With same sex couples and surrogate mothers, the landscape of family law is changing. Now that same sex couples can get married in any state, many are looking at having children. Surrogacy is a modern day alternative to adoption. In New York, a recent case involved a gay male couple and lesbian couple that had a child through surrogacy. The two couples wanted to raise the child together.
According to Business Insider, the two couples devised an elaborate plan that rotated custody every quarter. They even decorated their apartments to look identical. However, after 12 months, despite their best-made plans, the relationship fell apart.
One of the men in the male couple had donated his sperm to a female in the lesbian couple who carried and gave birth to the baby. The judge was saddled with the problem of deciding custody of the child.
The child had two mothers and two fathers. Who would be the primary caretaker? What custody roles would each parent have? Working out custody and visitation was doubly difficult to decide. The biological connection was not the most pressing factor in this case. As more of these unusual cases come before the courts, judges will rule and case precedents will be set. Right now, such cases are in the frontier stages of emerging case law.
If you have questions or concerns about child custody, meet with an experienced lawyer for legal help. Long Island divorce attorney Chris Palermo has years of experience and is sensitive to your needs.
Years ago, test tube babies were a concept of Science Fiction novels. But today, a couples can remove eggs from the female, remove sperm from the male, and have the eggs fertilized, which creates an embryo. Medical staff can cryogenically freeze the embryo, which can then be thawed at a later time and implanted in the uterus of the mother or surrogate mother, where it grows as a fetus.
This scientific capability opens up a whole new area of family law. Disputes over frozen embryos have already arisen in various divorce cases.
One such case, Kass v. Kass was tried in a New York court. The dispute involved a wife who wanted to implant the embryo in her own uterus and the husband who didn’t want to become a parent. Both parties signed an in vitro fertilization (IVF) consent form prior to having the eggs removed, fertilized and frozen. The crux of the agreement was that both parties had to give their consent before the frozen embryos could be released from storage for any purpose. If the couple were to divorce, then the stored embryos would be addressed as part of the property settlement and released based on the court’s judgment.
Three weeks after signing the form, the couple became engaged in a divorce. At that time, they signed another agreement with each other that the embryos would be disposed of in the manner covered by the consent form, and neither spouse nor anyone else could claim custody of the embryos. The argument between the spouses was whether the consent applied before or after implantation. The court upheld their agreement based on New York contract law. The court could not allow implantation unless both parties agreed. In this case, it was against the husband’s wishes. Therefore, the court ruled there would be no implantation.
This case was in 1998, but a judge settled a similar dispute recently in November 2015 in a California case, based on a couple’s agreement prior to the IVF. He also ordered the destruction of the couple’s five frozen embryos.
If you have questions about IVF and need legal advice, discuss your concerns with attorney Chris Palermo. He will be glad to answer your questions and provide you with effective legal guidance.
Never feel that your situation for collecting child support is hopeless. NY Law provides a number of options that your family law attorney can take to help you enforce child support payment.
In fact, there are administrative actions you can take based on New York State Child Support that can be administratively executed without having to go to court. Your ex spouse will receive a notice that explains the administrative process, the time frame involved and instructions for complying or challenging the payment instruction action. It also explains the consequences of not responding. Money for child support can be collected through:
Depending on how long you haven’t received child support or the total amount of past-due support owed, more than one of the above actions may occur at the same time.
If the administrative process doesn’t handle the problem, then your attorney can take the matter to court. Through a court hearing, a judge has the authority to do the following:
Don’t hesitate to consult with a lawyer if you’re having problems collecting child support. Long Island divorce attorney Chris Palermo has years of experience and can advise you on the best course of action to deal with your issues.
All seems so final when a divorce ends and the court delivers final judgments for child support, custody and visitation. However, people in all walks of life often have problems with judgments post divorce. Their ex spouses don’t come through with child support payment or keep visitation schedules. So, what can you do? “Enforcement” is the word used when you seek legal help to enforce a court order because your ex is not complying with settlement agreements or the court’s decisions.
People Magazine recently published an article that Denise Richards filed a $1.2 million lawsuit against her ex husband Charlie Sheen because she was having trouble collecting child support. According to a source for the article, Denise took legal action to protect their children’s trust. As part of the divorce, a trust was set up for their children Sam, 11 years old and Lola, 10 years old. Sheen paid millions to cover up an HIV scandal and is not pulling in the $10 million a year that he was formerly from acting work. Denise Richards said that collecting child support payments has been like pulling teeth.
When income situations change significantly, you have the option to seek modification of an existing court order. Non-complying with a judgment is never the right solution because it can put lead to enforcement actions and even put you in contempt with court orders.
Everyday people often face problems too, like an ex spouse who promised to pay for summer camp or college and later reneges on the agreement. Unfortunately the children are the ones who suffer.
If you’re struggling with enforcement problems, consult with attorney Chris Palermo. As an experienced Long Island divorce lawyer Chris offers compassionate legal counsel and can help you enforce custody and child support agreements.
In the first homicide in nearly 40 years in Scarsdale, Jules Reich, a partner in Manhattan financial services company Weiser Mazars, has been charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Dr. Robin Goldman. Reich had filed for divorce last August and the parties had a scheduled court appearance on January 25, 2016. On the morning of January 19, police received a 911 call from Reich, saying that Goldman had been seriously injured. When police arrived moment later, they found Goldman in the shower with multiple stab wounds.
Though neither party had ever reported domestic violence to authorities, friends and neighbors acknowledged that they knew there was discord in the marriage. Prosecutors told the judge at a bail hearing that Goldman was so afraid of Reich that she had all the locks changed at the marital home. They also said that Goldman’s children wanted to get a protection order because of their fear of him. Reich’s attorney asked that bail be set at $150,000, but the judge denied bail.
According to prosecutors, Reich has a long history in the mergers and acquisitions profession, and has “money stashed all over the world,” making him a significant flight risk. Conversely, they portrayed Goldman as a woman committed to caring for children, both in her career and at home. She worked as a pediatrician at Montefiore Medical Group’s Comprehensive Family Care facility in the Bronx. She was also an assistant professor of medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her children said, though, that she had limited her practice to three days a week to spend more time with family, including four grandchildren.
Divorce Proceeding Ends in Tragedy
Marital Discord Ends in Murder
Contact an Experienced New York Divorce and Family Law Attorney
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
“Married” for 20 Years—Husband Had Secretly Obtained Divorce to Protect Property
A New York woman made a stunning discovery in November, 2015, when a tax bill arrived at the home she and her husband had shared for most of their 20 year marriage. The lawyer she hired to investigate the apparent mistake discovered that the woman’s husband had filed and obtained a divorce from her, just four months after their wedding, in an apparent attempt to protect his assets. Nonetheless, he lived with her for the next 20 years, raised a child with her, made her his health-care proxy and granted her power of attorney.
Christina Carta Villi, a professor of Italian literature when she met her future husband Gabriel Villi in 1994, an attorney and travel agent. The couple “bought” a condo on West 55th and raised a son. What Carta Villi did not know, though, was that just four months after their wedding, Gabriel filed for a divorce in the Dominican Republic, telling the court that his marriage to Christina was “unbearable.” Though the couple did not live in the Dominican Republic, Gabriel Villi hired lawyers for himself and his wife there, and represented to the Dominican court that he and his wife had “an incompatibility of temperaments.” The divorce was never registered in New York.
When Carta Villi’s attorney looked into the omission of her name on the tax bill, she discovered that Gabriel Villi had used the Domican divorce decree to have her name removed from the deed. Carta Villi says Gabriel was motivated by greed, and she’s seeking to have the divorce nullified, arguing that she never authorized or consented to it, and that neither party ever appeared in the Dominican Republic proceeding.
Contact an Experienced New York Divorce and Family Law Attorney
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
The son of the world’s second wealthiest hedge fund manager, George Soros, filed for divorce in 2014 after 22 years of marriage. A property division trial resulted from a dispute over substantial amounts of money.
According to Page Six , Soros’ son, Robert, deposited $21 million into his personal accounts while his wife, Melissa, struggled with breast cancer. Melissa testified that he deposited $21 million in jointly filed tax refunds. She explained that during her extensive rounds of chemo treatments for breast cancer, she also experienced pneumonia, broke her ankle and had problems with insomnia. Prior to her illness she stayed on top of finances, making sure they weren’t overcharged and even caught a hardware store employee who charged their account for furnishings made to the employee’s home. After she became ill, her focus shifted to recovering, and she couldn’t give household finances the same degree of attention. Between 2010 and 2011, Robert Soros deposited four checks, totaling $21M, into his personal accounts. He maintained that he and his wife had an oral agreement that he would retain the refunds because he paid the taxes.
They went to trial solely over how to divide the $21 million in tax refunds on jointly filed returns. They’ve already arrived at an agreement that Melissa will keep the $21 million Greenwich Village town house. Robert’s net worth is estimated at $350 million.
New York Property Division laws dictate equitable division, which means each spouse owns the income he or she earns during the marriage and has rights to property that is in his or her name alone. Judges determine assets division, which may or may not be exactly equal. (Findlaw)
The jointly filed return and arriving at a fair and equitable property division are what complicate this matter.
If you’re struggling with property division disagreements, consult with attorney Chris Palermo. Chris is an experienced Long Island divorce lawyer who has helped numerous clients overcome the challenges involved with divorce.
Million $ Divorce | Million Dollar Divorce Attorney main office located in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY.
2015 was a tough year for celebrity marriages and, if the first two weeks of 2016 are any indication, the trend will continue this year. Less than two weeks into the new year, at least two high-profile stars have decided to call it quits on their marriages.
Research shows that celebrity marriages face significantly more challenges than other relationships. A comprehensive study by the Marriage Foundation, a British think-tank, found that celebrity betrothals are twice as likely to end in divorce as other marriages. Researchers apparently followed nearly 500 famous couples between 2001 and 2010 and compared their rate of divorce to the British population as a whole. While just slightly more than one quarter (26%) of all marriages ended in divorce, one in two celebrity marriages failed to go the distance.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
Ten men, including two Orthodox rabbis, have been sentenced for their role in a divorce-coercion ring.
Prosecutors say that, under Jewish law, a woman may not obtain a divorce without her husband’s permission, referred to as a “get.” They acknowledged that it is common practice for a rabbi to employ certain measures to persuade a recalcitrant husband to consent. Such steps may include prohibiting the husband from attendance at synagogue or participation in synagogue life.
The two rabbis who pled guilty, though, had apparently resorted to far more heinous measures to obtain the “get.” Officials say the rabbis had assembled a group of eight men who would kidnap an unwilling husband and torture/beat him until he agreed to a divorce. According to court documents, the two rabbis charged women seeking a divorce a substantial fee to obtain a rabbinical decree authorizing violence—approximately $10,000. An additional fee of $50,000 covered the cost of the kidnapping and torture.
The ten men were arrested in a sting operation orchestrated by the FBI. An agent, posing as a Jewish woman seeking a divorce, contacted one of the rabbis, telling him that she needed help from a “special rabbi” to accomplish her goal. She apparently told the rabbi that her husband was in Argentina and would not agree to the divorce. The rabbi told her that she would need to “get him to New York to harass him or nail him.” The rabbi convened a rabbinical court that ruled that the husband could be coerced and contacted the eight men, who went to a warehouse in Edison, New Jersey, believing they would find the reluctant husband there. Instead, federal officials were waiting to arrest them.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.
It’s been a tough year for celebrity marriages and relationships and the going has only gotten tougher over the last few months. Here are some of the long-term couples who have hit the skids this year.
At the law office of Chris Palermo, Esq., we bring more than 13 years of experience to men and women in divorce and family law matters, representing clients across Long Island. To learn more about our practice, see our divorce and family law page. For an appointment, send us an e-mail or call us toll free at 1-800-483-1527. We have offices located in Huntington, Hauppauge, Garden City, Babylon and New York City.