Putting the needs of children first is vitally important during a divorce proceeding, but these needs can too often be forgotten when parents’ personal issues and emotions come to the forefront.

There are also too few resources available to parents for properly navigating this difficult time. Fortunately, a new publication released by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) hopes to resolve this issue with helpful information and tips on making informed decisions about family time and childcare. “AAML Child Centered Residential Guidelines” provides knowledge about properly dividing family time, and we want to share this information to help our clients find the best ways to spend quality time with their children.

Getting a divorce in New York can wreak havoc on a person’s credit score, but there are ways to prevent this from happening.

Filing for divorce and undergoing the divorce process can have an effect on everything from a person’s home and family to his or her personal finances. One important impact to understand is what divorce can do to a person’s credit score. A March 2015 press release published by Edmunds.com referenced a study of 526 divorced adults, and it concluded “31 percent suffered a credit score drop following the break-up of their marriage.”

This study’s sobering results were an example of how unwittingly unprepared couples can be when they start to go through the divorce process. So we decided to take a look at ways people can protect and raise their credit scores after a divorce through smart financial decisions.

Important financial arrangements spouses should update after a divorce.

When a couple files for divorce, a great deal of consideration can be devoted to topics like dividing up assets and establishing child custody. These are very important things to consider as they affect each spouse’s lives and those of their families. But what about plans that were made long ago to go into effect when one spouse dies? A recent court case on this topic encouraged our office to shed more light on the subject of dealing with end of life issues and divorce.

Taking a look at grounds for divorce in New York and uncontested vs. contested divorce.

Filing for divorce in New York essentially falls into two categories: uncontested and contested divorce. Every divorce needs to fulfill a legally recognized reason for dissolving the marriage, also known as grounds. We’ve gotten various questions from clients about grounds for divorce and how those rules have changed over time, so we thought we would share some insight on the issue.

Dealing with divorce from a foreign spouse, including ways spouses can protect themselves and their assets.

Many people marry spouses that are not U.S. citizens, whether it be for love, or – fraudulently – as a way for their spouse to gain permanent U.S. residency, also known as a green card. As stated in to a recent article by USA Today, “About 1 million foreign nationals gain legal status each year, and fully one-fourth of those are through marriage to an American citizen or someone who already is a lawful permanent resident, known as a green card holder. Of those, some estimate 5% to 15% may be fraudulent.”

Marriages involving a foreign spouse can fall apart just like marriages between U.S. citizens. But they bring with them a new set of issues that spouses need to consider. In this post we focus on clients and people who are going through divorce from a foreign spouse, including talking about on ways spouses can protect themselves and their assets.