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Pryor Cashman’s clients can be confident that they have dedicated, sensitive professionals working to protect their best interests in matrimonial and family law matters. Whatever the issue – negotiating the terms of a divorce settlement, litigating a custody dispute, enforcing support – our seasoned and savvy lawyers will always keep your goals and needs at the forefront. Backed by other talented lawyers at the firm, we provide a full spectrum of services related to your matrimonial or family law matter, including estate planning, tax counseling, real estate services, employee benefits, corporate and securities expertise, and criminal defense.

Pryor Cashman’s team of family law practitioners understand that managing the myriad financial and emotional issues our clients face requires not only intellect, sophistication and technical expertise, but a creative and compassionate touch. Skilled in negotiating and drafting agreements, and trained in alternative dispute resolution – including collaborative law and mediation – we excel at navigating the sometimes rocky path towards resolving family law matters. If a matter cannot be resolved through agreement, clients can rely on our decades of trial and appellate experience, knowing that even when litigation is necessary, we will always maintain our commitment to reach the best, most timely and cost-effective outcome.

Areas in which our Family Law Group concentrates include:

Separation and Divorce

Our family law attorneys skillfully guide clients through the maze of issues that arise when a marriage ends. Particularly attuned to matters affecting children, we also adeptly address the many financial concerns confronting clients going through a divorce or separation, including spousal maintenance, child support, and the division of marital assets. Pryor Cashman’s Family Law Group, backed by the talented business lawyers at our firm, can expertly handle such complex financial matters as valuing privately held businesses, partnerships, and professional practices; assessing the worth and distribution of stock options and real estate assets; and measuring the value of licenses, degrees, enhanced earning capacity and celebrity status.

Child Custody and Parenting Arrangements

The Group brings to the practice of family law an acute sensitivity to our clients’ concerns for their children. Experienced in the vast array of issues involving children, we know how to guide our clients through the emotional minefield those issues often present. We deftly handle custody disputes, even when they involve international issues; conflicts arising when a parent wishes to relocate; and visitation issues, including those involving not just parents, but also grandparents and other relatives. We are experts in matters involving special needs children. We also have a broad range of experience in paternity cases.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements, Same-Sex Cohabitation Agreements

In negotiating and drafting marital and cohabitation agreements, we bring the same financial sophistication and attention to detail that we bring to divorce and separation. And since we understand that such agreements are intended to enhance relationships, not disrupt them, we encourage open lines of communication and cooperative negotiation. Our goal, as always, is to protect our clients’ best interests, striving to conclude agreements wisely, expeditiously and with as little tension as possible. 

Enforcing Judgments and Modifying Agreements

Unfortunately, not every divorce brings an end to conflict between the parties. Sometimes, legal representation is needed to enforce support provisions of a divorce agreement, to address changes in circumstances, or to modify custody arrangements, visitation agreements or other aspects of a divorce, separation or other family law matter. Whatever issues may arise after a divorce agreement or Court order has been entered, our seasoned family law practitioners are well-equipped to resolve them.

Collaborative Law and Mediation

In recent years, clients have been considering alternative means for resolving matrimonial and family law issues, such as collaborative law and mediation. Trained in dispute resolution, collaborative law, and mediation, our attorneys can help clients decide whether those alternative approaches are right for them. For those who decide upon an alternative path, we will guide them to a comprehensive and successful conclusion. In addition, for couples who decide to mediate their conflicts, our Family Law Group includes mediators with far-reaching experience, who will work with both husband and wife to cooperatively resolve their divorce or other family law matter.   

Representative Work

Examples of some of our work in the area of family law include:

• Obtained a judicial decision declaring a prenuptial agreement void for fraud and then negotiated a settlement favorable to our client
• Mediated the “divorce” of a same-sex female couple with a teenage daughter, crafting a detailed agreement creating contractual rights and remedies where none existed at law
• Represented a well-known major league baseball player threatened with a paternity suit and negotiated a resolution which spared our client any exposure to adverse publicity
• In a divorce matter that began with criminal assault charges against one of the parties, we managed to diffuse a tense and acrimonious situation and assist the parties down a path that now enables the former husband and wife to successfully co-parent their young child
• In a complex and unusual child support case involving parents who conceived a child through artificial insemination – with both donor sperm and donor egg – we brokered a marital dissolution that ensured the child’s future well-being