Harriet Newman Cohen

July 24, 2015 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen and Laura A. Tucker of Cohen Rabin Stine Schumann analyze Bill A-7645-2015's new maintenance guidelines through the lens of New York's heralded divorce law reforms enacted since the advent of the equitable distribution law in 1980 and illustrates the workings of the new legislation.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Laura A. Tucker

13 minute read

July 28, 2014 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James of Cohen Rabin Stine Schumann write: The 2010 legislative package that made New York the final state in the union to adopt "No Fault" divorce included amendments that made it easier to obtain modification of an existing child support order and required that all new child support orders advise the parties of their right to seek a modification on appropriate facts and the showing required to succeed.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James

15 minute read

July 29, 2013 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen, Bonnie Rabin and Tim James of Cohen Rabin Stine Schumann write that since 2009, the commencement of a matrimonial action has generated "automatic orders" designed to preserve the financial status quo. These orders offer substantial protections to the parties to a matrimonial action from the inception of the action. However, their long-term effectiveness will depend on the power and determination of the courts to enforce them.

By Harriet Newman Cohen, Bonnie Rabin and Tim James

20 minute read

July 30, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen, a member of Cohen Hennessey Bienstock & Rabin, and Gretchen Beall Schumann, an associate at the firm, write that long-term outcomes of the "redesigned" approaches to dealing with alienation in the context of a custody dispute remain a matter of conjecture. What is not a matter of conjecture, however, is that the problem of the alienated, estranged or aligned child poses a unique challenge for bench, bar and mental health professionals.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Gretchen Beall Schumann

14 minute read

July 28, 2008 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen, a member of Cohen Hennessey Bienstock & Rabin, and Tim James, an associate at the firm, write that the range of behavior found to constitute "egregious fault" has expanded in the past decade, as the courts - or, more precisely, those in the First and Second Departments - have asserted their equitable powers to take into account a spouse's outrageous behavior when resolving financial issues.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James

15 minute read

August 09, 2010 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James of Cohen Hennessey Bienstock & Rabin discuss the Equitable Distribution Law and the courts' justification for such differential treatment of certain forms of marital property.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James

16 minute read

July 11, 2002 | New York Law Journal

J OINT CUSTODY after divorce was a phenomenon of the 1980s and a product of the divorce revolution. 1 As described by the First Department in 1988, 2 with joint physical custody, children may live alternatively with both parents, while with joint legal custody, although the children actually live with only one parent, both parents continue to share the same rights and responsibilities as they did during the marriage to participate in the decisions affecting their children.Courts Try to Keep Warring Parents

By Harriet Newman Cohen

20 minute read

August 10, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen, a member in Cohen Hennessey Bienstock & Rabin, and Tim James, an associate at the firm, discuss the statutory and case law governing applications for downward modifications of established maintenance and child support and ask whether the law, as promulgated and defined through case law, is equal to the challenge of these economically troubled times.

By Harriet Newman Cohen and Tim James

17 minute read

August 01, 2011 | New York Law Journal

Harriet Newman Cohen, Bonnie E. Rabin and Tim James of Cohen Rabin Stine Schumann write: Although New York courts and executive branch officials repeatedly gave effect to same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions where they were legal before the legislature sanctioned the performance of such marriages in New York, the federal government and most states have enacted legislation denying recognition to same-sex marriages, greatly complicating the legal landscape for same-sex married couples.

By Harriet Newman Cohen, Bonnie E. Rabin and Tim James

19 minute read