A Trusted Family Attorney in New City, NY
In New York, the family law is separate from divorce and is handled by the Family Court where as the Supreme Court handles divorce matters. While many of the same issues in a divorce arise in family law cases, the Family Court is not limited to dealing just with spouses. The Family Court handles matters wherever there is a family relationship involved, even if that relationship is simply having a child in common between unmarried persons.
At the Law Office of Thomas V. Sassone, P.C. we handle all types of family law matters including custody and guardianship, adoption, child support, neglect, and family offense matters.
Custody matters may include establishing legal custody, paternity, visitation scheduling, and seeking to move out of New York State which may affect rights of the child as well as the other parent.
Guardianship and custody matters include establishing legal responsibility for the child by a parent or non-parent and is done for a variety of reasons. Over the past several years with the influx on children entering the U.S. from Central American countries, the number of custody and guardianship cases have risen dramatically. If it can be proven that the child was abused, neglected or abandoned by one of his/her parents then a parent or guardian can apply to the Family Court for special immigrant findings which can be used in a Special Immigrant petition to the immigration service so that the child can receive Law Permanent Resident status and remain in the U.S.
Family offense matters deal with criminal-like offenses by one person against another who are in a family relationship. Such offenses include harassment, criminal mischief, stalking, coercion, assault, menacing, reckless endangerment, sexual abuse or sexual misconduct, as well as other criminal-like offenses.
While family offense matters do not carry a criminal penalty or conviction, the proper handling of these matters is very important and may have the same effect as a criminal conviction in many cases. Often, family offense cases have a corresponding criminal cases which was brought in the local criminal court. The criminal cases may then be transferred to the Family Court to be handled at the same time as the family offense matter.