Long Island Family Law Attorneys

On This Page

• What is Family Law?
• Types of Family Law Cases
• When Should You Hire a Lawyer?
• What is the Role of an Attorney?
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • Are family court cases made public in New York?
  • Do I need a family lawyer to take a case to court?
  • Can a family law case settle out of court?

Family law is the field of legal practice that involves family disputes, conflicts, violations, and the like. It is a fairly broad term that can apply to many different cases, petitions, lawsuits, and claims. Whereas criminal cases and civil cases go to criminal courts and civil courts, respectively, a family law case will go to a family law court for an order or trial.

When choosing the legal team to help with your Long Island family law case, be sure to work with one that actually handles family law issues often. They will have a greater familiarity with the nuances and details of these case types than a law firm that mostly works on other cases like criminal defense or personal injury. At Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein, we intentionally focus on family law and divorce cases.

As mentioned, family law in New York can apply to a wide variety of different legal issues, each pertaining to your family life. You don’t have to find many different law firms to help you with your case, though. We know how to handle virtually every family law issue that could arise. Now that you have found our firm, you have found the legal team to trust with your case.

A few of the most common family law cases that we handle include the following and more:

• Child custody: We are here to help you protect your child’s best interests, which includes spending time with and being raised by you after a separation or divorce. Family law courts prefer joint child custody arrangements, so we like to approach these cases with the hopes of reaching a fair settlement with your spouse.
• Child support: Your child’s wellbeing and day-to-day life should not be disrupted because of a divorce. To make sure that your child still gets all the care they need, child support can be arranged. It usually involves the spouse with primary custody of the child receiving monthly financial support from the nonprimary custodial spouse.
• Divorce: Ending your marriage will be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be a negative experience. Let us lead the way through your divorce, so you can be confident that your best interests are upheld from start to finish.
• Modifications: A divorce or family law order is made based on the best available information and what the court can reasonably foresee. However, unexpected life changes can and do happen. If a family law court order is no longer tenable, then we can discuss how to file a petition to have it modified.
• Prenuptial agreements: You can plan for divorce, just in case it ever happens, by making a prenuptial agreement before you are ever married. Prenups let you pre-decide many different divorce and family law dispute concerns, as long as those issues do not directly involve your children.

People often wonder if they should hire a family law attorney to help with their case, or if they should just try to manage things on their own. If you’re in the same situation, then you should know that there’s never a bad time to talk to our Long Island family law attorneys about your case. We would be happy to help you decide if your case needs the representation of a lawyer or if guided counsel would be enough. At the least, hiring a family lawyer will greatly reduce the stress of the situation by putting a professional in charge of everything.

As your chosen Long Island family lawyers, we can help you with:

• Preparation: The start of a family law case can feel like the most difficult step to take. With us leading the way, we can help you take that step and all that follow. You will be prepared to make a petition, respond to one, and much more.
• Filing: After creating a petition to bring to the County Clerk’s Office or court, it must be filed correctly. We know how to properly file all sorts of family law cases, so yours can begin without any obstacles.
• Mediation or negotiation: A family law dispute can be settled without the need for a trial. Most cases don’t need a trial, actually. Let us help you reach a settlement or agreement through negotiation or mediation that focuses on cooperation and collaboration, rather than a courtroom contest.
• Litigation: There is always the chance that a family law case will go to trial. Even simple disputes have the potential to become heated and locked in a back-and-forth. If this happens to your case, our role will be to act on your half before the court and defeat the arguments that the opposition brings.
• Confidence: Overall, we want you to feel confident that your family law case is progressing correctly and in a way that benefits your best interests. Let us put your worries at ease by handing the many parts of your case to our experienced team.