New York Family Law Attorney
Serving & Protecting NYC Families for Over 35 Years
At Lois M. Brenner, Esq., we handle all types of divorce and family law matters – from separation, divorce, and child custody to prenuptial agreements. Regardless of the unique legal challenges you face, you can trust that Lois and our legal team will handle your case with tremendous skill, unique psychological understanding and compassionate support.
Types of Family Law Matters
No-Fault Divorce: In a no-fault divorce, neither spouse blames the other for the breakdown of the marriage. Common bases for no-fault divorce include irreconcilable differences, irretrievable breakdown, and incompatibility. Another common basis for no-fault divorce is that the parties have lived separately pursuant to an agreement for a certain period of time.
Grounds for Divorce: Grounds for divorce will vary from state to state, and may be no-fault or fault. No-fault divorce is now available in all 50 states, but many states still maintain fault-based grounds as an additional option. Fault-based grounds in some states have included adultery, incarceration, cruelty, attempted murder, desertion, habitual drunkenness, drug use, insanity, impotency, and infection with a venereal disease.
Child Custody & Support: If parents cannot agree on child custody, the courts will make this decision based on the best interests of the child. Determining the child’s best interests involves many factors. All 50 states have also adopted child support guidelines, some of which use tables to indicate the amount of support for different levels of income. Most states will factor in the income of both parents.
Adoption: Through adoption, a legal parent-child relationship is created between individuals not biologically related. In most cases, adopted children are entitled to inherit on a basis equal to biological children under state laws of distribution upon the death of a parent.
Should I Hire a Family Lawyer in New York?
It is a good idea to consult with a lawyer and/or mediator about any major life event or change, whether you need assistance with a contested or uncontested divorce, adoption, child abuse matter, child support modification, child visitation or custody dispute, writing a will, health care proxy or elder law issue. Your legal rights could be at stake if you don’t. Please contact Lois M. Brenner, Esq. for the advice and guidance you need.
Call our office today at (646) 663-4546 to schedule a consultation with Lois M. Brenner, Esq.
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"Like at First Sight!" We consulted Lois on the best, most cost-effective way to get divorced. First, she extended a free in-office consultation to us. It was supposed to be one hour; it was an hour and a half. She was gracious, didn’t rush us, explained thoroughly all the ins and outs of going to court, and answered thoroughly lots of our questions. She also shared lots of great information on divorce mediation, which we really knew nothing about, and now we have decided mediation will be the best route for us. We knew in the first 10 minutes that we really liked and trusted her. We are starting our mediation process with her next week. We are really looking forward to working with her. We feel strongly she is the best person for us.- Jen
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I am a highly successful money manager and before meeting Lois Brenner, hiring a divorce attorney was a disaster. Two previous divorce attorneys really wasted my funds, and had no savvy when it came to asset and property distribution. Lois Brenner finally fixed the mess I was in. She and her team of financial experts, including attorney Matthew Ehrlich were able to prepare an asset and property distribution that was realistic, keeping in mind tax ramifications, and important distributions and allocations. They negotiated a thorough and financially sound divorce settlement. If you have a lot of assets, just any divorce attorney won’t do. You really need someone with a lot of knowledge. Lois Brenner and Matthew Ehrlich were really impressive. Thanks!!- Michael C.
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Thanks to Lois Brenner our wedding went well because we had our prenuptial agreement in place. We literally had her draft our prenuptial agreement 2 weeks before our wedding. She was thorough, made suggestions to include things we hadn’t even thought of, and got it done really quickly. Thanks Lois :)- Tanya S
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I had read about Lois’ unusual divorce method in one of her blog posts. It was refreshing to see someone was working with the psychological issues in divorce. My husband is bipolar and getting him to agree to a divorce and commit to the process was tough. When we met with Lois she really understood him. She immediately identified his mental health issues, and because she has a psych background, she was empathetic to his needs and was skillful at guiding him through her divorce mediation process. It took a while but she really got us to a point where we could actually discuss things without my husband blowing up. Her method is unique and it really helped in our situation. She actually recommended a great psychiatrist who changed my husband’s meds at her urging (she has a medical degree too), and my husband is coping much better. We can’t thank her enough for her compassion and advice! If you need a divorce attorney, especially if mental illness is a part of the fabric of your marriage, go see Lois! Thanks Lois - Lorna P.
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Lois Brenner is a remarkable attorney and compassionate advocate for dads. She guided me when I was confused and didn't know what to do to get shared custody of my daughter. She encouraged me to stay strong and to fight, and she negotiated a much better custody arrangement than my previous lawyer. What great attorney. Thank you Ms. Brenner- Christoff
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Best Divorce Lawyers in NYC!! I can’t say enough about Lois Brenner. She saved my life. I was really being abused by my husband. I wanted a divorce, but I was scared to leave. Hiring her provided me with a support system that helped me break free of a destructive marriage. She, along with her team of professionals, and her litigation colleague Matt really gave me the backbone to step up and out. My children are safe, I’m back at work, and we are no longer afraid. The ongoing legal and personal support made all of this possible. Working with Lois and Matt was a life-changing experience. Katie M.- Katie M.
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Thank you Ms. Brenner! It was a rough summer trying to get our parenting agreement together.but you really helped. My ex-husband and I fought all summer about what the children's schedule would be once school started. Your endless guidance and productive sessions with us made all the difference. You straightened us out with your sound, caring advice. We both feel better now. Our kids feel better too. Thank you, thank you. We hope you had a great summer. We will recommend you highly to anyone needing a family law attorney.- Brenda
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We were looking for a mediator to help us with visitation issues we were having due to the pandemic. With all the problems we were having getting the kids back and forth, and arguing about taking trains and buses during visitations, we called Lois Brenner to help us make some decisions. She really set us straight. She spent a lot of time with us so we could get a parenting agreement together to set some rules we could both agree to. I feel a lot better now. Thank you Ms. Brenner.- Dina
