Plain-English guides to divorce, prenuptial agreements, and family law in New York and New Jersey, written by attorney Joel Yacoob
The full 50-state picture: eight jurisdictions still permit new common-law marriages, Utah recognizes them by court petition, and eight more grandfather older unions — plus how New York treats the marriage you bring with you (Mott v. Duncan)...
No common-law marriage means no equitable distribution and no maintenance — but express agreements (Morone), constructive trusts (Sharp v. Kosmalski), partition, joint-account rules, and CSSA child support still protect unmarried partners...
New York enforces express agreements between partners but implies nothing from the relationship itself. What a cohabitation agreement should cover, the formalities that make it stick, and how it can convert into a prenup if you marry...
Above the 2026 cap the formula stops and advocacy starts: Cassano's record-articulation rule, the paragraph (f) factors, the actual-needs approach of Brim v. Combs, worked examples at $250K and $1.2M, and settlement recitals that hold up...
The maintenance formula reaches only the first $241,000 of payor income. Above it: fifteen statutory factors, the marital standard of living, the advisory duration schedule, post-2019 tax treatment, and buyout structures that settle these cases...
The step-by-step Beis Din timeline: 2-6 weeks for a cooperative Get, the 1-2 hour appearance, what causes delays (hazmanos, forum disputes, distance), sequencing with the civil divorce, and remarriage timing...
Remarrying after a divorce: the final judgment and the ptur, marriage license proof and timing rules, resuming a former name (DRL 240-a), maintenance ending on remarriage (DRL 248), prenup timing, and estate-plan updates...
When a parent learns in kollel: how courts impute income from earning capacity, kollel stipends, and money from parents and in-laws (Hickland; Rohme v. Burns), and how to settle these cases in compliance with the CSSA...
How a psak becomes an enforceable judgment: the arbitration agreement, what a beis din can decide (Avitzur, Hirsch) and cannot (Glauber — custody), confirming under CPLR 7510, and the narrow grounds to vacate...
Typical Beis Din fees for a Get, what the fee covers, who pays under Jewish law and in practice, what makes a Get more expensive, and how to build Get costs into your settlement...
The 31% and 35%+ CSSA percentages, the $193,000 income cap (2026), yeshiva tuition and add-ons, imputed income, and what courts do above the cap — built for families of 4, 5, or more...
How the Beth Din of America's halachic prenup makes Get-refusal financially untenable: the $150-per-day support obligation, binding Beis Din arbitration, and why New York courts enforce it...
What the halachic prenup covers (and what it doesn't), how to execute it correctly under New York law, pairing it with a civil financial prenup, and the postnup option for married couples...
How the Beis Din divorce process works in New York: the Get, the hazmana, what happens if a spouse refuses, and how the religious and civil divorces fit together...
A Jewish divorce in New York runs on two tracks: the civil judgment and the Get. How DRL 253, DRL 236(B), and Avitzur v. Avitzur connect the two — and how to sequence them...
Planning a New York uncontested divorce for the new year: residency, grounds, 2026 support caps, December 31 tax rules, the court process and fixed fees.
How New York divorce law treats a business: marital vs. separate property, appreciation, valuation dates, prenups and postnups, buyouts and automatic orders.
How divorce mediation works in New York: the mediator's neutral role, consulting lawyers, costs and timing, and turning a deal into an uncontested divorce.
New York divides marital property equitably, not necessarily equally. How that differs from community property, the 16 factors, and what stays separate.
New York's child support formula stops at $193,000 of combined parental income (2026). Above the cap, courts weigh the child's actual needs and lifestyle — Cassano v. Cassano; Brim v. Combs. What high...
How New York courts decide if a parent may move with a child: the Tropea factors, who bears the burden, why distance is not decisive, and how cases proceed.
Automatic orders bind both spouses once a New York divorce is filed and served. What they bar, what they allow, how to change them, and what violations risk.
When New York recognizes a divorce granted abroad: comity, whether both spouses took part, domicile, notice, religious divorces, and proving the decree.
New York abolished common-law marriage in 1933 — but it still recognizes valid common-law marriages formed in other states. Which states count in 2026, how to prove your marriage, and what it means for...
How New York decides whether a marriage performed abroad is valid: the place-of-ceremony rule, religious-only weddings, apostilles, and translations.
When is a New York marriage void or voidable? The annulment grounds in DRL §§ 5–7, who may sue and when, how annulment differs from divorce, and children.
In J.M. v. G.V., a Kings County court vacated a prenup’s maintenance waiver signed by a spouse without a lawyer. What the court held, and what it did not.
How New York’s two Get laws work: the DRL § 253 sworn statement, the 1992 barrier-to-remarriage factors in DRL § 236(B), and what courts cannot order.
How postnuptial agreements work in New York: the acknowledgment requirement, fiduciary scrutiny, maintenance, debt and estate terms, and our fixed fees.
CPLR 2106 lets anyone sign an affirmation instead of a notarized affidavit in New York cases. What changed in 2024 and 2025, and what still needs a notary.
How uncontested divorce works in New Jersey: one-year residency, no-fault grounds, settlement agreement and CIS, divorce on the papers, timing and privacy.
What a severability clause in a prenup can and cannot do under New York law, with recent appellate decisions, drafting tips, and how to amend an agreement.
When are trust assets divided in a New York divorce? Third-party vs. marital-funded trusts, joint accounts, spendthrift clauses and trust income for support.
New York’s spousal maintenance cap is $241,000 as of March 1, 2026. The formula with and without child support, duration, taxes and when orders can change.
New York’s child support income cap is $193,000 as of March 1, 2026. How the CSSA formula, deductions, add-ons, low-income rules and modifications work.
Divorcing after 50 in New York or New Jersey: pensions and QDROs, maintenance duration, Social Security on an ex's record, COBRA and beneficiary updates.
How New York divides cryptocurrency in divorce: marital vs. separate crypto, valuation dates, Statement of Net Worth disclosure, and tax basis on transfers.
New Jersey prenup law explained: the statement of assets, disclosure and counsel rules, how agreements are challenged, and what the 2013 amendment changed.
How New York prenups work: the mandatory acknowledgment, maintenance waivers, child support and custody limits, beth din clauses, timing, and our fixed fees.
How an uncontested divorce works in New York: residency and grounds, each court step, the DRL § 253 statement, court fees and Neuhaus & Yacoob’s fixed fees.