by Peter Mott, Esq.

 

As of April 9, 2020

Family Court Matters:

The Family Court is operating from Central Islip only and only on an emergency application basis, which are limited to:  (1) child protection matters which involve removal applications; and (2) emergency family offense petitions (for temporary orders of protection).

The Family Court is physically closed to litigants and attorneys, but, emergency applications will be heard virtually by the Court if the Court, in its discretion, qualifies the matter as an emergency.

 

Matrimonial / Divorce Matters: 

The Supreme Court, which hears all divorce-related cases, is closed.  The Court is not accepting any new filings.  However, the Court recently announced that they may soon start scheduling some virtual conferences with attorneys on existing cases, and the judges have been instructed to review their existing cases to start this process.  We do not yet know the criteria the judges will use when scheduling  “virtual” conferences on existing cases.

 

Surrogate Court Matters: 

The Surrogate’s Court, which hears all trust and estate related matters, is closed.  The Court is not accepting any new filings.