Custody Law in New York

Custody involves two separate concepts, legal custody and physical custody. A court can only award custody for children under 18 years of age.

Legal custody is the right to make important decisions about a child’s upbringing. Examples include choosing the school a child will attend, what kind of religious instruction the child receives, and medical decisions affecting the child. If joint legal custody is granted, the parents must make all decisions together, regardless of which parent has physical custody. However If legal custody is awarded to only one parent, that parent has the exclusive right to make all decisions on behalf of the child.

Physical custody is the right of a parent to have a child live with him or her. A court can award joint physical custody, in which case the child spends an equal amount of time living with each parent. More commonly a child is ordered to live a majority of the time with one parent, and the other parent is given visitation rights. Visitation can also be granted to grandparents and siblings.

A court will award custody based on its assessment of what is in the best interests of the children. A number of factors can be taken into account in deciding which parent should have custody, including the following:

Primary caretaker.
Quality of each parent's home environment.
Child care arrangements.
Each parent’s mental and physical health
Each parent’s fitness.
Parental cooperation.
Stability.
The child’s preference.
Keeping siblings together.
Abuse, neglect, abandonment or domestic violence.
Educational opportunities.
Substance abuse.

COVID-19 ALERT

Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates LLP has a business continuity plan in place that enables us to continue to provide our clients with uninterrupted service. All Ziegler team members have the ability to work remotely to deliver the same high-level service that our clients have come to know and respect. Our lawyers are available by phone and email to meet your needs. Now more than ever, Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates LLP is here to serve as your trusted partner as you navigate this challenge. We encourage you to reach out to any member of our Ziegler team should you have any questions or concerns.

Coronavirus Effects On Employees

Along with significant health concerns, the coronavirus has created significant uncertainty related to issues surrounding employment.

Large numbers of employees are facing layoffs, reductions in workload, reductions in compensation and termination. All such employees deserve the best possible advice, information, and assistance in navigating the new employment environment that now exists following the unprecedented events of the past several weeks.

The labor and employment attorneys at Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates LLP are ready to provide you the advice you need to protect your rights as an employee and to help you take full advantage of funds and programs that will be made available by the federal government, New York State and New York City to assist employees damaged by the coronavirus.

We are all in this together and we look forward to helping you towards a brighter future. Please call us today for a free consultation.

Coronavirus and Family Law

Given the current environment, many New Yorkers have or will have immediate and important questions about their relationship, parenting and custody agreements and arrangements. Restrictions imposed on movement have created a sense of uncertainty and urgency for many families. We are here to answer your pressing questions about these and other family law and matrimonial issues you may have. Please feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Firm update: Coronavirus

As you know, the situation over the spread of the coronavirus is rapidly changing, almost on a daily basis.

Our priority at this time is to help safeguard the health and safety of our colleagues, staff, clients, contacts and their respective families, whilst also ensuring that we can continue to provide you with the best possible client service.

Please be assured that we have the technology to enable us to continue our service to all of our clients uninterrupted whilst meeting our public health responsibilities. While our lawyers are available for face-to-face meetings where requested and needed, where these are not business-critical, we are advising staff to minimize these in agreement with our clients.

Our lawyers will still be available by phone and email, so we do not anticipate that this measure will impact ‘business as usual. We Are Here for You. First and foremost, we are thinking about you. We greatly appreciate all of the front-line workers striving to keep all of us safe and to contain COVID-19. The continuously evolving developments have created an environment of complexity and uncertainty that no doubt has impacted your business in some way.

Now more than ever, Ziegler, Ziegler & Associates LLP is here to serve as your trusted partner as you navigate this challenge. We encourage you to reach out to any member of our Ziegler team should you have any questions or concerns.

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