Brooklyn Divorce Lawyer

In Brooklyn, one of the hardest questions in a divorce is often the simplest: who gets to stay? It might be a rent-stabilized apartment that neither spouse could ever replace, a brownstone that has tripled in value, or a co-op where the board has its own say. Where you will live after the divorce impacts everything else, from your children’s school to your monthly budget.

Stephen Bilkis has spent nearly 30 years helping New Yorkers through divorce, custody, support, and other matrimonial matters. The attorneys at Stephen Bilkis & Associates bring more than 300 years of legal experience between them, and the firm’s combined total of divorce consultations and cases now exceeds 10,000. Many of those families were in Brooklyn, facing the same housing and money questions you may be facing now.

That body of work has also earned Stephen Bilkis recognition from respected legal organizations. He has been named to the New York Super Lawyers list, a distinction held by only 5% of attorneys in the state, and Avvo rates him Excellent. Justia has recognized him as a Top-Rated Lawyer, and he has also been recognized by Expertise.com and TopLawyer.com.

If your marriage is ending, you may be lying awake wondering how often you will see your children, how the bills will get paid on one income, and whether your spouse is being honest about money. No two Brooklyn divorces look alike. Some couples have already moved into separate apartments and simply need their agreement put in writing, while others still share a home in Park Slope or Bay Ridge and disagree about the children, a family business, or rental income from a multi-family house. We start by learning how your family lives day to day, what you own and owe, and what you need your life to look like next.

When Does a Brooklyn Divorce Become Contested?

Some couples can still sit down and divide up their lives calmly, while others cannot get through a single phone call without a fight, and which group you fall into will impact how long your divorce takes and what it costs. Brooklyn divorce attorney Stephen Bilkis handles both agreed and disputed divorces for spouses across the borough. We give an uncontested case the same careful attention as a contested one, because an agreement that looks simple today can leave out issues that cause trouble years later.

A divorce is uncontested only if you and your spouse agree on everything, from property and support to custody and parenting time. If even one issue is open, the case is contested. Consider a couple in Park Slope who have settled custody, support, and their savings, but disagree about whether their son should stay at his current school or switch to one near the other parent’s new apartment in Sunset Park. That one question makes the divorce contested, so Stephen Bilkis and his team would gather the school records and each parent’s schedule and look for a solution, such as a transportation plan and options for after school activities. Most contested divorces still settle once the real dispute is identified and both sides see how a judge would likely rule.

Every Brooklyn divorce is handled by Kings County Supreme Court at 360 Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The court’s matrimonial office processes uncontested divorces, schedules preliminary conferences in contested cases, and tells the parties when a judgment is signed or rejected because of a defect that must be fixed. Most uncontested divorces are approved on the papers without either spouse appearing, so we make sure the paperwork is complete before it is filed to avoid a rejection that starts the clock over.

Because most people want their divorce behind them as soon as possible, timing is one of the first things clients want to know. An uncontested divorce can often be finalized within a few months after the papers are filed, while a contested divorce over the children or property can take a year or longer. One thing that can hold up either kind of case is a spouse who has moved out and cannot be found to receive the divorce papers. If diligent efforts to locate your spouse fail, we can ask the court for permission to serve the papers another way, such as by publication in a newspaper, so the case does not stall.

Rent-Stabilized Apartments in a Brooklyn Divorce

Losing a rent-stabilized apartment can mean leaving the only place you can afford to live in Brooklyn, which makes it one of the most stressful issues in many divorces here. Stephen Bilkis & Associates helps spouses figure out who can realistically keep the apartment and how to protect that right. We look at whose name is on the lease, how long each spouse has lived there, and where the children will live before recommending a plan.

A rent-stabilized lease is not usually treated as an asset with a dollar value to divide. Instead, the question is who will live there. Spouses can agree on who stays, and when they cannot, Domestic Relations Law § 234 allows the court to decide who keeps possession of the apartment, often giving weight to where the children will live.

The name on the lease matters. If the spouse named on the lease moves out for good, the other spouse may still be able to stay under the rent stabilization rules that protect family members who have lived in the apartment, generally for at least two years. Because those rules depend on specific dates and records, we gather proof of residence, such as tax returns, school records, and utility bills, so a client is not forced out of a home they have every right to keep.

Dividing Property in a Brooklyn Divorce

Dividing a home, savings, and retirement plans you spent years building together can feel like watching your life’s work split in half, especially when that home is a Brooklyn property that has grown dramatically in value. Stephen Bilkis handles property disputes involving brownstones, co-ops, condominiums, multi-family houses, retirement plans, closely held businesses, and investment portfolios. Our approach begins with a complete inventory of every asset and debt so that nothing is missed, undervalued, or quietly moved.

New York divides marital property through equitable distribution, meaning a fair division that is not always an equal one. Marital property generally includes anything either spouse acquired during the marriage, no matter whose name is on the title. Separate property, such as property owned before the marriage, inheritances, and certain gifts, generally stays with the spouse who owns it.

A recent Brooklyn case shows how much proof can matter. In Noel v. Noel, 250 A.D.3d 746 (2d Dept 2026), a couple married for more than 30 years disagreed about their home. The wife proved that part of it was her separate property, so the court treated only half of the home as marital, and each spouse received a 25% share of it. The decision does not explain how she proved her share. In cases like this, the reason is often that one spouse owned the home before the marriage, used an inheritance or a gift from family toward the purchase, or paid for part of it with money saved before the wedding. We gather the deeds, bank records, and other documents needed to trace where the money for a home came from, because that tracing can change the outcome.

For a multi-family house, rental income and expenses matter twice, because they impact both the property’s value and each spouse’s income for support. When a spouse may be hiding assets, at experienced Brooklyn divorce lawyer at Stephen Bilkis reviews tax returns, bank and brokerage statements, and business records. When necessary, we use subpoenas and forensic accountants to trace and value them.

Child Support in Brooklyn Divorce Cases

Whether you are worried about covering rent, groceries, and childcare in one of the most expensive places in the country, or about being ordered to pay more than your paycheck can handle, child support can feel like a threat to your family’s stability. The attorneys at Stephen Bilkis & Associates help Brooklyn parents on both sides of support disputes. We start with an accurate picture of what each parent actually earns, not just the numbers on a tax return.

New York parents are responsible for supporting their children until age 21. Under Domestic Relations Law § 240(1-b), basic child support is generally a percentage of the parents’ combined income up to a statutory cap, and the percentage depends on how many children there are:

• One child. Basic support is 17% of the parents’ combined income.
• Two children. Basic support is 25% of the parents’ combined income.
• Three children. Basic support is 29% of the parents’ combined income.
• Four children. Basic support is 31% of the parents’ combined income.
• Five or more children. Basic support is at least 35% of the parents’ combined income.

According to the New York State Department of Health, 4,019 divorces were granted in Brooklyn in 2022, and more than half ended marriages of less than 10 years. In those cases, children are often young, so support may need to last many years.

When income goes above the cap, the court cannot simply apply the percentage to every dollar without explaining why. In Matter of Pittman v. Williams, 127 A.D.3d 755 (2d Dept 2015), a Brooklyn case, the father earned about $441,000 a year, and support was set at 17% of his entire income. The Appellate Division sent the case back because no reasons were given for using the full income, and it also removed an order that he pay private school tuition, since there was no showing that private school was needed. We make sure the court has the evidence it needs, from the family’s lifestyle to the children’s schooling, to support the result our client is seeking.

The court can also divide costs such as childcare, health insurance, uncovered medical expenses, and sometimes education. Support is harder to calculate when a parent owns a business, works in the trades at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with heavy overtime in some months and little in others, or works less than they reasonably could. In those cases, we review pay records, bank deposits, and spending patterns and ask the court to base support on what the parent truly earns.

Child Custody and Parenting Time in a Brooklyn Divorce

The thought of your children living mostly in another home, or of missing school pickups and weekend games, can be the hardest part of a divorce to accept. Mothers and fathers across Brooklyn rely on Stephen Bilkis when custody and parenting time are disputed in Kings County Supreme Court or Kings County Family Court. The firm works toward a parenting plan that keeps you meaningfully involved and gives your children the stability they need.

Under Domestic Relations Law § 240(1)(a), custody in a divorce is decided based on the best interests of the child, and neither parent starts with an advantage. In weighing those interests, New York courts look at factors like these:

• Stability. The court asks which arrangement will give the child the most stable life.
• Each home. The court compares the home environment each parent can offer.
• Each parent’s track record. The court looks at how each parent has cared for the child in the past.
• Each parent’s fitness. The court considers each parent’s ability to guide the child, meet the child’s needs, and support the child’s relationship with the other parent.
• The child’s wishes. The court considers what the child wants, giving it more weight as the child gets older.

To learn about these factors, the court may appoint a forensic evaluator to interview the family or an attorney to speak for the child. Because what they report can carry a lot of weight, the experienced Brooklyn divorce lawyers at our firm prepare clients for each interview and challenge findings that are incomplete or one-sided.

A 2024 Brooklyn case shows how those factors play out. In Matter of Wright v. Burke (2d Dept 2024), a mother moved with her child from Brooklyn to Binghamton, and the Kings County Family Court gave her custody only if she moved back and enrolled the child in a Brooklyn school near the father. The Appellate Division removed those conditions because the child was doing well in school, had made friends, needed stability, and wanted to stay. It found that a generous parenting time schedule, with travel costs shared, could keep the father’s relationship with the child strong.

As that case shows, the right schedule depends on how each family actually lives. In Brooklyn, that often means planning around which parent can handle school drop-off before a subway commute into Manhattan, and how far apart the two homes are. We build a proposed schedule around those details so the court can see that it will work in practice.

Spousal Maintenance in Brooklyn

A spouse who put a career on hold to raise children or manage the household may be terrified about affording a Brooklyn apartment alone, while the spouse with the higher income may fear being locked into payments that leave little to live on. Stephen Bilkis & Associates stands up for spouses who need maintenance and spouses who may be asked to pay it. We make sure the court sees each spouse’s real income, expenses, and ability to earn, so that any award is fair and realistic.

Maintenance, which used to be called alimony, can be paid while the divorce is pending, after it is final, or both. New York uses a formula based on both spouses’ incomes to calculate a guideline amount, and the length of the marriage helps determine how long payments may last.

A judge can depart from the guidelines when the amount would be unjust. The court can consider age, health, earning capacity, and sacrifices one spouse made for the family, such as giving up a job to care for children or an aging parent. We prepare the evidence needed to argue for or against a different amount.

Mediation and Collaborative Divorce in Brooklyn

Many couples want to end their marriage privately, without months of court dates, mounting legal bills, or children caught in the middle of a public fight. Stephen Bilkis & Associates advises clients choosing between mediation and collaborative divorce and helps them decide whether either one makes sense. We support a cooperative process while making sure you understand your rights before you agree to anything.

• Mediation:  In mediation, a neutral mediator helps you and your spouse work through disagreements but cannot give legal advice to either of you, so we prepare you for each session and review the final agreement before you sign.
• Collaborative Divorce. In a collaborative divorce, each spouse has a lawyer, and everyone agrees to resolve the case through meetings rather than in court.

Neither approach is right for every family. They may not be appropriate when there has been domestic violence or when one spouse controls the money and the other has little information about it. We will tell you honestly if another approach would better protect you.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements in Brooklyn

A prenup or postnup can protect a brownstone in Fort Greene, a family business, or savings built before the marriage, but it only works if it holds up when the marriage ends. Enforcing and challenging these agreements is a regular part of the work at Stephen Bilkis & Associates. We look closely at how the agreement was negotiated and signed and what each spouse disclosed, because those details often decide whether it will stand.

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement may be set aside in some situations, such as when it was not properly signed and acknowledged, was the product of fraud or duress, or is unconscionable. We check the signing formalities first, since a defect there can undo an otherwise sound agreement. We then review whether the terms still work as both spouses intended.

Request a Free, No-Obligation Consultation with Stephen Bilkis & Associates

Contact the experienced divorce attorneys serving Brooklyn at Stephen Bilkis & Associates today for a free consultation at 800.696.9529. Tell us what is happening in your marriage, whether a court date or temporary order is already in place, and what you hope to accomplish. We will talk through your situation and identify the next steps that may be available. Early action matters, because decisions made in the first weeks of a divorce, from where you live to how you handle shared money, can impacct the outcome.

The lawyers you will work with are part of a firm whose founder has been recognized throughout his career. Stephen Bilkis has been selected to the New York Super Lawyers list, which honors the top 5% of attorneys in the state. He holds an Excellent rating from Avvo, has been named a Top-Rated Lawyer by Justia, and has also been recognized by Expertise.com and TopLawyer.com.

Stephen Bilkis & Associates helps families throughout Brooklyn, from Park Slope and Bay Ridge to Williamsburg and Sheepshead Bay. The firm also works with clients across the rest of New York City and the surrounding area.