What To Do If Your Children Are Taken By Child Protective Services – Part II

July 17, 2014 By

CPS assistance for parents on Long IslandThe Jurisdictional Hearing

The second trial you are entitled to if your children are seized by Child Protective Services is called a jurisdictional hearing. This gives you a second opportunity to have your children returned to you. If you are innocent of the allegations against you, do not make a deal. Litigate the hearing. If you are successful at the jurisdictional hearing, your children will be returned to you and this ordeal with Child Protective Services will be over. Child Protective Services, even if you are successful at the jurisdictional hearing, may suggest follow up treatments and benefits such as medicaid and food stamps. Do not work with Child Protective Services regarding these matters. Keep them out of your life!

If you are not successful at the jurisdictional trial, a case plan will be presented and you will have to cooperate with it. This means you are in for a long drawn out situation dealing with the Family Court, Child Protective Services and the caseworkers before you will be able to get your children back. Try to finalize the case plan in six months if possible. Do whatever they ask you to do to convince them to give your children back to you. They may want you to take parenting classes, attend therapy, and take other action to convince them and the court to return your children. Do whatever is necessary to comply with their wishes to get your children back.

Unfortunately, if there is a case hearing after 6 months and your children are not returned to you, you need to work on a second 6 month case plan. At the end of the second case plan you can have another hearing to get your children returned to you.

Hearing on the Termination of Parental Rights

The third trial you can have after your children are seized by Child Protective Services is the termination of parental rights hearing. Unfortunately by the time this hearing takes place, your children will have been away from you for close to a year and a half. Take the case to trial at this point again. If you lose the termination of parental rights hearing, you lose your rights to your children. This is your last chance. Should you lose this trial the only thing you can do is to bring an appeal to the Appellate Division. Appeals are costly and can take as long as a year to 18 months to get a decision. It is also difficult to be successful on appeals from termination of parental rights hearings.

father's rights advocates on Long IslandElliot S. Schlissel, Esq., has been representing parents in child abuse cases and child neglect cases for more than 45 years.

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What To Do If Your Children Are Taken By Child Protective Services – Part I

July 14, 2014 By

father's rights advocateIf your child is taken by Child Protective Services the first thing you need to do is to hire an attorney who has extensive experience in litigating child seizure cases with Child Protective Services. Child Protective Services seize children when they feel the children are in danger of being harmed, abused or neglected.

There are three different trials that can be undertaken to help return your children to you.

Detention Hearing

After a child is seized by Child Protective Services, you can demand a detention hearing within 72 hours. Your attorney should immediately demand this hearing. You should not consent to the detention of your child. It may be suggested to you by your attorney that you wait until the jurisdictional hearing in 30 days to present your defense. Don’t go along with this! Demand a detention hearing immediately.

It may be claimed challenging the detention will hurt you in the long run. Don’t believe it. One of the primary reasons for demanding a detention hearing within 72 hours is that Child Protective Services will have difficulty putting their case together for trial at this point.

This is an excellent opportunity for your attorney to help you have your children returned to you. This also gives you an opportunity to get in front of a judge and hear the allegations made by Child Protective Services which are the basis for removing the child from you. If you fail to litigate the issue of the detention of the children by Child Protective Services, you are creating a problem for yourself. The fact they have your child and are keeping your child will become the law of the case. When you demand a detention hearing you may be offered a compromise arrangement by Child Protective Services. Unless you are guilty of the allegations they made against you, do not make a deal. Move forward with the detention hearing. If Child Protective Services has your children, make sure your attorney brings an application to the court for visitation with your children. If the court wants to leave the visitation arrangements to a caseworker, object to it. Tell them you want a court order with regard to visitation concerning your children.

The attorney representing Child Protective Services may request to the court the jurisdictional hearing and the dispositional hearing be held at the same time. Have your attorney object to this. Each of the hearings gives you an opportunity to get your children back. You are better off with two opportunities to get them back than only one!help dealing with CPS and ACS

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Dealing with Child Protective Services – Part II

July 11, 2014 By

assistance for parents in CPS proceedingsThe Complaint Made Against You

If a Child Protective Services (hereinafter referred to as “CPS”) investigator comes to your home it is because a complaint has been made against you. Your first question to the worker should be what is the nature of the complaint that was made against you.

The CPS worker conducts an investigation and a report is made. Copies of these reports can be obtained from the supervising agency of the CPS in Albany. On the basis of the report made by a CPS worker, a decision will be made as to whether the allegations against you are “founded” or “unfounded”. “Founded” allegations means you have been engaged in some type of child abuse or child neglect. In these situations you are entitled to demand a trial to challenge the validity of a finding made against you. At a trial witnesses will be called and your attorney will be able to examine the Child Protective Services worker with regard to the material contained in their report and the evidence that this material is based on.

Protecting Your Interests and The Interests of Your Children

The Child Protective Services agency exists for the sole purpose of protecting children. However, in recent years they have become overly zealous in their approach to investigating allegations of child abuse and child neglect. In many situations, allegations are frivolous, false, or don’t amount to child abuse or child neglect. However, in some of these cases the overly aggressive CPS worker can find you have acted inappropriately towards your children. The very best way of dealing with this situation is to immediately contact an attorney experienced in handling CPS investigations, and hearings. Should you have questions regarding a CPS investigation, feel free to contact our office. Our phones are monitored 24/7 and we offer free office consultations.CPS and ACS defense lawyers

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Dealing with Child Protective Services – Part I

July 9, 2014 By

Most parents spend their lifetime supporting their children, protecting their children from harm and helping their children become successful, productive human beings. When a parent is accused by Child Protective Services (hereinafter referred to as “CPS”) of abuse or neglect it could create a conundrum for the parents. CPS’ job is to investigate allegations made anonymously concerning issues involving child neglect and child abuse. When a parent hears from CPS, the normal reaction for the parent being investigated is to be upset, angry and scared.

Child Protective Services’ Investigations

When a Child Protective Services worker comes to your home, he or she is looking for signs of child abuse or child neglect. They are interested in finding out whether a child or children have been either physically or emotionally abused. Their job is to find evidence of abuse or neglect. Their job is not to seek out information to clear you with regard to the allegations that have been made against you. When a Child Protective Services worker comes to your home, if he or she finds that your home is unsafe or inappropriate for raising children, the worker can go to court and obtain a court order to remove your children to a safe foster care family. The worker may also make recommendations to you with regard to steps to be taken to make your home safer and more appropriate for raising children.

Should You Cooperate With Child Protective Services’ Investigators?

When the CPS investigator comes to your house, the first thing you should do is get his or her name, their phone number, email address, and the name and address of the agency they are working from. The question then becomes should you allow them into your home? Should you allow them to speak to your children privately? The answer to these questions depends on the circumstances and allegations made against you. In addition, it depends on what the Child Protective Services worker will find in your home. It is strongly suggested, when allegations of child abuse or neglect are made against you, that you consult with an attorney and discuss whether you should give admittance to your home to the Child Protective Services worker and/or allow them to talk to your children.

Be Polite

Under all circumstances, it is important that you act polite and appropriate and not hostile when dealing with the Child Protective Services worker. Should you decide not to let them meet with your children or speak with them, politely tell them that you will be happy to talk with them in the future after you have consulted with an attorney.father's rights advocate on long island

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Forensic Evaluator Removed: Report Not Accepted

July 3, 2014 By

father's rights attorney on long islandIn contested custody disputes, courts often hire a psychologist or a social worker to do a forensic analysis as to which parent would be better suited to be the custodial parent of the children. The forensic evaluator is supposed to look into all aspects of the interaction of the parents and the children and make recommendations in the children’s best interest as to which parent would be more suitable or the better residential custodial parent.

Forensic Evaluator’s Report

Justice Jeffrey Goodstein sitting in the Supreme Court Divorce Part in Nassau County, New York, recently had a case involving issues concerning a forensic evaluator’s report.

A father had brought an application to change custody. In the event of the modification of the custody, he also wanted his child support payments eliminated. The attorneys for the wife opposed the father’s application and a hearing was scheduled. The court appointed a forensic evaluator, a psychologist, to do a forensic analysis regarding parenting time and issues concerning custody of the children.

Forensic Evaluator’s Failures

The attorney for the husband brought an application to appoint a different forensic evaluator. In reviewing the application by the husband, the court made the following findings. The forensic evaluator who had been appointed, had failed to act with an acceptable standards for a forensic evaluator. This evaluator had not looked into Child Protective Services reports, issues concerning sexual abuse, and the facts and circumstances of the various mental health professionals that had cared for the father and mother and the children during the past few years. The evaluator said she rendered her report based on the interviews she had with the parties. The evaluator admitted she did not perform any psychological tests on the parties. Justice Goodstein found this evaluator had deviated from acceptable standards for forensic evaluations concerning child custody issues. He therefore did not accept the report into evidence and did not consider it in making a decision. However, he did find that although this forensic evaluator’s report would not come into evidence, he still needed the report of a forensic evaluator in order to determine the various issues concerning parenting time and custody presented to him in this case. He therefore had the parties retain a new forensic evaluator.

Are Forensic Evaluators Needed?

There is controversy as to the need for forensic evaluators in custody cases. The judge should be the ultimate decision maker of who gets custody and who is the more appropriate custodial parent for the children. In this case the parties spent a lot of money on one forensic evaluator and now they are going to have to spend a lot of money on a second one. Hopefully the second evaluator will do a more complete evaluation.child custody help for fathers

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The Number of Stay at Home Dads Increases

June 30, 2014 By

father's rights lawyerThere are approximately 2,000,000 stay at home dads in the United States. This is pursuant to the Pew Research Center. The large majority of stay at home dads aren’t working because they are taking active roles in raising their children. In 1989 only 5% of stay at home dads were involved in raising their children. Today, more than 20% of the stay at home dads are the primary parent responsible for their children’s needs.

Illness, Unemployment and Other Factors With Stay at Home Dads

The proportion of stay at home fathers who are either disabled, unable to find work, or sick has decreased from approximately half of the stay at home dads in 1989 to about 1/3 of the stay at home dads today.

Stay at Home Dads and Father’s Rights

As women have become more successful in the workforce, more and more women are busy developing successful careers. Having a successful career and being the primary caretaker of the children usually does not work out well. So successful business women need the comfort of knowing a loving parent is staying home with the children and meeting the children’s needs. Should there be a break up in the relationship between the mother and father, stay at home dads have a significant argument to become the residential custodial parent of the children. This will give the children continuity in their lives. This is also the argument which women have been making to become the primary residential custodial parent for a century!

Elliot S. Schlissel is a father’s rights lawyer who has been representing fathers in custody cases for more than 45 years.advocate for fathers in custody cases

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ACS Unable to Prove Educational Neglect by Mother

June 27, 2014 By

father's rights advocatesJudge Steven Mostofsky sitting in a Family Court Part in Kings County had an action brought before him by the Administration of Children’s Services (hereinafter referred to as “ACS”). The petition by ACS stated that the mother, Malikah, had committed educational neglect with regard to her 16 year old daughter, Betthi. Betthi had been in foster care since June 2011. She was placed in foster care because Malikah was in jail at the time.

ACS’ petition had more than one allegation against Malikah. In addition, they alleged Malikah failed to maintain the mental health of her daughter Betthi.

Judge Mostofsky found ACS did not prove Malikah’s behavior was abnormal or psychotic. He also didn’t find her behavior had placed her daughter’s mental health at risk. Judge Mostofsky found ACS had not obtained information with regard to Betthi’s schooling or her test scores while she was attending school in South Carolina between 2005 and 2010. They also didn’t obtain financial educational information while she was in foster care in North Carolina. Judge Mostofsky held a hearing. Testimony was taken and evidence was submitted. At the end of the hearing, he ruled ACS had failed to establish a case of either educational neglect or mental health neglect against the mother.

In his decision, the judge pointed out Betthi graduated high school. Since she had graduated high school, the claims her mother had impaired her ability or had a negative impact on her future could not be proven. The judge therefore dismissed the petition of ACS.

What Troubles the Author

In this case, ACS had removed a child from her mother’s care for years. Years later the mother finally gets a trial after not having custody of her daughter for a considerable period of time, and the courts finds the initial allegations made by ACS years earlier were invalid! The problem in this case, from the author’s point of view, is the hearing should have taken place years earlier. Making a decision years after a child is removed from her mother’s care, based on faulty allegations, does not do justice for the mother. This reaffirms my concerns that the legal system regarding ACS cases doesn’t work properly!legal assistance when dealing with CPS or ACS

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Wife Tries to Set Aside a Prenuptial Agreement

June 25, 2014 By

A husband and wife entered into a prenuptial agreement several weeks prior to their marriage. The wife has brought a proceeding to set aside the prenuptial agreement based on coercion and duress. In her moving papers, she advised the court she trusted her husband and signed the agreement because he told her to do so. She also claimed she didn’t understand what she signed because no one explained the agreement to her. In addition, she claimed she could not read or write in the English language well enough to understand the legalese contained in the prenuptial agreement.

Wife Represented by Counsel

The attorney for the husband argued the wife had misrepresented what transpired. To start with, she was represented by an attorney of her choosing. Her attorney testified at a hearing that if he had felt the wife did not understand the agreement or understand him, he would have hired an interpreter. All of his negotiations and discussions with her were in the English language. He had no reason to believe she did not understand him when they were talking together. And he believed she understood the agreement that was executed.

The Court’s Decision

Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Sunshine sitting in a divorce part in Kings County found the wife’s allegations that she did not understand English, “patently incredible.” He stated in his decision she obtained a degree in English while living in Russia. She taught Russians to speak English while living in Russia and also taught Russians to speak English while living in the United States. The wife had executed the agreement at its end. She had sufficient opportunity to meet with her attorney. There was no evidence she was defrauded into signing the prenuptial agreement or duress was used in motivating her to execute the prenuptial agreement. Justice Sunshine found no reason to set aside the prenuptial agreement.

Conclusion

This is an example of a wife trying to convince a court to set aside a prenuptial agreement based on nonsensical arguments. The purpose of prenuptial agreements is to lock in the parties’ financial responsibilities in order to avoid litigation at the time of separation or the death of one of the parties. In this case, it looks like the wife decided she was not satisfied with what she was getting in the prenuptial agreement so she took a shot at setting it aside. Unfortunately for her she had no valid reason to set aside the prenuptial agreement.assistance for fathers in divorce litigation

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Grandparents Rights After Divorces

June 23, 2014 By

father's rights attorneysGrandparents often have special relationships with their grandchildren. Sometimes the problems in the relationship between the parents, can disrupt the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren. So what can a grandparent do if the residential custodial parent refuses to give them access to their grandchildren?

Grandparents’ Rights

Grandparents can bring legal proceedings to force the custodial parent of their grandchildren to give them access and visitation with their grandchildren. In cases where grandparents have had relationships with their grandchildren or the grandchildren have lived with them, courts are especially cognizant of the relationship between the grandparents and their grandchildren being in the grandchildren’s best interest.

Custody for Grandparents

If neither of the parents are appropriate individuals to have custody of their children, grandparents have a right to step in and ask the courts for custody. In cases where the parents are unfit, have drug problems, alcohol problems, have issues involving child abuse and/or child neglect, grandparents are a valuable resource to help their grandchildren lead normal fulfilling lives. Grandparents can not only win custody but they can also be appointed the legal guardian of their grandchildren.

Grandparents Issues and Legal Complications

The law in the State of New York seeks to have the biological parents of their children raise the children whenever possible. The circumstances and situations where grandparents can obtain visitation rights and/or custody of their grandchildren are fact sensitive and involve sophisticated legal issues. If you, a friend or family member have questions concerning grandparents rights, feel free to call our law firm. Our phones are monitored 24/7. We can be reached at 718-350-2802, 516-561-6645, or 1-800-344-6431. We have been fighting for grandparents’ rights for more than 45 years and we have a long history of success in the representation of grandparents involving custody and visitation issues.advocate for grandparents rights

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Separation Agreement Upheld: Husband’s Request To Set It Aside Denied

June 18, 2014 By

father's rights attorneysA husband and wife entered into a separation agreement. The separation agreement dealt with issues concerning custody, parenting time, and the parties’ finances. The agreement specifically provided during the period of time the parties were legally separated they would continue to deal with their finances as they had in the past while they were married. Pursuant to this portion of the agreement, both parties were to deposit their wages into a joint bank account at HSBC.

Husband Fails to Comply With Agreement

The husband stopped depositing his earnings into the bank account. The wife brought a proceeding to enforce the parties’ separation agreement and cause the husband to continue depositing his income into the joint HSBC account. The husband took the position the separation agreement should be declared invalid and he should not be responsible for depositing his income into the HSBC joint account.

Justice Jeffrey Goodstein sitting in the Supreme Court Part in Nassau County found the husband had breached the terms of the agreement and the wife had not. He granted the application from the wife to cause the husband to deposit all of his income for the years 2012 and 2013 into the joint bank account. In addition, he ordered both the husband and the wife to provide each other with a detailed accounting of the use of the funds which were deposited into the joint HSBC account. Judge Goodstein denied the husband’s application to set aside the separation agreement.

Conclusion

Let’s start with the fact that if you are getting legally separated, you shouldn’t be sharing a joint bank account. You should each have separate bank accounts. This seems to be a very poorly drafted separation agreement. In the end, if you enter into a validly executed separation agreement, a court will most likely force you to live up to its terms.

Husbands and fathers should be careful as to what they sign!

Elliot S. Schlissel is a father’s rights lawyer. He has been representing fathers for more than 45 years.custody and parenting rights advocates for fathers

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