Broome County Family Law Blog

When parents in New York decide to separate or divorce, it can be particularly difficult to move from full-time parenting to sharing the parenting time with an ex. While some couples are able to negotiate a balanced solution fairly easily, people with a more contentious relationship may see their discussions degenerate into a battle over custody time. Both mothers and fathers often feel unheard in family court; while mothers may feel their real concerns aren't taken seriously, fathers often worry that they are victims of gender bias in court.

Statistics show that up to 80 percent of cases involve mothers with primary or full child custody. However, most of these cases involve fathers who are not involved or not actively seeking additional parenting time with their children. When fathers seek a higher level of custody, they will often succeed in court, even though they may face some judges with a biased or traditional view of a father's role.

There has long existed a significant gap between what an average man and woman makes for an equivalent job in New York. Although there certainly are other factors to consider, such as spending and borrowing habits, this wage gap has contributed to what is now seen as a "debt gap."

Studies by financial experts indicate the debt gap is not centralized to one category but exists across the board to include student loans, credit card balances, auto loans and medical bills debt. Climbing out of debt can be difficult if income is insufficient to remain debt-free in the first place; however, the failure to do so will only exacerbate the problem. Experts suggest several strategies to right the ship.

Some New York consumers who are struggling with credit card debt might be considering a debt settlement arrangement. There are advantages and disadvantages to this as a solution.

Debt settlement sums usually are around 50 to 80 percent of the total balance that a person owes. People who do go the debt settlement route can negotiate the settlement themselves with the issuer or can hire a lawyer to do so. They should also get a copy of the settlement offer in writing. There are debt settlement companies that can assist with negotiations, but not all of them are entirely honest. Pitfalls people should watch out for are companies that insist that their services are needed to negotiate a debt settlement, those that tell the customer to stop communicating with the credit card company entirely and those that demand a payment in advance. Debt settlement companies also cannot guarantee an outcome such as no more contact from the credit card company.

If you are like most New Yorkers, you love social media. In fact, you may suspect that you spend too much time keeping up with your friends and family online. There is no question that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, et al. are wildly popular and here to stay. During one period of your life, however, you should fight your social media obsession and stop posting: when you go through a divorce.

Many divorcing posters have discovered to their detriment that telling the world about their divorce on Facebook is unwise and possibly self-defeating. Why? Because even as far back as 2010, 67 percent of American divorce attorneys admitted that Facebook was their best source of negative information about their clients’ spouses.