Having a Nassau County Family Lawyer who understands how the Courts work will be a great assistance in guiding you through the difficult process of a Family Law problem. That is why an experienced Nassau County Family Lawyer from our firm has taken the time to write this brief introduction of Family Law and the Nassau Family Court system. Below we will cover the different kinds of cases the Nassau Family Court hears, the people who oversee the Court, and the location of important offices within the Nassau County Family Courthouse. At the conclusion of this piece if you still have questions, we offer a free consultation to discuss your case with a Nassau County Family Lawyer from our office.

The Nassau County Family Court covers Child Custody and Visitation (visitation cases can also involve other members of the family beyond just the parents i.e. grandparents visitation rights), Paternity, Spousal and Child Support (including termination of child support through emancipation fathers rights), Establishing Paternity or Challenging a finding paternity, Guardianship Orders of Protection, Abuse and Neglect in addition to juvenile (children) criminal issues (under the age of 16). In short, Family Law deals with all issues that stem from Family relationships. The only exception is this Court does not cover Divorce. To receive a Divorce in Nassau County, you need to proceed in Supreme Court.

The address of the Nassau County Family Court in Westbury, NY, is 1200 Old Country Rd. Within the County’s Family Court, various people preside over the Family Court cases. These include: Judges, Support Magistrates /Referees /Judicial Hearing Officers (JHOs). Obviously, the Judge is a lawyer; the Support Magistrates and Court Attorneys, Referees, and JHOs are as well.

• The Support Magistrate hears child support cases.
• Judges /Referees /Judicial Hearing Officers (JHO's) hear Custody and Visitation cases.
• Judges hear Orders of Protection, Abuse and Neglect issues and any case that can involve potential incarceration.

In some instances, the parties involved in a case will meet with a Court Attorney. A court attorney is a lawyer that works for the judge and tries to resolve cases with the parties outside of the court room.

In Nassau County, for example, a Court Attorney working for the Nassau County Judge in a child custody matter can take both the petitioner’s and the respondent’s Nassau Family Attorneys along with the clients into a conference room and have a 4 way meeting in attempt to mediate a settlement. In Child Custody matters a Law Guardian (a Nassau County Family lawyer appointed by the Family Court Judge to represent and advocate for the best interest of the child will also be present. The child is excluded from this meeting.

You will find the General Clerks Office, along with Intake, on the 1st floor of Family Court. The 2nd floor is where the Main waiting area is located (room 200). The calendar is posted of all cases is posted outside of it. This is a centralized location where Nassau Family Lawyers usually meet their clients and wait to be called into Court.

We hope this has been an informative introduction to Nassau Family Court and each Nassau County Family Lawyer in our office stands ready to help you. Whether it is Child Support, Child Custody, Relocation, Visitation, Order of Protection, Abuse and Neglect, Paternity or Emancipation of a child the Law Office of Stephen Bilkis & Associates and a Nassau County Family Lawyer will be there for you, ready to offer a free initial consultation. Call 1-800 NY-NY-LAW for help now and arrange a meeting at any of our offices in the New York area—on Long Island, not just in Nassau County but additionally in Suffolk County. We’re also in Westchester County as well as in each of the boroughs in the city of New York.