Family Law

Partner Judith Poller, Co-Chair of Pryor Cashman’s Family Law Group, recently spoke with Forbes.com about the Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders, known as “ATROs,” which are used in divorce cases.

In the July 12, 2012 article “Divorcing Women: Here's What You Need to Know About ATROs” author Jeff Landers notes that in 2009, the New York State legislature passed a law that prohibits either spouse from hiding or liquidating assets once a divorce action has commenced. This new law was generally hailed as a benefit to the non-monied spouse (typically, but not always, the woman) because it provides her with a level of certainty and eliminates the time and money required to obtain an injunction from the courts. As Poller told Forbes.com:

 “Prior to the institution of the automatic orders in a matrimonial proceedings, the burden would be put on the party who feared that there might be transfer, dissipation or a change in the assets, to apply to the Court to seek a restraint. It was much more costly as a motion had to be made and there was always the lingering concern about whether such steps were necessary in any given matter.

 “The ATROs now shift the burden to the parties from the beginning of the proceedings to insure that a status quo remains in place. Notwithstanding these new orders, however, it is still necessary to continue to monitor the assets to insure that in fact nothing is changing.

 “Unfortunately people do not always abide by the law and it is often necessary to remind both parties that they are limited in what they can do during the proceedings. There is very little law on the consequences of a violation of the ATROs but the threat of bringing a contempt proceeding does have some teeth.”

 To read the article in Forbes.com, please click here.