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Commission Reviews New York’s Spousal Maintenance Law

Alimony, known in New York as spousal maintenance, is an emotional and often hotly debated issue in divorces. In 2010 New York enacted guidelines for temporary maintenance awards, i.e. awards to be made while a divorce case is still pending. Unfortunately, although the law provided consistency to such awards, it did not provide any guidelines […]

The U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Under DOMA, same-sex couples legally married in a state or country that authorized same-sex marriage were not eligible for important federal benefits available to heterosexual couples. Such benefits include […]

Custody – Who Chooses the Child’s School?

In Sequeira v. Sequeira, 2013 N.Y. App. Div. Lexis 2401 (1st Dept. April, 2013) the parties’ agreement provided the parents with joint legal custody, and equal input into all major decision about the child. When a dispute later arose and the parties disagreed as to a choice of school for their child, the Supreme Court […]

Health Insurance and Your Children

Extending Health Insurance for Children in New York On June 29, 2009, Governor Paterson signed legislation which allows children to remain or obtain coverage under their parents’ health insurance through age 29. Eligibility for health insurance benefits under New York’s “Age 29” law requires that the child be unmarried, not insured or eligible for health […]

Live-in partner walks away with nothing

A New York couple never married, but they dated for 13 years, lived together and had a daughter. During that time, the man purchased property in Manhattan and in the Hamptons, and told the woman that the places were “their” homes. The woman claimed the man referred to the properties as “theirs” and to her […]