Suffolk County Divorce Lawyer

Suffolk County stretches from the busy suburbs of Babylon and Huntington to the farms and beach towns of the East End, and the divorces we handle here are just as varied. One couple may be dividing a house in Smithtown and two pensions, while another is sorting out a seasonal business in the Hamptons and a boat in Port Jefferson. Whatever your situation looks like, the goal is the same: a fair result that lets you move forward.

Facing the end of a marriage can leave you wondering what your life will look like a year from now. You may be worried about whether you will be able to stay in your home, how you and your spouse will share time with the children, what will happen to the business or pension you have spent years building, and whether there will be enough money to support two households. We start by learning about your family, your finances, and what you want your future to look like.

Stephen Bilkis has spent nearly 30 years handling divorce, custody, support, and other matrimonial matters in New York. The attorneys at Stephen Bilkis & Associates collectively bring more than 300 years of legal experience, and combined, the firm has handled more than 10,000 divorce consultations and cases. Some of our Suffolk clients have already separated and agree on most issues, while others are facing a spouse who has not been open about the family’s income, and we build each plan around those differences.

That experience 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 has given him its Excellent rating. Justia has recognized him as a Top-Rated Lawyer, and he has also been recognized by Expertise.com and TopLawyer.com.

Uncontested and Contested Divorce in Suffolk County

Whether you and your spouse can still work through decisions together or every discussion ends in an argument, the direction your divorce takes will affect how long it lasts, how much it costs, and how much strain it places on your children. Suffolk County divorce attorney Stephen Bilkis handles both agreed and disputed divorces for clients across the county. We bring the same attention to detail to an agreed divorce as to a disputed one, because an agreement that leaves questions unanswered can lead to new conflict after the case is over.

Here is how the two paths differ:

• Uncontested divorce. If you and your spouse have settled everything from the house to the holiday schedule, we turn that understanding into a written agreement the court can approve, often without either of you appearing.
• Contested divorce. If any issue is still in dispute, Stephen Bilkis and his team gather the financial records, experts, and testimony needed to resolve it, whether through negotiation or at trial.

Most contested divorces in Suffolk County are resolved before trial, often after one or more conferences with the judge in Central Islip. Coming to those conferences fully prepared puts our clients in a better position to negotiate. It also helps avoid extra trips to court that cost time and money.

Mediation and Collaborative Divorce in Suffolk County

Many spouses want to reach their own agreement rather than spend months driving to court, paying mounting legal fees, and putting their children through a drawn-out fight. Stephen Bilkis & Associates helps clients choose between the two main out-of-court options and supports them through whichever one they pick. We make sure you understand your rights and what you may be giving up before you sign anything.

The two approaches work differently:

• Mediation. A neutral mediator helps you and your spouse negotiate, but because the mediator cannot give legal advice to either of you, we prepare you for each session and review the final agreement before it becomes binding.
• Collaborative divorce. Each spouse has their own attorney, and everyone agrees to resolve the case through a series of meetings instead of going to court.

Neither option is right for every couple. When there has been domestic violence, or when one spouse controls the family’s finances and will not share information, a more formal approach may better protect you. We will tell you honestly if that is the case.

Child Custody in Suffolk County

The fear of becoming a part-time parent, or of your children feeling torn between two homes, can make every other part of a divorce feel less important. Mothers and fathers throughout Suffolk County rely on Stephen Bilkis when custody and parenting time are disputed, whether in the divorce case or in Family Court, which has courthouses in both Central Islip and Riverhead. The firm works to develop a parenting arrangement that protects your relationship with your children and keeps their lives as stable as possible.

Many parents are not sure what “custody” actually covers. In New York, it has two parts:

• Legal custody. This is the right to make major decisions about a child’s education, health care, and religious upbringing.
• Physical custody. This refers to where the child lives most of the time, while the other parent usually has a parenting time schedule.

Courts decide custody based on the child’s best interests, looking at who has handled day-to-day care, the stability of each home, the child’s needs and wishes, and each parent’s support for the other’s relationship with the child. Because Suffolk County is so large, distance often matters too. For example, a father moves from the family home in Huntington to an apartment in Riverhead after the separation. Because weekday travel on the LIE would be hard on the children, we might propose longer weekends and summer stretches with him, with exchanges at a halfway point like Smith Haven Mall.

Calculating Child Support in Suffolk County

When money is already tight, the thought of a support order that does not match what you actually earn, or what your children actually need, can keep you up at night. Whether you will receive support or pay it, Stephen Bilkis & Associates makes sure the number is built on real income, not guesses. We start by collecting several years of financial records, because one year rarely tells the whole story.

New York sets basic child support with a formula. The court adds both parents’ incomes together, applies a percentage based on the number of children, and then splits that amount between the parents according to each one’s share of the income. Support generally continues until a child turns 21, which is older than in many states. Some costs are usually added on top of the basic amount:

• Childcare. Daycare or after-school care that a parent needs in order to work is typically shared.
• Health care. Health insurance premiums and medical bills that insurance does not cover are divided between the parents.
• Education. In some cases, the court may also order the parents to share school-related costs.

Much of Suffolk’s economy runs on the calendar, from landscaping and construction to fishing, farming, and the summer business on the East End. A parent who earns most of their income between Memorial Day and Labor Day may look like a low earner on a January pay stub. We compare tax returns, bank deposits in the busy months, and spending throughout the year, and we ask the court to base support on what the parent truly earns over a full year.

Dividing Property in a Suffolk County Divorce

Dividing a home, retirement savings, and other assets you spent years building can feel like dismantling your life piece by piece, and the choices made now can affect your financial security for decades. Stephen Bilkis & Associates handles property disputes involving family homes, waterfront and investment properties, savings and brokerage holdings, pensions and retirement plans, and boats and other recreational property. Our approach starts with a complete inventory of every asset and debt so that nothing is overlooked, undervalued, or moved without disclosure.

Under Domestic Relations Law § 236, marital property is divided through equitable distribution, which means a fair division that is not necessarily an equal one. Marital property generally includes anything acquired during the marriage, regardless of 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.

Boat owners from Port Jefferson to Montauk often wonder what happens to the boat. A boat bought during the marriage is generally treated like any other marital asset. One spouse may keep it while the other receives property of similar value, or it may be sold and the proceeds divided.

When a spouse may be hiding assets, Stephen Bilkis and his team review tax returns, bank and brokerage statements, and other financial records. When necessary, we use subpoenas and forensic accountants to trace and value them.

Dividing a Family Business in a Suffolk County Divorce

If you built a contracting company, a landscaping business, a North Fork farm stand, or a professional practice, the thought of your spouse claiming part of it can feel like losing something you created with your own hands. Stephen Bilkis helps business owners and the spouses of business owners in disputes over how a company should be valued and divided. We work with qualified valuation experts early in the case so that the value presented to the court is based on sound financial analysis.

The portion of a business built up during the marriage is generally subject to equitable distribution, even if only one spouse runs it. Valuing a small business often means reviewing tax returns, profit and loss statements, the owner’s pay, and personal expenses run through the company. Businesses that depend on cash or summer income can be especially difficult to value accurately.

Getting the value right the first time matters, because property division is usually final once the divorce judgment is entered and generally cannot be reopened later. In many cases, the business can stay with the spouse who runs it while the other spouse receives other assets or payments. Stephen Bilkis and his team look for solutions that protect the business while making sure the division is fair to both spouses.

Divorcing After a Long Marriage in Suffolk County

Ending a marriage after 25 or 30 years raises questions that younger couples rarely face, such as whether there will be enough to retire on and whether the house you raised your children in should be sold. Stephen Bilkis & Associates helps spouses who are divorcing later in life protect the retirement they have spent decades planning. We look at the divorce and the next 20 years together, rather than treating them as separate problems.

According to the New York State Department of Health, 2,876 divorces were granted in Suffolk County in 2022, and nearly a third of them ended marriages of 20 years or more. In these divorces, pensions and retirement plans are often the largest assets. Maintenance may also last longer because of the length of the marriage, and many couples decide to sell the family home and downsize rather than have one spouse carry it alone.

Spouses divorcing after many years also want to know whether they can collect Social Security based on a former spouse’s work record. If the marriage lasted at least 10 years, you are unmarried, and you are at least 62, you may be eligible, and receiving those benefits does not reduce what your former spouse receives. We review both spouses’ Social Security statements to see which benefit would be higher for you. If a marriage is close to the 10-year mark, we also look at whether the timing of the divorce could affect your eligibility. We then factor your expected Social Security into the maintenance and pension terms, so your retirement income plan holds together.

Spousal Maintenance in Suffolk County

A spouse who spent years raising children or managing the household may be anxious about paying the bills once the marriage ends, while the higher-earning spouse may worry about payments that make it hard to start a new life. The attorneys at Stephen Bilkis & Associates help spouses on both sides of maintenance disputes. We make sure the court has an accurate picture of each spouse’s income, expenses, and earning ability so that any award is fair.

Maintenance, formerly known as alimony, may 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 continue. When the guideline amount would be unjust, the court can adjust it, and we build the case for or against that adjustment with evidence like this:

• Your real household budget. We document what it actually costs to run your home, from the mortgage to car insurance to the children’s activities.
• Your work history. We show how long a spouse has been out of the workforce and what jobs are realistically available now.
• A plan for getting back to work. If a spouse needs retraining, such as classes at Suffolk County Community College, we show how long it will take and what it will cost.
• The life you had during the marriage. We present evidence of the family’s standard of living, which can matter when deciding how much support is fair.

How long maintenance lasts can matter as much as the amount. In Duval v. Duval, 144 A.D.3d 739 (2d Dept 2016), a case that came from Supreme Court in Suffolk County, the trial court awarded the wife maintenance for eight years or until the husband retired. The Appellate Division found that was too short, given the couple’s standard of living, their incomes, and her limited ability to support herself, and ordered maintenance to continue until her 65th birthday. We use cases like this to show the court why the duration of an award should match a spouse’s real path to independence.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements in Suffolk County

Learning that an agreement you signed years ago may decide what you keep can be unsettling, especially if you signed it in a hurry before the wedding. Stephen Bilkis & Associates reviews prenups and postnups for Suffolk County spouses who want to enforce them or challenge them. We start by checking how the agreement was signed and whether each spouse honestly disclosed their finances at the time.

In Suffolk County, these agreements often protect a second home in the Hamptons, a family business, or savings set aside for children from an earlier marriage. An agreement may be set aside when it was not properly signed and acknowledged, was obtained through fraud or duress, or is so one-sided that it is unconscionable. After a divorce, support, custody, and parenting time orders can generally be changed when circumstances have substantially changed.

Our firm also handles separation agreements, paternity proceedings, and enforcement actions when a former spouse does not follow the divorce judgment. If a former spouse stops paying support or ignores the parenting schedule, we ask the court to order compliance. When appropriate, we also ask the court to hold that spouse in contempt.

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

Contact the experienced divorce lawyers serving Suffolk County 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 pending, and what you hope to accomplish. We will review your situation and identify the next steps that may be available. Early action matters, because decisions made early in a divorce, such as moving out or changing how you handle joint finances, can affect the outcome of your case.

The attorneys who will work on your case are part of a firm whose founder’s work has been widely recognized. Stephen Bilkis has been selected to the New York Super Lawyers list, an honor limited to the top 5% of attorneys in the state. Avvo has given him an Excellent rating, Justia has recognized him as a Top-Rated Lawyer, and he has also been recognized by Expertise.com and TopLawyer.com.

Stephen Bilkis & Associates helps families across Suffolk County, from Babylon and Huntington to Port Jefferson and Montauk. The firm also works with clients throughout New York City and the rest of Long Island.