Agreements made before or during the marriage
A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can settle property and support in advance, and New York generally enforces one that was signed and acknowledged with the required formalities. Challenges usually focus on how the agreement came about, such as whether there was disclosure or overreaching, as much as on what it says. Find the signed original and any financial disclosure exchanged with it. Where there is no written agreement, the way assets were titled and funded during the marriage often becomes the evidence that takes its place. Joint accounts, gifts between spouses, and money from family can all look different once a divorce begins.
Obligations that outlast the marriage
Some commitments made during a marriage survive the divorce. A spouse who signed a federal affidavit of support for an immigrant spouse generally remains responsible under it afterward, because divorce is not one of the events that ends that obligation. Joint debts remain owed to the lender even when a decree assigns them to one spouse, so the creditor can still pursue both. Religious marriages raise their own issues, and New York has provisions addressing barriers to remarriage within a faith. Look for these documents early so none of them surprises you later in the case.
Where the two meet in a first meeting
In a first conversation we go through how the marriage was structured financially, what was signed along the way, and which obligations will remain in place regardless of the divorce. We also look at whether a marriage that took place abroad is likely to be recognized in New York, which it usually is, and whether any earlier marriage of either spouse was properly ended. Those questions are rarely in dispute, but when they are, they change the whole case. Bring the marriage certificate, any agreements, deeds and loan papers, and immigration documents if they apply. Copies are fine to start with; originals can be located later.
