Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Child Support Agreement

I am concerned to hear that you are trying to broker this agreement and draft it yourself. Child support and custody are quite serious matters, and if you make mistakes in drafting, it could all be undone by your girlfriend through an application to the court at a future date. Your questions indicate that you have put a lot of thought into a proposed agreement and that you are very serious about coming to a resolution of support and custody issues, but they also indicate that you need a lawyer's help in drafting. Please do retain a lawyer to assist you.

Re: Child Support Agreement

Given the length and complexity of your question, my best answer to you is that you should consult with an attorney in private. This is not the best forum in which to obtain legal advice of this specific nature.

If I can be of help, please feel free to contact me.

Daniel Clement

Re: Child Support Agreement

As others have already advised you, you have posed a complex and complicated question about an area of the law that is, itself, complex and complicated.

You should, at a minimum, contact the local bar association in your county to see if they have a lawyers' referral program. Through that program you ought to be able to arrange an 'initial consultation' with an attorney at a minimal cost. Yes. You should be consulting with an attorney. Perhaps there is a legal services / legal aid office in your area that could help you?

Be aware of this: You will be hard-pressed to end up with a truly *enforceable* agreement, unless you file it with a court {Family Court}, which would probably necessitate establishing paternity as a matter of law. Once you are in court, your expectations with regard to "by-passing" the Child Support Standards will be dashed - - any such agreement that purports to establish Child Support must be reviewed by the Court to determine whether it is within the guidelines.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<