For 150 years, The Legal Aid Society has represented low-income New Yorkers. In this series, an experienced staff member addresses a question they are frequently asked by the people they serve.

How do I get divorced in New York State?
Divorces are handled in Supreme court. You cannot get a divorce in family court. Divorces are the only cases that divide marital property, and order final maintenance (alimony).

There are two main financial issues that are decided in a typical divorce:

Maintenance (in other states, it is called alimony)
Whether there should be money that one spouse pays to the other. The longer the marriage, the longer period of time maintenance can be ordered.

Equitable distribution
Whether the parties have assets (like savings accounts, retirement accounts, houses or other property, cars, businesses, cryptocurrency) and debts (like credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, car loans)they acquired during the marriage, and how those assets and debts should be divided.

If the parties have children, there are two additional issues:

Custody
Refers to both which parent the child/children primarily resides with, as well as which parent gets the right to make legal decisions for the children. This is only an issue in cases where parties have a child or children who are under 18.

Child support
Whether one parent should pay to the other for the support of the children. In New York state, a parent can be ordered to pay child support up until the children are 21. Parties generally cannot “waive” child support but can agree to pay a nominal amount of $25/month if one parent is below the poverty line. Also, one parent will be ordered to cover the child/children on their medical insurance.

There can be other issues, such as who gets to stay in the marital residence, and if there is domestic violence, does one party need an order of protection against the other party? For more information on divorce proceedings, read our full resource here.

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Laura Russell is the Citywide Director of The Legal Aid Society’s Family Law and Domestic Violence Project.