Having a Nassau Family Lawyer that understands how the Court and the Law works will help guide you through the difficult process of a Family Law problem. That is why an experienced attorney from our firm has taken the time to write this brief introduction of Family Law and the Nassau Family Court system. Below we will cover the different types of cases the Nassau Family Court hears, the people who oversee the Court and the location of important offices within the Nassau County Family Courthouse.

Nassau Family Court covers Child Custody and Visitation (visitation can include other family members beyond parents such as grandparents), Paternity, Spousal and Child Support (including termination of child support through emancipation), Establishing Paternity, Orders of Protection, Abuse and Neglect in addition to juvenile (children) criminal issues (under the age of 16). In short, Family Law deals with all issues that stem from Family relationships. The only exception is this Court does not cover Divorce. To receive a Divorce in Nassau County, you need to proceed in Supreme Court.

The Nassau County Family Court is located at 1200 Old Country Road in Westbury, New York. Within the Nassau Family Court, there are a variety of people who preside over cases they include:  Judges, Support Magistrates /Referees /Judicial Hearing Officers (JHO's). Obviously a Judge is a lawyer but so are the Support Magistrates and Court Attorney/Referees /Judicial Hearing Officers (JHO's).

The Support Magistrate hears child support cases:

• Judges /Referees /Judicial Hearing Officers (JHO's) hear Custody and Visitation cases.
• Judges hear Orders of Protection, Abuse and Neglect issues and any case that can involve potential incarceration.

In some instances the parties will meet with a Court Attorney. A court attorney is a lawyer that works for the judge and tries to resolve cases with the parties outside of the court room.

In Nassau, for example in a custody case, a Court Attorney may take the Family Attorney for both the respondent and the petitioner into an office and try and mediate a settlement to avoid trial. In Custody cases there also may be a Law Guardian (a lawyer appointed by the Family Court to represent the child's interest) attending the meeting.

You will find the General Clerks Office along with Intake on the 1st floor of Family Court. The 2nd floor is where the Main waiting area is located room 200. The calendar is posted of all cases is posted outside of it. This is a centralized location where Nassau Family Lawyers usually meet their clients and wait to be called into Court.

We hope this has been an informative introduction to Nassau Family Court and each Family Lawyer in our office stands ready to help you. Whether it is Child Support, Child Custody, Visitation, Order of Protection, Abuse and Neglect, Paternity or Emancipation of a child the Law Office of Stephen Bilkis and Associates and its Attorneys and Of Counsel Lawyers can be there for you so call 1-800 NY-NY-LAW for help now.