When Agreement Isn't Possible, Experience at the Table Matters.

A New York divorce is contested whenever the spouses disagree on any material issue: custody, parenting time, equitable distribution of marital property, spousal maintenance, child support, attorney's fees, or even the ground for divorce itself. The "ground" can technically be no-fault under DRL § 170(7), and the case is still contested if the parties can't resolve the economic and custody issues.

In practice, a divorce becomes contested the moment one spouse files an Answer (rather than an Affidavit of Defendant) or once a Request for Judicial Intervention is filed. From that point forward the case proceeds through Preliminary Conference, discovery, Statements of Net Worth, motion practice, and eventually settlement or trial.

Most contested divorces in the New York Supreme Court matrimonial parts take between 9 and 18 months. The exact timeline depends on the complexity of the marital estate, whether custody is contested, the speed of discovery, the court's calendar in your county, and the pace at which the other side moves. Cases involving forensic business valuations or contested custody with forensic evaluations often run longer.

Importantly, New York does not impose a mandatory waiting period after filing — but the court will not grant a final judgment of divorce until every issue (custody, support, property, maintenance) is resolved. That is one of the most common reasons contested cases drag on.

Court filing fees alone for a contested divorce are approximately $430: $210 for the index number, $125 for the note of issue, and $95 for the Request for Judicial Intervention. Additional fees include $45 per motion, $40 – $75 for service of process, and $8 per certified copy of the judgment.

Attorney's fees vary widely. A reasonably straightforward contested divorce in New York typically runs $15,000 to $40,000 in total fees. High-asset cases involving business valuations, forensic accounting, hidden assets, or extended custody litigation can substantially exceed that range. We discuss fees openly during your free consultation and provide a written retainer agreement with no surprises.

No. Equitable distribution under DRL § 236(B) is not equal distribution. New York is one of the equitable distribution states, which means a Supreme Court judge divides marital property fairly — not necessarily evenly — based on more than a dozen statutory factors. These include the length of the marriage, each spouse's income and earning capacity, contributions to the marital estate, the needs of any children, and the loss of inheritance or pension rights.

Only marital property is divided. Separate property — assets owned before the marriage, inheritances and gifts from third parties, personal injury compensation, and property excluded by a valid prenuptial agreement — remains the owner's. Sorting marital from separate property is one of the most heavily litigated issues in any high-asset divorce.

New York has no presumption favoring either parent. Custody is decided under the "best interests of the child" standard, weighing factors that include each parent's ability to provide a stable home, the relationship between the child and each parent, work schedules, the child's preferences (especially as the child gets older), any history of domestic violence, and each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent.

Two separate determinations are made: legal custody (decision-making over education, health care, and religion) and physical custody (where the child primarily lives). Either can be sole or joint. In contested custody cases, the court will often appoint a separate attorney for the child and may order a forensic mental-health evaluation.

Under the Child Support Standards Act (DRL § 240), child support is calculated as a percentage of the combined parental income up to a statutory cap, currently $183,000. The percentages are 17% for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three children, 31% for four children, and at least 35% for five or more children.

The non-custodial parent pays their pro rata share. Above the cap, the court may continue applying the percentages, apply discretionary factors enumerated in the statute, or do some combination. Add-on expenses for unreimbursed health care, child care necessary for the custodial parent to work, and (in some cases) educational expenses are allocated separately. New York retirement accounts in payout status now count as income.

Possibly. Post-divorce maintenance in New York is calculated under the formula in DRL § 236(B)(6). The formula produces a guideline amount and the court then determines the duration based on the length of the marriage: approximately 15 – 30% of marriage length for marriages up to 15 years; 30 – 40% for marriages of 15 – 20 years; and 35 – 50% for marriages longer than 20 years.

The court can deviate from the guideline amount or duration based on 15 statutory factors including age and health, the standard of living during the marriage, the loss of health insurance, and the wasteful dissipation of marital assets. Temporary (pendente lite) maintenance during the pendency of the case is calculated under a separate, similar formula.

The marital residence — whether a Brooklyn brownstone, a Queens 1-family, a Manhattan condo, or a co-op anywhere in the city — is usually the single largest asset in the marriage and is treated as marital property even if title is in only one spouse's name. The most common outcomes are: one spouse buys out the other's equity (often via refinance), the home is sold and the proceeds divided, or one spouse remains for a defined period (often until the youngest child reaches a certain age) before sale.

Co-ops, condos, and 1 – 4 family homes each have their own valuation and transfer issues. Frank's 20+ years as a licensed New York real estate broker bring a market perspective to these negotiations that pure litigators often lack — including CEMA opportunities when a buyout requires a refinance.

Yes. In a pending divorce, either party can apply for an order of protection in either Supreme Court (the matrimonial part) or Family Court. Emergency ex parte temporary orders can issue the same day in serious cases. A full order of protection can direct a spouse to refrain from offensive contact, vacate the marital residence (exclusive occupancy), surrender firearms, and pay restitution up to $10,000 plus reasonable counsel fees.

Orders of protection in matrimonial cases interact with custody, exclusive occupancy of the home, and (when applicable) parallel criminal proceedings. We frequently coordinate Family Court Article 8 family offense petitions with Supreme Court divorce filings.

Under DRL § 230, at least one spouse must satisfy one of five residency tests before filing for divorce in New York. The most commonly used tests are: (1) the parties were married in New York, and one spouse has been a New York resident continuously for one year; (2) the parties lived in New York as spouses, and one spouse has been a resident continuously for one year; (3) the grounds occurred in New York, and one spouse has been a resident for one year; (4) both spouses are New York residents and the grounds occurred in New York; or (5) one spouse has been a New York resident continuously for at least two years.

Without satisfying one of these tests, the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction and the case will be dismissed. Newcomers to New York often must wait until they meet the two-year standalone option before filing here.

It happens. Every party in a contested New York divorce is required to file a Statement of Net Worth disclosing all income, assets, debts, and expenses, and discovery rules require production of tax returns, bank records, brokerage statements, retirement accounts, and business records. When the disclosures don't add up — unexplained cash, a sudden drop in business income, transfers to relatives, or a lifestyle that exceeds reported income — we work with forensic accountants and, when warranted, subpoena third parties.

New York courts have meaningful tools to address concealment: adverse inferences, sanctions, fee-shifting, awarding a greater share of equitable distribution, and in some cases tracing assets that were transferred or dissipated. When concealment is discovered, the consequences fall squarely on the spouse who attempted it.

Generally yes — but New York courts will set aside a prenup or postnup that was unconscionable when signed or executed under fraud, duress, or without meaningful financial disclosure. To be enforceable, an agreement must be in writing, signed by both parties, and acknowledged in the manner required for recording a deed (DRL § 236(B)(3)).

Contested divorces frequently include a threshold question about whether the agreement is enforceable at all. If you are concerned about an agreement signed years ago — or if you're being asked to sign one now — the time to involve an attorney is before the case is filed, not after.

We represent contested-divorce clients throughout New York City and Long Island: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, plus Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. We also handle matters in Westchester County.

Frank is based on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, Queens, but routinely appears in the matrimonial parts of every five-borough Supreme Court as well as Nassau and Suffolk Supreme Court. Neighborhoods we serve frequently include Astoria, Forest Hills, Long Island City, Glendale, Ridgewood, Park Slope, Bay Ridge, Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, the Upper East and West Sides, Midtown, the Financial District, Riverdale, the Rockaways, Garden City, Great Neck, Huntington, and Babylon.