Throughout this author’s years of practicing matrimonial law, I’ve often heard that New York does not allow for joint custody of children in divorce. Therefore, it would be futile to ask a New York court to award “joint custody” because no such thing exists in this state.
While it is true that New York has no statutory presumption that joint custody is per se in a child’s best interests, the fact is that New York’s decisional law is evolving to the point where blanket statements to the effect that “there’s no such thing as joint custody in New York” are shallow at best.
