NY Divorce Law

[julie*mango]

I have a friend...really guys..it's a real friend...

her husband walked out on her and their kids about a year ago...from then until now the cycle has been that he would fight her...she calls the cops...he cusses her out....few months go by...he bawls his eyes out and begs to come back..she takes him back..

i think i did write about them before down here but can't be bother to go dig it up...

anyways...

she finally decided she is through with him

she cannot afford an attorney

so she is filing the divorce on her own...

what are the laws in NY regarding divorce?

remember there are kids in the mix...

he is very elusive with her

she does not know where he is living and he won't tell her

every time she begs him to sign the papers he gives her some bullish....


does she need his signature to proceed with the divorce?

she has documented the abuse and has police reports of the incidents....


can't she get a divorce on the grounds of cruelty?

i mean this guy ups and leaves her..she was in school full time and not working...the rent went unpaid for months..she almost got evicted...

then he is not taking care of their kids...the baby got put out of daycare cuz he stopped paying the fee...

there must be a way to go around this scumbag...

there is no physical address to serve him with papers so how should she proceed?

[DearK]

Re: NY Divorce Law

She doesnt know where her husband works?

[SandiF]

Re: NY Divorce Law

There are six causes or grounds for divorce in any state, including NY. I think a certain number is based on fault and to a lesser there is a no-fault. So she can divorce him on the fault that he deserted the matrimonial home. Or can she divorce him on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

I think for most states you can either divorce the other party because you had originally gotten married in that state or live in the state for a minimum of a year. She can represent herself but if child support and is involved she may need a lawyer.

Tell her she can go to the city court house or county or whatever it is called in NY and get info.

[Nunya]

Re: NY Divorce Law

If she files for divorce on the grounds of abandonment then she would need to serve him with papers at <span style="text-decoration: underline">his last known address</span>. I think that could be his work, or a close relative (ie mother/father).

She should have a professional service do this. This would prove her intent to the courts that she'd attempted to serve him. If he doesn't show up for court, she could get the divorce by default.

Course, I'on live in NY but the above makes sense to me...

[Nunya]

Re: NY Divorce Law

Just re-read uppa top deh, an si dat she been allowing him to come back. So I'm guessing that abandonment nah go work as a ground for divorce. I think he would have to have been gone <span style="font-style: italic">continuously</span> for a while, maybe a year or more.

[kia027]

Re: NY Divorce Law

NY Divorce law info

and look at grounds for filing

[kia027]

Re: NY Divorce Law

What if I cannot locate my spouse?

New York state law requires that the defendant in a divorce action be personally served with the Summons with Notice or Summons and Verified Complaint. To have your spouse served in any other way, you must get permission from the court. You can apply for such permission by filing an application for alternate service with the Supreme Court Clerk's Office in the county where you filed your divorce case.

Source

[MarieK]

Re: NY Divorce Law

1. she needs to prove he has abandoned her for more than a year.

2. she can publish the notice to answer to the complaint in the paper he has 30 days to respond

3. Tell her to call the NYS Bar association and ask to get intouch with a lawyer who will take her case pro bono (which means free or at a significantly reduced cost)

4. Also, ask her to call teh NYS Bar Association and ask for attorneys who give free consultations.

NYS and NYC attorneys are rewarded for &quot;charity&quot; which translates to pro bono work. They get CLE credits for it so many great lawyers are willing to do it.

[Gen]

Re: NY Divorce Law

tell her to wait a bit...I think a bill was introduced, speak to a lawyer

[Gen]

Re: NY Divorce Law

ALBANY — The State Senate on Tuesday, clearing aside decades of opposition, put New York on a course to adopt no-fault divorce — the last state to do so. It approved legislation that would permit couples to separate by mutual consent, a major shift with sweeping implications for families and lawyers.


For decades, New Yorkers have been bedeviled by divorce laws that critics said prompted endless litigation and custody fights that were both unnecessary and cruel.

Under current divorce law, one spouse must take the blame, even if both sides agree that a marriage cannot be saved. To get a divorce, one party must allege cruel and inhuman treatment or adultery or abandonment, or the couple must be legally separated for one year.

<span style="font-weight: bold">The new legislation still has to pass the State Assembly, which is considering two bills that would include some version of no-fault divorce. But advocates said Tuesday that they believed that victory in the Senate, which was controlled by Republicans until last year, gave the measure momentum and a high likelihood of gaining approval in the Assembly, which is also controlled by Democrats.</span>

Gov. David A. Paterson, a Democrat, is expected to support the bill if both houses of the Legislature approve it, although a spokesman cautioned that Mr. Paterson would need to review any final legislation before signing it.

Efforts to change the state’s divorce laws have been repeatedly turned back over the years, even as other states moved to liberalize their matrimonial laws to include some version of no-fault divorce.

Opponents included the Roman Catholic Church, which objects to making divorce easier, as well as some women’s advocates, who feared that no-fault divorce would deprive women — especially poor women who could not afford lengthy litigation — of leverage they needed to obtain fair alimony or child support agreements from husbands seeking to divorce them.

But supporters of no-fault divorce said the law in some cases induced couples to falsely testify to abandonment simply to speed up the process. Senate passage of the bill was considered a major victory.

“What I’m hoping is that because the Assembly now has a partner in the Senate, that will give impetus to help the Assembly move along,” Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, a Democrat from Westchester and the Bronx who was the chief Senate sponsor of the bill, said after the vote.

<span style="font-weight: bold">The bill passed 32 to 27, according to an unofficial tally, with all but two Democrats joined by two Republicans in support.</span>

Assemblyman Jonathan L. Bing, a Manhattan Democrat who is sponsoring the Assembly version of the same bill, said his legislation had 69 co-sponsors, nearly enough for the 76 needed to pass the Assembly.

“I think that, generally, leadership in the Assembly is supportive of moving forward in this area,” Mr. Bing said. “I think it would be a tremendous step on behalf of New Yorkers.”

Undergirding the vote on Tuesday was a noticeable shift in the public debate in recent years. In 2004, the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York reversed its longstanding opposition to no-fault divorce.

“We came to the realization that forcing one party to either admit or be found at fault in the deterioration of a marriage provides no economic or other advantage to either party,” said Annette G. Hasapidis, co-chairwoman of the association’s legislation committee. “And more importantly, it harms the children of the marriage.”

In 2006, a panel appointed by Judith S. Kaye, then the state’s chief judge, urged a major overhaul of New York’s divorce and child custody rules, including allowing no-fault divorce.

But the Senate vote is a blow to Catholic bishops in the state. In a statement, Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said that his group believed that existing law had sufficient protections for spouses seeking a divorce because of abuse or adultery and that the state had a legitimate interest in requiring couples to be legally separated for at least a year before divorcing.

“New York State has one of the lowest divorce rates in the country,” Mr. Barnes said. “While we see that as a cause for state pride, sadly some may see it as a problem to be corrected.

“We urge the State Assembly to reject this proposal, and, failing that, we call on Governor Paterson to veto it.”

The Senate also passed two related bills intended to allay fears among women’s rights groups and advocates for women facing domestic abuse.

One would ensure that in a divorce, spouses are on a more equal financial footing when it comes to retaining lawyers. While state law allows judges to require the wealthier spouse to pay the legal bill for the less wealthy spouse, the new law would require judges to make those arrangements early on in a divorce case. A matching bill passed the Assembly in May.

The third bill would set up a standard formula that judges would need to use to determine support payments, known in New York as maintenance. Though judges would still have discretion to modify those awards, backers said that the provision would take much of the uncertainty out of divorce proceedings, where a patchwork of case law has resulted in widely inconsistent awards.

But Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein, a Brooklyn Democrat who is chairwoman of the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, said she might seek changes to the Senate language before it went to a vote in her house.

Ms. Weinstein has sponsored a broader divorce bill in the Assembly that includes a no-fault provision but has different language on maintenance awards than the Senate bill.

“I don’t think that their maintenance bill is the final point where we need to go,” Ms. Weinstein said.


yah suh

[Gen]

Re: NY Divorce Law

my friend did a notice in the paper route etc etc

[MarieK]

Re: NY Divorce Law

it is possible and actually with the right guidance very very easy. You simply have to prove that you have tried in good faith to locate his residence or placeof employment.

if she brings a child support action against him (mi nuh memba if dem have kids an mi too lazy fi guh read uppa top) that will get her the info she needs as to where he works.

Additionally if she has a cell phone for him she can do a search online and get the address it is registered to.

*fawda jeezas I cd be a stalker if I needed to be *

Also, a PI to locate him thru employment records is very possible also.

[jamaica_dreamin]

Re: NY Divorce Law

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Marie_K</div><div class="ubbcode-body">it is possible and actually with the right guidance very very easy. You simply have to prove that you have tried in good faith to locate his residence or placeof employment.

if she brings a child support action against him (mi nuh memba if dem have kids an mi too lazy fi guh read uppa top) that will get her the info she needs as to where he works.

Additionally if she has a cell phone for him she can do a search online and get the address it is registered to.

*fawda jeezas I cd be a stalker if I needed to be *

Also, a PI to locate him thru employment records is very possible also. </div></div>

remember there are kids in the mix..

[julie*mango]

Re: NY Divorce Law

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">my friend did a notice in the paper route etc etc </div></div>

she is looking a $3K which she does not have...

[julie*mango]

Re: NY Divorce Law

I saw the responses in the thread...don't have the time to respond now but I will do so later...

thank you all..

you have been very helpful