Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Divorce/legal separation

Most IAS-Divorce Judges treat the filing of

a divorce as a change of circumstance permitting

the review of all terms of the separation

agreement. Thus, a court could look at

the agreement and prospectively alter your

obligations. This should include both

the Child Support and Debt Allocation. But

it should be only for the future, with the

critical date being the date that the Summons

is filed in the Court.

The IAS-Divorce court is also able to review

all agreements to determine that they were

fair and equitable at the time they were

entered into and are not now unconsciounable

Hence, under this standard, a court is

empowered to review the agreements and alter

them.

Courts, however, are reluctant to do so. This

is because they do not look to make work. If there are

sound reasons for the agreement, some courts

will not change them

This can literally be a luck of the draw in

terms of what Judge you end up being assigned

to in the divorce action, an act over which

no one has any control.

There really should be no question though that she

cannot create arrears and ask for the additional

monies from April, 1999. This should be limited

to the time from the filing of the divorce action, unless

there was already a Court filing which has been

pending the entire time.

Re: Divorce/legal separation

The agreement will only hold up, if both parties continue to agree. You need to get a good attorney to assist you in this matter. Your soon-to-be ex-wife can hold you up longer than necessary. An experienced attorney will know how to "force" the situation to get it resolved more quickly.