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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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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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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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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New York Family Court Keeps Jurisdiction Over A Child in Virginia

June 10, 2014 By

father's rights attorneysAn appeals court (Third Department in upstate New York) has recently held pursuant to New York Domestic Relations Law section 76-a, a Family Court located in New York State had continuing jurisdiction over a child until neither the child nor the parent of the child had a significant connection to the State of New York and there was no longer substantial evidence in New York State concerning the child’s protection.

History of the Case

Angela Lawrence and Guy Belcher had two children, a son born in 1999 and a daughter born in 2001.  They were divorced in the State of New Hampshire in the year 2005.  After the divorce, Guy Belcher moved to the State of New York.  He brought a custody case in the year 2007.  Pursuant to the decision in the custody proceeding, he received custody of his son and visitation with his daughter.  The daughter thereafter moved to Virginia to live with her mother.

Belcher eventually sought sole residential custody of his daughter in 2011.  In his petition for custody, Belcher claimed his daughter was being physically abused by her stepfather.  He also claimed the stepfather had physically abused his son while his son was visiting with his mother in Virginia.  Family Court Judge Courtenay Hall initially awarded the father temporary custody of the daughter but thereafter overruled herself.  She found the court in New York lacked jurisdiction to make any determination with regard to the case.  Guy Belcher appealed to the Appellate Division of the Third Department.

Appeals Court Decision

The appeals court held “initially, that the Family Court erroneously found, because its prior order addressed custody only with respect to the son, that the court did not have continuing exclusive jurisdiction as to the issue of custody of the daughter. ‘Child custody determination’ is defined, however, as ‘a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child’.”  This is pursuant to Domestic Relations Law section 75-a.

The appeals court took the position since a New York Family Court had entered a ruling with regard to visitation in the year 2007, it continued to have exclusive jurisdiction with regard to this matter.  The court cited in its opinion, the daughter had continued to visit with her father in New York during vacations and holidays.  The court’s decision stated “the son allegedly witnessed the abuse committed upon the daughter and was himself the victim of abuse and neglect.”  “Furthermore, the father witnessed the bruising and other injuries suffered by the daughter, and possesses evidence regarding a conversation he had with the mother following the incident in which she purportedly stated that the physical abuse was ‘no big deal and well deserved’.”

Conclusion

In the end, the appeals court simply felt New York was the “more appropriate and convenient forum” to make necessary decisions with regard to this case.advocate for father's rights and custody

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Father’s Rights in 2014

May 22, 2014 By

father's rights attorneysToday more and more fathers are obtaining custody of their children. The bygone days when there was a presumption that the father was the bread winner and the mother took care of the children and should receive custody are long gone. In the State of New York, fathers have equal rights to custody of their children. In most families today, both parents work to help support their family. More and more fathers are involved with the day to day affairs of taking care of and nurturing their children. Family dynamics have changed significantly in the last decade.

Fathers Matter!

Fathers play an important role in their children’s lives. If the father seeks to have custody of his children, he should use due diligence and hire an attorney who is experienced and knowledgeable with regard to advocating on behalf of fathers. Both fathers and mothers bond with their children. Recent studies show that children who do not have a father in their lives are subject to a variety of negative effects. Some of these effects are: (1) Children who do not have guidance from their fathers have a higher school dropout rate. (2) Children raised in families without the benefit of a loving father use illegal drugs on a greater basis than children who are raised in a family that has both a father and a mother in it. (3) There is a greater percentage of children raised in a fatherless family, committing acts of domestic violence.

Fathers help their children develop traits that allow them to be successful during their life. Fathers who are prevented from having quality time for visiting with their children should fight to protect their rights. An experienced father’s rights attorney will be able to analyze a custody or visitation case and provide the father with a road map to protect his rights and achieve a greater possibility of success in the case.

Helping Fathers in Custody and Visitation Problems

Our office works with fathers regularly concerning issues regarding custody and visitation. There are many issues fathers face when litigating custody and visitation matters. There are a variety of situations that can create a negative impression of a father by the courts. Some examples of these situations are the father moving out of the house where his children reside, failing to aggressively pursue employment, failing to fight made up charges of domestic violence alleged by the mother, and failure to maintain a regular form of contact, communication and presence in their children’s lives.

Children’s Best Interests

Decisions concerning custody and visitation by judges take into consideration the children’s best interests. The father’s rights lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo are available to speak with fathers who have issues concerning their children seven days a week. Call for a free consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or 1-800-344-6431.experienced father's rights advocate

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Court Rejects Father’s Lack of Jurisdiction Arguments

May 1, 2014 By

father's rights advocateA husband brought an action to vacate a judgment of divorce taken on default against him. He also asked the divorce lawsuit be dismissed in its entirety. He claimed there was fraud involved in the lawsuit and the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. There was a special referee appointed to handle the case. The special referee awarded the wife 100% of all of the family’s marital assets which she could produce evidence of. The referee rendered this decision in part based on her husband’s inappropriate conduct in hiding and dissipating assets. In addition, the court took into consideration the fact the husband destroyed evidence during the course of the divorce proceeding.

Bad Service of the Summons

The husband in the case claimed he was not properly served with the Summons with Notice. He therefore argued the court did not have jurisdiction to try the case involving him. Therefore the judgment entered against him on default needed to be vacated.

Referee’s Decision Upheld By The Court

Justice Rachel Adams sitting in the Supreme Court Divorce Part in Kings County, confirmed the decision made by the referee in this case. She rejected the husband’s arguments for vacating the default judgment. She stated the husband had filed bankruptcy on the day after he was served with the summons in the divorce lawsuit. In the bankruptcy proceeding he listed the pendency of the divorce case against him for purposes of getting it stayed by the bankruptcy court. (A stay is a temporary injunction preventing a case from going forward). Justice Adams, in her decision, pointed out the husband did not challenge the jurisdiction or personal service of the divorce proceeding within the confines of the bankruptcy proceeding. He also did not challenge the application to lift the automatic stay in the Bankruptcy Court to allow the divorce proceeding to proceed in the Supreme Court in Kings County. (Bankruptcy proceedings are brought in the United States Bankruptcy Court, a federal court. Divorce proceedings are brought in state courts. In New York State, they are brought in the Supreme Court Divorce Part.)

Husband Refused to Appear

Justice Adams stated in her decision the husband voluntarily, knowingly, and intentionally did not appear in his divorce case. He therefore defaulted. In addition, he refused to cooperate with regard to producing documents necessary for the prosecution of the divorce. Justice Adams denied the husband’s motion and found that he had knowledge of the pending divorce lawsuit.

Conclusion

If you get served with a Summons with Notice or a Summons and Complaint in a divorce action, don’t ignore it. If you do, your spouse can end up with 100% of all of the assets. That is the absolute worst result you can have with regard to assisting father's with custodyequitable distribution of assets in a  divorce.

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Father Given Sole Legal and Physical Custody of Children: He is Allowed to Relocate Back to Texas With the Children From New York

April 28, 2014 By

helping father's win custody There was recently an interesting case before Justice Lori Sattler who sits in the Supreme Court Part in New York County. A father and a mother had each brought petitions in a post judgment custody proceeding. Each of them sought sole legal and physical custody of the parties’ two children. The father presented in his moving papers there had been problems regarding his visitation with the children, especially during weekends and holidays. He claimed these problems arose right after the wife moved from Texas to New York. The wife, who had received custody of the children from a court in Texas, moved to New York several days after entry of the judgment of divorce giving her custody by the court in Texas.

Mother Alienates the Children Against Father

The father, in his moving papers, asserted the mother had been involved in a program of parental alienation of the children against him. He also argued in his papers the mother was an unfit parent. He claimed she was incapable of taking care of the children because she was continually abusing drugs.

Mother’s Arguments

The mother alleged in her papers the father had sexually abused his daughter. However, the court after reviewing the allegations and the evidence submitted regarding these allegations determined that this was not true. Justice Sattler found the mother to be less than honest in her testimony. She found there were inconsistencies in the mother’s testimony. Justice Sattler held the mother’s testimony created questions with regard to her ability to help develop a loving relationship between the children and the father. She concluded there was a change of circumstances since the entry of the judgment of divorce in 2011 by the court in Texas. She found this change of circumstance required she reevaluate what was in the children’s best interest.

Custody Modified

Justice Sattler determined a modification of the Texas custody order was warranted. She ruled the father was to receive sole legal and physical custody. In addition, she authorized him to relocate back to Texas because this was in the children’s best interests. Justice Sattler went on, in her decision, to state the father was more capable of providing the children with a stable and appropriate living environment. He was better suited to foster a relationship between the children and their mother.

Conclusion

custody for husbandsIn this case, the court found the father was the more stable parent and it was in the children’s best interests to live with the father in another state. The writer assumes the mother’s parental alienation of the children contributed to this judge’s decision to award the father sole legal and physical custody. The author of this article has been involved in dozens of cases where mothers have failed to promote the loving relationship between the father and the children. Alienating children against one parent damages the children. It is in children’s best interest to have two loving parents and not to be participants in a war of roses between the parents.

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Father Named Son’s Guardian

April 15, 2014 By

father's rights attorneySurrogate John Czygier Jr. sitting in Suffolk County recently had a case before him involving a developmentally disabled child. A father had brought a proceeding to be appointed the guardian of his son, Nicholas. The child’s mother took the position Nicholas didn’t need a guardian because he wasn’t developmentally disabled.

A Hearing Was Held

Surrogate Czygier held a hearing to determine whether Nicholas was a developmentally disabled individual who required a guardian be appointed. When it was established that Nicholas needed a guardian, the mother then took the position she should be named her son’s guardian. The mother made it clear, to the court, she intended to move to Florida whether or not she was appointed as Nicholas’s guardian. She also made it clear she was moving to Florida with or without her son.

Guardian Ad Litem for Child Favors Father

A guardian ad litem was appointed to represent Nicholas (a guardian ad litem is an attorney who is appointed to protect a child or incompetent). The guardian ad litem made a recommendation that the father was the more appropriate parent to be appointed by the court as the guardian for Nicholas.

The Judge’s Decision

Judge Czygier, in his decision, took into consideration the father had worked to enhance Nicholas’ life. The father also understood and maintained realistic concepts concerning his son’s disability. The court also took into consideration the fact that if Nicholas was relocated to Florida with the mother it would interfere with the father’s current relationship with his son. Judge Czygier stated in his decision although the mother had been the primary caretaker of Nicholas up until that point in time, he doubted her fitness to be Nicholas’ guardian. The court therefore determined the father was the more fit parent to be the child’s guardian. The judge’s decision stated the father was more likely to see to it that Nicholas was able to maintain a relationship with his mother. The father’s petition for guardianship was therefore granted by the court.

helping fathersElliot Schlissel has been protecting father’s rights concerning guardianship, custody, and child support issues for fathers throughout the Metropolitan New York area for more than 45 years.

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What You Need To Know About Prenuptial Agreements

April 10, 2014 By

Prenuptial agreements, which are sometimes referred to as antenuptial agreements, are designed to set forth in a written contract what will happen concerning the division of property and spousal support payments in the event of divorce. Prenuptial agreements also deal with the rights each spouse has to the other spouse’s estate in the event of death.

One thing that is certain concerning prenuptial agreements is they have nothing to do with the romance that leads up to marriage. Sometimes bringing up a discussion of a prenuptial agreement can have the impact of stopping the marriage from moving forward dead in its tracks.

Prenuptial Agreements and Divorce

Prenuptial agreements can help the individuals who enter into a marriage avoid, in the event of a breakdown of the marital relationship, a nasty, difficult, expensive divorce. Prenuptial agreements should be drafted a significant period of time before the date of marriage. A common problem clients face when they call a lawyer a week or so before they plan on getting married is that it usually takes weeks to work out the details, negotiations, and terminology in a prenuptial agreement. Parties who seek to have a prenuptial agreement drafted by attorneys should consider doing it three to six months in advance of their getting married.

Prenuptial Agreements and Disclosure

One of the first steps necessary before entering into a prenuptial agreement is the disclosure as to what each party’s assets are and what each party’s incomes are. Individuals entering into a prenuptial agreement must make a knowing, intelligent decision to enter into these agreements. An individual cannot make a reasonable, intelligent decision if they don’t know what the other party’s assets and income are at the time of the execution of the agreement.

Prenuptial agreements should not be thought of as a document prepared in the anticipation of a divorce. Prenuptial agreements simply lay out each party’s rights and obligations in the event of a divorce or death of one of the spouses. Unfortunately, the divorce rates throughout the United States are very high. In many areas, the divorce rate runs close to 50%. Therefore, putting each of the party’s cards on the table before they enter into the marriage and having an agreement showing what their cards will be when they leave the marriage involves planning for the possibility of a problem while the parties hope the problem never occurs.

Prenuptial Agreements and Obligations to Support Children

Prenuptial agreements generally do not deal with the financial obligations each of the parties has to support children who are born after the execution of the agreement. It is generally against public policy for prenuptial agreements to interfere with each of the party’s financial obligations to children born during the course of the marriage.

There are a variety of pros and cons concerning prenuptial agreements. Individuals going into their first marriage often have a hesitancy to be involved in this type of planning. However, individuals who have been married and divorced, usually want to have prenuptial agreements in their second or third marriages.

Elliot Schlissel is a divorce lawyer with more than 45 years of experience representing individuals in divorce actions. He has extensive experience in protecting father’s rights and helping fathers obtain custody and/or visitation with their children. The office offers free consultations and its phones are monitored seven days a week to deal with emergency situations.

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