New York Attorneys Fees for Divorce

On October 12, 2010 New York entered a new millennium with regard to its divorce law. A new no fault divorce law went into effect on this date. The new divorce law created a no fault divorce ground which now allows parties to get divorced based on the allegation that the marriage has been irretrievably broken for a period of six months or more . Theoretically there is no defense to this allegation.

Attorneys Fees for Non Monied Spouse

The new divorce law creates a reputable presumption that the poorer of the two spouses should receive an award of legal fees to cover his or her legal expenses. The purpose of this new law is to try to create a level playing field and allow each of the parties in a divorce proceeding to have sufficient funds available to hire an attorney to represent them.

Adequate Legal Representation

This new law requires courts to look into whether each of the parties in a divorce proceeding have adequate legal representation. The new law requires the courts to see to it that the non-monied spouse receives sufficient funds during the early portion of the legal proceeding to enable him or her to hire an attorney.

If the non-monied spouse brings a proceeding for attorney fees each lawyer must submit their retainer agreement to the court. Even in the event the non-monied spouse has obtained the funds to pay for his or her attorney they are still entitled to bring this application to have the deeper pocketed or financially better of spouse pay their attorney’s fees or reimburse them for the money they have spend on attorney fees.

Experts Fees

The new no fault divorce law also allows the non-monied spouse to make an application for expert fees for accountants, real estate appraisers, pension evaluators and other experts to conduct evaluations of marital assets. Medical licenses, legal licenses, businesses, professional assets and real property need to be appraised. The purpose of these new statues are to establish a parody between the litigants in a divorce proceeding.

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