Scales of Justice Jerold S. Slate - Attorney and Counselor at Law

Attorney and Counselor at Law

62 East Main Street
Wappingers Falls, New York 12590
Tel: (845) 471-4141

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Law Office of Jerold S. Slate

(845) 293-0273

Mon - Fri: 9 AM - 5 PM

Trust Our Experience with Divorce Law


Divorce law is one of the most critical and confusing areas of the legal system for clients to navigate. The Law Office of Jerold S. Slate has successfully obtained divorces for our clients, drafted and negotiated separation agreements and marital agreements involving property, finances, child custody, child support, spousal support, and other matrimonial issues. Jerold S. Slate has also successfully represented clients involved with obtaining court orders of protection and pursuing legal recourse in instances of domestic violence.


Consultation

Consult with Jerold Slate, Attorney & Counselor at Law

All situations involving marriage, divorce, matrimonial matters, child custody, and financial issues are different.  What assets are involved? What happens with your children? Who gets child support? We focus on helping you answer these questions and achieve a fair, reasonable, and equitable outcome. When that isn't possible, we fight for your rights. Let our family law team help when you face:

Clients' concerns: 
  • New York Divorce Residency Requirements
  • Child Custody Disputes and Visitation
  • High Net Worth Cases
  • Relocation of Custodial Parent
  • Modification Of Divorce Or Separation Agreement
  • Settling or Litigating a New York Divorce
  • Relief In An Order Of Protection
  • Applications to the Judge to Award You Pendente Lite Relief
  • Grandparents Rights When Parents Become Divorced
For more valuable information go to: www.slatelawfirm.com 

When you and your spouse cannot come to a voluntary agreement to resolve your marital, financial, and family matters, we will present your case in court to obtain a fair and just result for you and will protect your family and financial rights pursuant to law. 

If you want to base a divorce on the grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of the marriage" or need to obtain more information about the ground for a divorce you can call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to arrange for a personal and confidential consultation.

If you are contemplating a divorce or you expect that your spouse is contemplating divorce, you should consult with a lawyer before engaging in marital disputes and arguments with your spouse. As an experienced lawyer, Jerold Slate can inform you about the law, your legal rights, and help you resolve your legal concerns that relate particularly to your marital circumstances, children, financial concerns, and more.

As your lawyer, Jerold Slate will listen to you very carefully and patiently and provide you with sound practical advice as to how to proceed on all of the issues that concern you, your children, your financial situation, and more.


Settling or Litigating a New York Divorce

As an experienced New York attorney, Jerold Slate can provide you with good and well reasoned legal advice about settling or litigating your divorce.

Settling a New Your Divorce Case

When you and your spouse can agree on all of the terms and conditions of your divorce, you can settle your divorce without a trial. Each settlement and terms and conditions of a divorce settlement are discussed with you and the attorney for your spouse. Through skillful analysis, discussions, understanding of the law, your marital circumstances, parental relationship with children, your financial circumstances and your spouse's financial circumstances we seek to arrive at a fair, just, reasonable, and intelligent solution and seek to avoid much of the emotional aspects that are part of many divorces. We seek to reduce the expenses and fees to litigate a divorce case and conduct a trial. We seek to reduce the time, the court appearances and the distress and tension of a courtroom trial in a divorce case.

Consult With a Lawyer
Call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to schedule a personal and confidential consultation.

Litgating a New Your Divorce Case

When your divorce case cannot be settled because all terms and conditions cannot be agreed upon by you and your spouse, litigating all or part of your divorce case becomes essential. As an experienced New York lawyer, I will protect your legal rights from start to finish with respect to all aspects of your divorce. I have the experience to obtain information relevant to your divorce through legal procedures and to help effectively present your case and your concerns to the judge.


Uncontested New York Divorce

When you and your spouse are able to agree on all the terms and conditions of your divorce you can submit legal documents to the State Supreme Court and request that a judge issue a judgment of divorce dissolving your marriage as an uncontested divorce.

 If you are able to obtain an uncontested divorce you may be able to simplify the divorce process, save time and money and reduce the amount of attorney fees and other expenses. As your lawyer, Jerold Slate will help you reach an agreement to obtain an uncontested divorce.


Focus on Achieving Fair, Reasonable
and Equitable Results

I urge my clients and the attorney that is representing my client’s spouse to aim at achieving a fair, reasonable and equitable solution to disputed marital concerns. When spouses seek a New York divorce and cannot agree on such components as grounds for divorce, child custody, child visitation, child support, spousal support, maintenance, distribution of marital property, what assets are separate assets for each spouse as well as other factors, the New York divorce becomes contested. A contested divorce leads to more litigation, more time, increased attorney fees and expenses and much more distress and tension between the parties. If you and your spouse cannot reach an agreement as to the terms and conditions of a divorce, we will wage a strong, intelligent, legal fight in the appropriate New York Supreme Court or Family Court to obtain a just and equitable result.

Equitable Distribution of Marital Property

New York divorce law mandates that all marital property that is the subject of a New York divorce be distributed equitably between the parties. The New York law also allows the parties to agree and distribute their property in any manner that the parties can voluntarily agree. Your lawyer can advise you what is reasonably fair and equitable.

If you have concerns or a dispute about how to divide or distribute marital assets or property, you can call the Law Office of Jerold Slate at (845) 471-4141 to arrange a personal and confidential consultation.


Child Custody Disputes and Visitation

The custody of children is part of the divorce process in New York. Generally, when both parents can agree to the terms of child custody and visitation and can cooperate with each other about continuing to care for and raise their children, the children and their parents do better. However, it is not unusual for divorcing spouses to argue over whether they will agree to sole custody with one parent, joint custody with both parents having essentially equal decision making authority about their children’s major concerns, and the terms of visiting with the child, e.g., during the week, weekends, summertime and holidays. Often, lawyers and judges are needed to help resolve these matters.

Consult a Lawyer
As an experienced lawyer that has helped resolve many child custody disputes, Jerold Slate can help you resolve child custody and visitation disputes that you may incur. You can call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to arrange for a personal and confidential consultation. The legal principle for deciding custody and visitation disputes in New York is “what is in the best interests of the child.” Each family situation has its own unique circumstances.

If one parent has legal custody, then that parent would generally have sole decision-making authority concerning matters pertaining to the child’s education, medical concerns, religion, and lifestyle. These concerns can be modified to accommodate each family situation. Legal custody can be agreed upon by the parents or determined by a judge. When parents cannot agree on the custody of their children, that issue becomes contested and can turn a seemingly uncontested divorce into a tense, emotional contested divorce.

When you hire Jerold Slate as your lawyer, he will discuss the many factors that a judge will consider in making a child custody decision and help you decide what to do regarding a child custody agreement or a trial.

Consult With A Lawyer
As an experienced New York Family Court lawyer who has also served as a Law Guardian for children involving child custody disputes, Jerold S. Slate can help you reach an agreement with your spouse concerning child custody and visitation. If a child custody and visitation agreement cannot be reached, you can be assured and confident that having Jerold S. Slate as your lawyer you will have an experienced child custody lawyer to vigorously and intelligently pursue your legal rights and interests in the courtroom and at all hearings and trials.


Parental Visitation and
Grandparent Visitation

Frequently issues of parental visitation, parenting time, and grandparents visitation arise. Jerold Slate will discuss and help you resolve those issues.


High Net Worth Divorce Cases

If you or your spouse or both of you own, have title to or have a legal or equitable interest in substantial income, assets, property, licenses, pensions, deferred compensation, businesses, stocks, bonds, real estate, professional practices, trusts, your divorce may become more complex.

Because the division of assets and property in a New York divorce is based upon the principle of equitable distribution, you will be served well by hiring an attorney who understands the financial aspects of your individual and marital net worth.

Jerold Slate, attorney and counselor at law, is an honored graduate of New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School with a Juris Doctor degree and a graduate of Boston University School of Law with a Master of Laws degree. With Mr. Slate’s education background and over 40 years of experience as a lawyer and having served as an attorney in the Corporation Counsel’s Office of the City of Mount Vernon New York and as a New York State Assistant Attorney General you will feel confident that when you hire Jerold Slate as your lawyer he will help provide you with understanding and legal knowledge to obtain the right financial resolution for your divorce. High net worth divorces can be very complicated.

When it is necessary we may need to hire accountants, pension experts, business appraisers or real estate appraisers. We will become part of a team, focused on obtaining the right and best financial resolution for you either by negotiated settlement with your spouse or by trial before a judge in State Supreme Court.

Please be assured that, at the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate we will focus on resolving the financial aspects of your divorce, as well as all other aspects of your divorce, in an efficient and financially prudent manner. We hope that your spouse and the attorney for your spouse will have a similar focus.


Maintenance, Spousal Support and Alimony

The terms “maintenance,” “spousal support” and “alimony” are essentially the same terms that need to be considered as part of every New York divorce or separation of spouses. Divorcing or separating spouses can voluntarily agree to periodic payments of money to help support the spouse with lesser financial or earning capacity. If the parties cannot agree then a judge can order that one party pay the other party “spousal maintenance.”

There are many factors and guidelines that will determine how much, if any, maintenance will be paid and for how long. Mr. Slate knows the factors, the law, how to apply these factors to your situation and how to obtain a fair and equitable result.

Orders of Protection

If you are being subjected to violence, mental, physical or emotional abuse, harassment or threats of violence and abuse from a current or former spouse, family member or partner, or a person who is also the parent of your child, a Court Order of Protection can provide help for you and keep the offending party away from you.

When you hire Jerold Slate as your lawyer you will receive a personal and confidential consultation so that when you appear before the Family Court Judge you will be prepared to promptly explain why you need an Order of Protection without taking up the valuable time of the Family Court Judge. With Jerold Slate as your lawyer during the entire Family Court proceeding you can feel confident that you will be treated courteously, respectfully and that he has the experience and knowledge to help you obtain the Order of Protection that you need.
If you are falsely or wrongfully accused of behavior that would be the basis for an Order of Protection and you need a lawyer, you can call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to schedule a personal and confidential consultation.


Grandparents Rights When Parents Become Divorced

Having grandparents who have loved us and cared for us in so many ways is a wonderful blessing. The happiness and memories of good grandparents will live with us for all of our lives. Unfortunately, when a divorce occurs a child-grandparent relationship may also become severed.

If you are a grandparent who has established a wholesome, good, nurturing relationship with your grandson or granddaughter and want to continue that relationship even through your grandchildren’s parents become divorced, you should be able to continue that even if one or both parents of your grandchildren do not want you to continue your grandparent relationship with your grandson or granddaughter, a judge may very well issue a court order allowing you to visit and continue your established relationship with your grandson or granddaughter if it is in their best interest.

If you are the parent of children in circumstances where a grandparent wants to visit and have a grandparent-grandchild relationship but you believe that such a relationship is not in the best interest of your child you should have the right to determine whether your child’s grandparents should be allowed to establish or continue a child-grandparent relationship.

Consult With A Lawyer
If a dispute arises between grandparents and parents of a child our Family Courts are available to resolve these unfortunate disputes. If these grandparent-parent disputes arise and you need an experienced Family Court lawyer you can call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to arrange for a personal and confidential consultation.

Having the experience of serving as a Law Guardian for children in contested Family Court matters and having provided legal counsel in contested divorces, you will feel confident that when you hire Jerold Slate as your lawyer you will have a knowledgeable, experienced, dedicated lawyer who understands the dynamics of family law and who will protect, preserve and defend your legal rights and interests.


Child Support

When you are involved in a divorce or separation from your spouse and you have children under the age of 21, the non-custodial parent who is earning an income, has the current ability and capacity to earn an income or has sufficient financial resources to pay child support, has a legal obligation to pay child support. In New York the Supreme Court Judge or the Family Court Judge will determine the amount of child support for children under the age of 21, who are not emancipated, if the parents cannot agree on the amount of child support that should be paid by the non-custodial parent.

The New York Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) establishes a formula for determining the presumptively correct amount of child support to be paid by a non-custodial parent depending on the incomes of each spouse and the number of children. The CSSA also gives the judge discretion to modify the formula for determining a non-custodial parent’s child support obligation if the application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate after considering several factors relevant to the child’s needs and the parents’ circumstances.

The determination of the correct and fair amount of child support and any enforcement proceedings to obtain child support can become complicated. At times the non-custodial parent is unemployed and/or not seeking employment. At times the non- custodial parent is not revealing all of the income he or she earns. At times the non- custodial parent owns a business and is not revealing all of the business income that he or she earns. It is not unusual to confront problems in calculating and obtaining the correct and fair amount of child support.

Consult With a Lawyer
If you are the custodial parent or the non-custodial parent who is involved in a child support proceeding you can call the Law Office of Jerold S. Slate at (845) 471-4141 to schedule a personal and confidential consultation concerning your issues involving child support.