Family law questions, answered for Queens & NYC

Four things: how to achieve your goals, how your case will unfold, how long it will take, and what it is likely to cost. You explain what is going on; David Schnall gives you an honest assessment, not a sales pitch. There is no charge and no obligation.

You get the estimated cost of each path in the free consultation, before you commit to anything. It depends on the matter and on how much of it is contested, which is why the firm doesn’t quote fees on its website. The firm’s aim is powerful, effective representation at an affordable price, with payment plans, sliding-scale fees, and pay-as-you-go in some cases: ask about them in the consultation.

By video or phone: the free consultation is virtual only, so you can start from anywhere. It’s free, confidential and carries no obligation. Call (212) 371-2407 or send the consultation form, and the firm responds the same day. It covers how to achieve your goals, how your case will unfold, how long it will take, and the estimated costs.

Any court papers you have (petitions, summonses, orders), the date of your next court appearance, a short timeline of what has happened in your own words, and your questions. The contact page lists what helps for each kind of matter.

Not necessarily. Calling, emailing or sending the website form does not make you a client, and what you send before the firm agrees to represent you may not be privileged or confidential. Keep written messages general; the details can wait for the consultation.

Supreme Court is the only court that can grant a divorce, and within a divorce it can also decide custody, support and property. Family Court hears custody, visitation, child support, paternity, family offense (order of protection) and child neglect and abuse cases, but it cannot grant a divorce. In New York City, guardianship cases for adults are heard in Supreme Court.

No, you aren’t required to have one, but the orders the court makes can shape your family for years. In some Family Court cases, including family offense and child neglect or abuse cases, a person who can’t afford a lawyer has the right to have one assigned.

It depends on the matter and on how much the two sides agree on. A temporary order of protection can be issued the day a petition is filed; an uncontested divorce moves faster than a contested one; a contested custody or divorce case takes longer, sometimes much longer. You get a straight estimate for your case in the free consultation.

Find the next court date on the papers and make sure you can be there. Obey any order that came with them, and don’t contact the other side to argue about it. Then call a lawyer before that date, with the papers in hand.

Supreme Court. In New York City, a petition to appoint a guardian for an adult under Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law is heard there. The hearing is generally set within 28 days of the judge signing the order to show cause, so a family served with one should call a lawyer right away.

Yes. The firm’s principal office is in Midtown Manhattan, with a second office in Jamaica, Queens, and David Schnall has represented clients in the Family Court of every New York City borough, in the matrimonial parts of New York State Supreme Court and in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

On the best interests of the child. The court looks at who has been the main caregiver, each parent’s ability to meet the child’s needs, each parent’s health, any domestic violence, work schedules and child care, the child’s relationships with siblings and family, the child’s wishes depending on age, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other.

Legal custody is the right to make the important decisions about a child’s care. Physical custody is the child’s actual care and supervision: where the child lives and who looks after them day to day. Either can be joint or sole.

With paternity, if you weren’t married to your child’s mother when the child was born. Establish it through an Acknowledgment of Paternity or a court order: until then, the law gives an unmarried father no custody or visitation rights. From there the law treats both parents alike, and neither has an automatic right to custody.

That neither of you starts ahead: New York law gives neither parent an automatic right to custody, and the court decides on the best interests of the child. It looks at who has been the main caregiver, each parent’s ability to meet the child’s needs, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other. Don’t ignore the papers: you answer the petition, and you can ask for what you want in return. At the first appearance the court can set a temporary custody and visitation order that lasts while the case goes on.

If the other parent objects, the court decides. The parent who wants to move must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the move is in the child’s best interests. The court weighs the whole picture, including the child’s relationship with the parent who stays.

The basic figure is 17% of the parents’ combined income for one child (25% for two), on combined income up to the cap, $193,000 from March 1, 2026. It is then split between the parents in proportion to their incomes. The calculation starts from gross income, less some deductions such as Social Security and Medicare taxes and New York City income tax.

No. In New York, parents are generally responsible for supporting a child until the child turns 21, unless the child becomes emancipated earlier.

Yes. Support doesn’t depend on marriage, but if the father’s parentage hasn’t been legally established, that comes first, by an Acknowledgment of Paternity or a court order. Support petitions are filed in Family Court and are generally heard by a Support Magistrate.

Both parents, in proportion to their incomes. Child care while the parent the child lives with works or goes to school, health insurance and unreimbursed health costs are added to basic support and shared pro rata, and the court can also order education costs.

Generally two years of continuous residence before the case starts, or one year if you married in New York, lived here as spouses, or the grounds arose here. If the grounds arose here and both spouses live here when the case begins, there is no minimum.

In an uncontested divorce the spouses agree on every issue, including property, support and the children, and the case moves fastest. In a contested divorce at least one issue is disputed, and the court resolves it after financial disclosure, conferences and, if it comes to that, a trial.

Not freely. Automatic orders bind the spouse who files as soon as the case is filed, and the other spouse once served. Among other things, they bar selling, transferring or hiding property outside the usual course of life while the case is pending, unless the spouses agree in writing or the court allows it.

Yes. While the case is pending the court can order temporary maintenance, temporary child support, and temporary custody and parenting time. Temporary maintenance is calculated with a statutory formula based on the spouses’ incomes, up to a cap on the payor’s income ($241,000 from March 1, 2026).

Up to 60 days. ACS must begin investigating within 24 hours of a report and decide within 60 days whether it is “indicated” or “unfounded”. Separately, ACS can file a neglect or abuse case in Family Court.

Only in limited circumstances. Without a court order, ACS may remove a child only when there is imminent danger to the child’s life or health and no time to ask a court first; otherwise it needs a Family Court order. If children are removed, a parent can ask for their return, and the court must hold that hearing within three court days, except for good cause.

A child neglect or abuse case that ACS brings in Family Court, with the parent as the respondent. A parent who can’t afford a lawyer has the right to an assigned one. The court decides on a preponderance of the evidence whether neglect or abuse occurred, then what happens next, which can range from releasing the child to the parent to placement.

Either, or both. A Family Court family offense case is a civil proceeding, open to family members and people in an intimate relationship, and it cannot result in a criminal conviction. A criminal court order comes with a criminal case. When Family Court is closed, you can ask a criminal court for an order.

No. There are no filing fees in Family Court. A family offense petition can be filed and heard the same day, and the judge can issue a temporary order of protection that day if there is good cause.

A violation can be prosecuted as criminal contempt, which is a crime, and Family Court can itself order up to six months in jail for a willful violation. A violation can also justify a longer order, of up to five years.