions, yet disconnected enough to provide an objective analysis. She will also render a balanced presentation before the judge.
Reduce Your Stress
Unfortunately, many of the most daunting trials often come with logistical legwork. This applies whether there is a death in the family or a divorce. Dealing with both the emotional pain of a divorce and the legal work that accompanies it will drastically increase your stress. Let an attorney shoulder that burden for you.
Control What You Can
There are some things, such as a divorce, that are just out of your control. But you can exercise some measure of control over the divorce proceedings by hiring an attorney.
Potentially Save The Marriage
Sometimes a judge will refuse to annul a marriage because she believes that the estranged couple might reunite. An attorney will provide guidance into whether you should pursue alternative options. It could mean family or couple therapy, which has restored several broken families.
A Binding Agreement
While the court system can be stressful and complicated, it often yields a workable resolution. You and your ex-spouse would be legally obligated to meet the terms of the court order. This would guarantee visitation with the children (sometimes restricted to supervised visits depending on the context), a clear division of assets without one party taking advantage of the other, and much more. Without an attorney and the court system, there would be nothing binding about that agreement.
A Better Agreement
The purpose of going to court is to find a fair resolution to the divorce. Judges know that spouses are often angry with their exes and will try to manipulate the court system to hurt them. An attorney can protect you from that. She will also protect you from being too vindictive toward your spouse. So if you are concerned about losing your assets or your children, an attorney can get you a better agreement.
Avoid The Paperwork
In addition the actual process of going to court, there is a lot of paperwork associated with a trial. If you do not have an attorney, you will have to do it all yourself. Further, if there is an error in your paperwork, that will reflect poorly on you when you go to court and the judge will be less inclined toward your perspective. Since legal paperwork is the proverbial bread and butter of the divorce lawyer, she will be able to handle it without much of a problem.
Knowing What To Focus On
Based on your experiences of court in pop-culture, you might think that the idea is to go to court and win. But court is about discerning the law and finding the best possible arrangement for both parties. If you focus too much on winning, you will lose sight of details like parental rights and assets. An attorney will focus on these essentials and come to an agreeable compromise.
Settling Out of Court
You might even want to avoid the entire process of going to court. But you are probably not savvy enough to legal issues to sufficiently defend your case against a trained attorney. Bring one with you and let her talk to the other party, and you might even come to an agreement out of court.
The smartest people know their limitations. You might be an intelligent person, but you would not perform open-heart surgery. In the same way, let an expert handle your divorce.
Can he file the separation agreement without my signature?
New York Family Law Courts encourage divorcing couples to settle their differences. This includes working to settle issues surrounding financial matters, children, and other elements associated with the dissolution of a marriage. This is undertaken through the process of negotiation between the divorcing spouses, with the aid and assistance of their lawyers.
When spouses reach agreement in regard to issues in a divorce case, those decisions are incorporated into a settlement agreement, according to Cornell Law School. The settlement agreement is then signed by both spouses and submitted to the court for approval. The settlement agreement is made part of the final divorce decree, once it has been approved by the court.
You may have reached a juncture in your divorce case at which an attempt at settling the case is not working, at least in your mind. You and your spouse may have prepared a draft settlement agreement. Your spouse may have signed the document, but you have not.
You spouse may not be threatening to submit the settlement agreement to the court without your signature. You may now wonder what effect your spouse’s submission of a settlement agreement to the court without your signature.
A Settlement Agreement is a Binding Contract
At its essence, a settlement agreement is a binding a contract. A contract does not come into existence unless and until both parties have signed the document. If you have not signed the settlement agreement as of this time, for one reason or another, there is no binding contract between you and your spouse. Therefore, even if your spouse submits a settlement agreement without your signature to the court, that will not bind you to the agreement.
Further Court Proceedings
The submission of a partially unsigned settlement agreement to the court is likely to spur the judge to set the case for further proceedings. These could include a settlement conference involving the court.
A settlement conference before the court is a situation in which the judge brings the parties to a divorce together, along with their attorneys. The court will explore the possibility that the court can still be settlement. The judge is also apt to require the parties and their attorneys to spend some time discussing a settlement while at the courthouse.
Divorce Trial
If you do not reach a juncture at which you are willing to sign a settlement agreement, the final phase of a New York divorce case is a trial. The court ultimately will schedule the matter for a trial.
A divorce trial is quite like a trial in other types of cases. However, the primary difference is that a divorce trial is before the judge and not a judge and jury.
When a divorce trial occurs, both you and your spouse will have the opportunity to present your cases to the court. The judge will then make decisions regarding issues upon which you and your spouse have not reached an agreement in your divorce case. Ultimately, after considering all the evidence, the Family Court will issue a final decree in your marriage dissolution case.
Retain a New York Divorce Lawyer
Due to the complexities of a marriage dissolution case, you likely best protect your legal rights and interests by hiring a skilled, experienced New York divorce attorney. The first step in engaging professional legal representation in your divorce case is to schedule an initial consultation.
At an initial consultation, a divorce lawyer will provide you with an evaluation of your case. Legal counsel will also provide you with more detailed issues about matters like a proposed separation agreement that you have elected not to sign. You will have the opportunity to raise any questions that you might have about your particular case or divorce law and Family Court procedure more generally. As a matter of general practice, a New York divorce lawyer typically does not charge a fee for an initial consultation.
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