Legal Services

UNCONTESTED DIVORCE

Your divorce may be uncontested if you and your spouse both want to get a divorce and both agree about what will happen with your children, your property, and your finances after the divorce. You may be able to get a divorce without going to court or seeing a judge.

CONTESTED DIVORCE

Your divorce may be contested if either you or your spouse:

• Does not want to get a divorce
• Disagrees about what will happen with your children, your property, or your finances after the divorce.

To resolve disagreements, you may need to go to court so that a judge can listen to both sides and decide how to handle the disagreements.

ORDER OF PROTECTION

If your spouse, intimate partner, or another family member is hurting or threatening you or your child, Her Justice may be able to help you obtain a court order that tells your abuser to stop the threatening, harassing, or violent behavior.

An order of protection can do many things:

• Order your abuser to stay away from you, your home, job, school, your child’s school or day care, or any other place where you often go
• Order your abuser to move out of the home you both live in, even if your name is not on the lease or title.
• Order your abuser to not to interfere with the care and custody of your child.
• Order your abuser to pay temporary child support.
• Give you temporary custody of your child.
• Revoke your abuser’s gun license and order them to surrender any guns in their possession.
• Order your abuser to pay you for expenses caused by their abuse such as:
  • medical or emergency room expenses
  • repairs for damage to personal property

CUSTODY AND VISITATION (“PARENTING TIME”)

Her Justice may be able to help you ask the court for custody of your child and establish parenting time arrangements.

• LEGAL CUSTODY.
  • Legal custody means you have the right to make important decisions about your child’s life — including education, medical care, and religious upbringing.
• PHYSICAL CUSTODY
  • Physical custody means you have the right to live with and provide day-to-day care for your child.
• VISITATION (“PARENTING TIME”)
  • Parenting time is typically awarded by Family Court to the parent who does not have custody of the child.
  • Her Justice can help you ask the court to order safe visitation arrangements with the other parent or to restrict the other parent’s visitation if you are worried:
    • that the other parent may hurt or neglect your child
    • that parenting time might be dangerous because of the other parent’s mental illness, alcohol, or drug addiction
    • that there are other factors that pose a risk of safety or well-being to your child if the court orders parenting time.

CHILD SUPPORT

In New York, parents are generally responsible for supporting their children until age 21.

If your child’s other parent is not providing appropriate financial support, Her Justice may be able to help you ask the court for a child support order. We may also be able to help if you need to change an existing child support order or collect unpaid child support.

A child support order may:

• Establish paternity
• Create, increase, or decrease child support payments
• Require payments to be deducted directly from a parent’s paycheck
• Require payment of past-due child support
• Require a parent to provide health insurance or contribute to medical expenses
• Help enforce an existing child support order when payments are not being made

SPOUSAL SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE

Her Justice may be able to help you ask the court to order your spouse to support you financially, either:

• while you are married (spousal support) or
• after you are divorced (spousal maintenance).

Courts do not always award spousal support or spousal maintenance. To decide whether to award it or not, the court will consider several factors, including:

• length of the marriage
• how healthy you and your ex-spouse are
• you and your ex-spouse’s ability to earn your own income

VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) SELF-PETITION

If you are undocumented and married to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident who has abused you, you may be able to apply for lawful immigration status without relying on that person to help with your application. In some cases, your children may also be eligible for immigration benefits.

BATTERED SPOUSE WAIVER

Some people who receive permanent residency through marriage are first granted a two-year conditional green card during a period called “conditional permanent residency”. After those two years, they typically must file paperwork with their spouse to keep their permanent residency status.

If your spouse has subjected you to abuse or extreme cruelty, you may be able to apply for permanent residency on your own, without your spouse’s involvement.

U VISAS

If you have been the victim of certain crimes in the United States and have helped—or are willing to help—law enforcement investigate or prosecute the crime, you may qualify for a U Visa. A U Visa can provide a path to lawful permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship for you, your children under 21 years old, and certain other family members.

T VISAS

If you have experienced sex trafficking or labor trafficking, you may qualify for a T Visa. T Visas are available to survivors who are willing to assist law enforcement in investigating or prosecuting trafficking crimes. A T Visa can provide a path to lawful status in the United States and may allow you to apply for lawful status for your children under 21 years old and certain other family members.

For Her Justice’s family and divorce clients, we may be able to help with:

• Understanding your rights under the law
• Reviewing debts created through abuse
• Exploring options for challenging coerced debt
• Navigating legal processes related to coerced debt relief