New York Child Custody & Parenting Time Lawyers
Thoughtful advocacy for your parental rights, your child’s needs, and your family’s future.
How Can a New York Child Custody Attorney Protect Your Parental Rights?
A New York child custody attorney helps parents address legal custody, physical custody, parenting time, and related family issues that can affect a child’s daily life and long-term well-being. Custody matters may determine where a child lives, how major decisions concerning education, healthcare, and other important matters are made, and how parenting responsibilities are shared.
Can an existing custody arrangement be changed?
A parent may seek a modification when circumstances change. Relocation can also require review of an existing order. Learn more about Modifications to Child Custody Agreements.
What Are Legal Custody, Physical Custody, and Parenting Time?New York courts determine child custody based on the best interests of the child. Legal custody concerns responsibility for major decisions involving matters such as education, medical care, and religious upbringing, while physical custody generally concerns where the child lives and how day-to-day care is provided. Parenting time establishes when the child spends time with each parent, including weekdays, weekends, holidays, school breaks, and vacations. Custody may be shared or awarded primarily to one parent, and joint legal custody does not necessarily require an equal parenting schedule. Routine decisions are generally made by the parent caring for the child at that time, subject to the terms of any agreement or court order.
What Should a New York Parenting Agreement Address?
A clear parenting agreement can establish practical rules for how parents will share responsibilities after a divorce or separation. Agreements may address regular parenting schedules, weekends, holidays and school breaks; responsibility for major educational and healthcare decisions; transportation and exchanges; communication between parents; and arrangements for a child’s medical, educational, developmental, or other special needs. When parents reach an agreement, Abrams Fensterman helps prepare clear and enforceable terms. When agreement is not possible, our attorneys represent clients in contested custody proceedings and also assist with the enforcement or modification of existing custody and parenting-time orders.
How Is Child Support Determined in New York?
Child support is a financial obligation governed separately from custody and parenting time under New York law. The amount may be affected by statutory guidelines, parental income, and the circumstances of the family, while additional obligations may include health insurance, unreimbursed medical expenses, child care, educational costs, and other appropriate expenses. Abrams Fensterman helps clients evaluate financial information and address the establishment, enforcement, and modification of child-support obligations. A dispute over child support does not excuse a parent from complying with an existing custody or parenting-time order, just as a parenting dispute does not excuse nonpayment of court-ordered support.
How Are Complex Child Custody Matters Handled in New York?
Complex custody disputes may involve allegations of abuse or neglect, domestic violence and safety concerns, children with special medical or developmental needs, unusual living or residency circumstances, a parent’s military service, relocation, or disputes involving more than one state. Interstate matters may also require analysis under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) to determine which state has authority to decide or enforce custody issues. Abrams Fensterman approaches these matters based on the particular facts of the family, pursuing negotiated solutions where appropriate and providing focused courtroom advocacy when judicial intervention is necessary.
