Family Legal Answers

Before our marriage, my husband wanted a prenup and I agreed because we both had kids from prior marriages and wanted to keep our property separate for them if we divorced. In the prenup, I gave up all alimony because at the time, we earned about the same income, and I’ve always been able to support myself even though it’s sometimes been a struggle. After 17 years of marriage, we began having marital issues and divorce is a possibility. I recently learned that all during our marriage, and even before, my husband has been receiving substantial income from trust account left for him by his deceased grandfather. I knew nothing about it when I signed the prenup. It now doesn’t seem fair that if we divorce, he will have alot more to live on than me even though I gave up furthering my career to raise our joint kids. If he lied about his income at the time I signed the prenup, can it be declared invalid?

3 years into our marriage it’s clear that it isn’t going to work. I’m from Israel and my wife is from the US and our cultural and religious differences are just too great. My family is still in Israel and my father is very ill. I want to get back there as soon as possible and take care of him. Other than a car we bought together, my wife and I don’t have anything of value and I’m willing to just sign the car over to her. How quickly can I get divorced so that I can go back home to Israel and not have to come back to the U.S. for any divorce proceedings?

My daughter’s mother wants me to take a paternity test even though my daughter is 5 and I’ve been in her life since the day she was born. I’m pretty sure she’s mine but what if I take the test and she isn’t? Would I still have rights to visitation with her? I think my ex is doing this now because she recently asked me to pay more child support and I told her I couldn’t. I just can’t afford more right now. She’s mad and I think she’s trying to get back at me. Can I refuse to take the test on the basis that my daughter only knows me as her Dad and I don’t care what the test says, I am her father? If I have to take the test and she isn’t mine, can my ex still come after me for more child support?

After 8 years of marriage my husband and I want to get a trial separation. We are both Jewish and our families are strongly discouraging a divorce. We want to try counseling with our Rabbi and avoid a divorce, but that might not be possible. Can we have a separation agreement that states what each of us will pay and be responsible for in our home and continue to live together in separate bedrooms? Would such an agreement be valid? We live in Sacramento and we both travel a lot for work so often we aren’t sleeping in the same house anyway but there are times when we do.

Someone filed a false claim of child abuse against me. I proved my innocence in court and I now want to sue them for slandering me and hurting my reputation. I would also like to sue the Miami Department of Children and Families for pursuing the false claims and involving my family, friends and some co-workers. These allegations and investigation affected my standing at my job. Also, will the claims still show up on my record even though they were lies, and the Judge agreed with me?

I am helping a friend who is a Jewish immigrant from Jordan. He wants to divorce his wife due to her infidelity. He is concerned whether she will have any interest in property his family still owns in Jordan, because his name is also on that property and it was bought after he and the wife married. It’s very important to he and his family that they maintain that property without interference from wife, who has threatened to force the sale of it if my friend divorces her. Can a Jewish lawyer help him with this situation, and can a US judge even have authority over land located in Jordan?

I want to divorce my husband and I’d like to use a Jewish lawyer, if possible. My husband ran up a lot of credit card debt in my name during our marriage and I want to take out a life insurance policy on him to protect myself. If he were to die after we get divorced before this debt is paid off I would get stuck with all of it. Does he have to agree to me taking out insurance on him and if he does, can a court order him to do it based on the debt situation? Also, can he be ordered to make payments toward this debt directly?

My parental rights were terminated by Chicago Department of Children and Family Services when my son was 5. They said I was guilty of child abuse. I never hurt him physically, I was hooked on drugs and couldn’t take care of him, so they said it was child abuse neglect. His foster family adopted him against my wishes. He’s 14 now and found out where I live, I never moved away from him after the court case. He’s been contacting me and wants to see me, but says his adoptive family won’t let him. Is there anything I can do to legally see him or have court ordered visitation with him again? I’ve been clean for several years, have a job and have a daughter who is his half-sister. My son should be able to know his birth family.

There is a custody order in place giving my daughter’s father weekend overnight visits with her. She’s 2 years old. Based on some of her behaviors recently and some information I’ve recently gotten about my ex, I fear he may be sexually abusing her. I obviously don’t have direct proof, but what I do have is very concerning. I don’t want to send my daughter back to her father’s for this weekend visitation and I told him I wasn’t going to. He said if she is not at his house at 5:00 p.m. on Friday he is going to sue me for contempt of court and send the police to get my daughter and give her to him. Can I stop the visits for now while child abuse is investigated? Can he sue me for contempt and get the police involved if I have good reason to fear for my daughter’s safety with him?

I’m having trouble paying my regular child support because my work hours were cut due to Covid. I work for a computer company in Chicago and we can’t get supplies in from overseas due to the lockdowns and transportation delays. The income reduction is definitely not my fault or choice. My ex knows that I have a fair amount saved in the bank and in my retirement account. She wants me to pay the regular child support payments with that money. Says if I seek a reduction or stop paying the support she’ll let child support know I have these funds. Am I obligated to pay child support out of my savings and retirement? I thought the support amount was based on your income only.

My children’s mother remarried about 2 years ago and since that time, the situation between my kids and her new husband has gotten worse. He drinks a lot and is becoming more and more abusive toward them. It started with just emotional abuse – yelling and screaming at them – but he recently slapped my older son in the face and has pushed my younger son several times. The boys want out of that house and I’m worried they aren’t safe anymore. Is their stepfather’s abuse enough to prove full custody of my kids should be given to me? If it is, can I get child support from their mother? She doesn’t work but the stepfather does and earns a lot of money. I can take care of my boys but financially it would be difficult on me because I would need to hire someone to watch them after school until I get off work.

I was seeing several different guys around the time I got pregnant. I was using and wasn’t careful or taking care of myself. When I found out I was pregnant, I stopped all drugs and got some help, I did not want to hurt my baby. I’m getting my life together but I’m not ready to be a mom at this point. I want to let another good family adopt and raise my baby. When I talked to an adoption agency in Las Vegas where I live they said I needed to be able to identify the father so they could get his consent to the adoption. I honestly don’t know who the father is or even how to locate some of the guys I was involved with to test them for paternity. What if the father can’t be identified, can an adoption still go through?

I am interested in adopting a child and am told that you can make your interest known to the various adoption agencies by registering in one location. I’ve searched online but can’t find one place to register, just individual agencies that require you to sign up with each of them and go through a separate application for each. Is there actually one place I can register with and one application I can complete to put my name on the list for an infant that might be placed with any of these agencies? Also, are there any registries specific to Jewish people? I am Jewish and would be a good match if a Jewish mother is looking to place her baby with someone who will raise the child in the Jewish faith.

My fiancée and I are Orthodox and speak primarily Yiddish. We need a lawyer to draft a prenuptial agreement for us because my family owns several businesses in and around Crown Heights and they want to keep those businesses in our family should anything happen to my marriage. My fiancée is agreeable. How do I locate a Jewish Orthodox attorney with a good reputation who speaks Yiddish? Does my fiancée also need an attorney also or can we use the same one for purposes of the prenuptial agreement?

I’m 20 and I’m pregnant with my first child. My boyfriend and I are not married and we agree we are not ready to raise a baby at this point, we are both still in college and not living independently. We would like to have a good family adopt our child, but we want to make sure the baby is raised in the Jewish faith. We are both practicing Jews and this is very important to us. We are afraid if we go through an adoption agency, there will be no guarantee that the baby will go to a Jewish family, and we will have no way of knowing what happens. Is there any adoption group or process we can go through to ensure that our baby is raised in our faith? Is there some type of contract that could be signed with the adoptive parents? Our families are willing to help us hire a Jewish lawyer if they can help us with this.

I want to divorce my husband, he’s been physically and emotionally abusive to me for years. Our children are grown and there is nothing financially to fight over. I don’t want anything from him and my family will help support me and get me back on my feet once this marriage is over. However, my husband says he will never agree to a divorce. Under Jewish law, only he can give me the get and if he doesn’t, I have to stay married to him. Can a Jewish lawyer do something to require him to agree to an uncontested divorce, and if still won’t, how do I get out of this marriage? I fear for my safety from him at this point.

My grandkids are in foster care in a non jewish home. We are orthodox. Traditions are not being followed. I am their grandmother and need to get custody of them. I’ve approached child services who has guardianship of them and asked for custody but they say the kids are better where they are and if I want to pursue custody, I need a lawyer. How do I find a Jewish lawyer who is familiar with the local foster care agency? I have no criminal record and own my own house here in Houston. The kids could live here with me and see their real mom and dad under my supervision, if child services is worried about their safety.

My fiancée and I are to be married in 3 months and I think I need a prenup. I have a lot more assets than she does and I earn a lot more. I’ve made it clear to her that one of the primary reasons I’m willing to get married is because I want a son to carry on my family name. If we have a son, I’m willing to forget the prenup and share whatever I have with her if the marriage doesn’t work out, because I would want her, as my son’s mother, to be taken care of. Can we include something in the prenup that states that it is only valid until she gives birth to a boy and if she does, the prenup goes away at that point? Can I draft this type of agreement myself or must a lawyer do it?

My ex and I have 3 kids and they are all very gifted, both academically and athletically. They are enrolled in numerous school activities and sports, and we spend most days of the week running back and forth between their various activities and games. Also, I live in Fairax but my ex lives in Richmond, and only sees the kids on the weekends. He does, however, attend most of their events. Can he be required by court order to assist in transporting the kids to some of their activities, since he’s coming to Fairfax and attending them anyway? I can barely keep up getting all 3 to all of these events and it isn’t fair that I have to by myself. I’ve asked him to help out but he refuses.

My wife and I are separating and we are on good terms. I filed for an uncontested divorce, which she knows about and agrees with. I have the paperwork that I filed along with the summons that the court clerk told me had to be served on my wife. She said I was not allowed to serve the papers because I’m a party to the case, but it will cost me money to hire a private server. My wife says she will just stop by my apartment and pick up the papers and then go to court to file her response. Is that acceptable or will that somehow hold up the divorce?