LJN Newsletters

Is there a trend in child support modification matters? The cases we looked at in last month's newsletter granting an upward modification of child support appear clearly to be the exceptional ones.

Jurisdiction in a matrimonial action has several statutory components requiring the repeated cross-application of the Civil Practice Law and Rules with the Domestic Relations Law (DRL). Knowledge of the statutes' interplay becomes especially essential to the matrimonial attorney when seeking to affect the status of the marriage and obtain jurisdiction over a non-resident.

The author has spent some considerable time reading and re-reading the Court of Appeals' decision in Keane v. Keane, 3 NY3d 115 (2006), but cannot quite get it. He realizes fully that the court's word on this is the final one ' 'for now.'

A recent case for your review.

To address existing irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs) in the context of a divorce, there are five steps that practitioners must take. The first four were addressed in Part One of this article: Collect Documents; Analyze Current Circumstances and Facts; Establish Insurance Objectives; and Review Existing ILIT to See If and How Objectives Can be Achieved. The conclusion discusses the fifth step.

Have you ever had cases that you felt were appropriate for collaboration, where the clients and lawyers got started but then the clients disengaged from the collaborative process somewhere along the way? This article explains the value of a divorce coach in the collaborative process.

This and the next issue of The Matrimonial Strategist explore the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce method. In the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce, one of the parties chooses the collaborative process after consultation with a collaborative attorney or a mental-health professional who participates in a collaborative practice group. If both husband and wife decide that the Interdisciplinary Collaborative Divorce model would be appropriate, they choose an interdisciplinary team to assist them in settling the issues presented in their case.

Over the years, matrimonial lawyers everywhere have increasingly embraced the concept of working with experienced, credentialed professionals who specialize in the financial aspects of divorce. Originally, most of these specialists were Certified Public Accountants and the work was mainly of a forensic nature. Recently, however, we have seen an increase in the involvement of professionals whose background is in the financial planning arena. Today, among other tasks, the planner is often retained to examine the longer-term impact of settlements and answer the client's question: 'Will I be okay financially?'