Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: sole and joint custody

I think you can have trust & confidence in your lawyer's explanation: it does correctly state the "true" meaning of the concept 'joint custody' in New York State; and it is an accurate description of the nature, quality and 'quantity' that goes along with the _status_ of 'joint custody' in New York State.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't answer an inquiry such as your's that includes such a specific reference to the fact that you are represented by an attorney; in fact, I would probably urge the bbs administrator to disapprove posting the item.

However, it is an unfortunate thing that probably the majority of "folks" in NYState have such a wrong understanding of what the concept means that I can understand your "skepticism".

Nevertheless, I also think you probably owe your attorney an apology for having doubted him to such an extent that you would post this question to this bulletin board service.

Regards, etc.,

J. M. Hayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<

Re: sole and joint custody

On 2nd thought, I should add this:

Any grant {or agreement to grant or Order granting} 'joint custody' certainly COULD be designed to give more to the non-custodial parent.

So, for instance, custody arrangements that actually specify that a child shall spend 50% of the time with each parent is also commonly referred to as 'joint custody' {just to keep things confusing}.

BUT, unless an agreement, or Order, spells out & specifies something MORE, the explanation your lawyer provided is accurate.

Regards, etc.,

JMHayes

>>--> The foregoing amounts to musings and observations based on some years familiarity with the 'day-to-day' operation of the law with regard to the issues involved In The Most General sense; my remarks should not be thought of as "legal advice and counsel" in the formal sense of that phrase, since there is, in fact, no 'attorney / client' relationship existing between us. <-<<

Re: sole and joint custody

Your lawyer is generally correct. You can define in an agreement what rights, if any, your spouse would have.

Daniel Clement