Broome County Family Law Blog

There are a number of ways that separated parents in New York can approach creating a parenting schedule that will work for everyone involved. Parents should start by thinking about how the situation looks for their children and what they stand to gain or lose.

The parenting schedule is not an opportunity for one parent to "win" while the other loses, nor should it be used as a weapon to get back at an ex. Parents should focus on the best interests of the children when creating the schedule. This could mean thinking about how to maintain some consistency, such as keeping the same babysitter the children are used to.

When people in New York decide to divorce, the financial repercussions can be significant. While every divorce is unique and carries its own characteristics, there are a few universal principles that can help future exes avoid costly oversights or errors during the process. The post-divorce period can also bring a number of changes in lifestyle.

For example, the marital home can often be a key financial issue in a divorce. In many cases, one or both of the partners may wish to keep the house for their post-divorce life. In many cases, however, this is unrealistic for either partner. Running two households on the same incomes that previously ran one household is more expensive, and the marital home may not be a financially viable choice for either partner post-divorce. Instead, selling the home may be a more responsible way to handle the housing question.

Parents in New York may benefit from learning about the statistics revealed in the Custodial Mothers and Father and Their Child Support report that is released by the United States Census Bureau every couple of years. The latest version, which was released in January 2016, provides information that contradicts assertions made by some political commentators that single parents are receiving too much child support.

The report provides an accurate glimpse of the number of single parents who have an informal or formal child support order that is in place. It also reveals how much money is owed to parents versus how much they actually receive.

Some New York fathers who fall behind on child support and lose touch with their children may do so because of a lack of money and an inability to navigate the system and not because they do not care. A documentary looks at how African-American fathers are disproportionately harmed by aspects of the child support system.

According to a study by the Urban Institute, 70 percent of child support debt is owed by parents whose annual incomes are under $10,000. African-American fathers make up a number of these parents, and while there is a stereotype that they are neglectful fathers, this is simply not the case. Instead, they face a number of barriers.