Protecting your rights and your future.

Often, when there is a criminal investigation will seize money and property that they believe serves as evidence in the case. Once that property is seized, it can be quite difficult to get it back.
 Citizens often wonder what the investigator do with the money and possessions they seize. That is a very good question. Read on to find the answer.

What type of property can investigator seize?

Investigators can seize any type of property they believe serves as evidence in a criminal investigation. This includes money, cars, drugs, bank accounts, and even houses.
Money is often seized in drug-related criminal investigations. The money that is seized may have been used to pay for drugs or it may be part of the profit someone has made off the sale of the drugs.

What do investigators do with the money they seize?

After the money is seized, it is put in a secure location while the criminal investigation is underway. If it is found that the money was not used illegally, it is returned to its rightful owner. However, because investigations can drag on, it may take months or even years before this can happen.
If it is found that the money was used illegally, the government keeps it and splits it among the agencies involved in the bust. Some argue that this practice is outdated and can leave people victimized but the government states that they are very clear on what the money can be used for. The government is also audited to make sure the money is going where it should.
Drugs that are seized are destroyed and guns are disposed of unless they can be sold.
If you were involved in a criminal investigation and had items seized that should be returned to you, the process to get them back is not always easy. It helps to have a reliable lawyer on your side.
If you are looking for a lawyer in Russia, the team of Kadochnikova Kseniya is highly recommended.
Kseniya Kadochnikova  has years of experience in the field of criminal defense, she is familiar with the search and seizure laws involved in criminal investigations and she will do all  to make sure innocent people get their property returned to them.
If you are having trouble getting seized property returned to you, call Kadochnikova Kseniya team first, they will fight tirelessly to ensure justice is served.

A defendant almost always should hire an attorney to handle a criminal case. When so much is at stake, the knowledge and experience accumulated by a professional can make a huge difference. They may be able to recognize problems with the prosecution's case or available defenses that an ordinary person could not identify. The prosecution can bring substantial resources to pursuing a case, so retaining an attorney is an important way to level the playing field. Even if you plead guilty, they may be able to negotiate a better plea bargain because the prosecution likely will take your position more seriously if you have a lawyer.

You probably should hire an attorney as soon as possible to help you present your case to the prosecution. The attorney can call the prosecution’s attention to errors in the police report or other inaccurate or misunderstood facts that support the charges. Occasionally, a defense attorney may even contact the police or prosecution before charges are filed, while the case is still being investigated. This can stop the process at the earliest possible phase. Otherwise, they may seek a dismissal from a judge through a pre-trial motion, which might knock out vital evidence that the prosecution needs to prove the case. Sometimes simply doing nothing can solve the problem, since the prosecution may eventually realize the flaws in their case on their own. Nevertheless, proactively trying to get rid of the charges before trial is usually a better strategy, since the outcome of a trial is never guaranteed.

Family law includes all matters related to the rights of spouses, parents and children. I handle the following family law matters: divorce, division of property, legal separation, civcustody, nullity, parentage actions, child custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, dependency and neglect, drafting parenting plans, domestic violence, pre-marital and post-nuptial agreements, international family law. I handle complex property issues including division of businesses, stock options, and pensions.

It is impossible to estimate the cost of a divorce. The ultimate cost depends on many factors such as the complexity of the issues involved, the degree of cooperation between the parties and attorneys, whether the matter proceeds to trial or settles through negotiation.

No. The internet can be a good source of information but you should not rely on the internet for legal advice. Many of the divorce sites on the internet are not specific, although the information may be accurate for some places, it may not apply here.

Divorces and custody cases can be an emotional process. Sometimes the disagreements and arguments that come with these cases become hostile and are detrimental to the relationships of the associated parties. One way to try and avoid this type of conflict is through mediation. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement in a family court case, mediation is mandatory prior to trial.

Through mediation, the parties involved can discuss and negotiate their case with a neutral third party. Mediation is used to create a stable environment for structured debates in a private setting. With an impartial mediator, both parties are able to freely discuss any grievances without fear of the conversation spiraling out of control. The goal of mediation is to come to an amicable, fair resolution that better suits the parties’ specific situation.

For the actual mediation, expect it to take approximately three hours. Once there, you will meet with the mediator and go over the issues that are to be discussed. The issues will be discussed in order of priority, but it can be helpful to go over the easier conversations first before working your way into the deeper subjects. After the pertinent information has been relayed, there will be a negotiation and a resolution.

In a litigant’s ideal world, they would be able to take all the time they needed to interview lawyers, observe
them in court, read their briefs, interview their previous clients and make a decision. Unfortunately, that is
not realistic, and therefore a referral from someone the individual already trusts – like a business
professional, a corporate or estate planning attorney, accountant, wealth manager, or former divorced friend is a
good place to start.  These people may be able to speak to the legal acumen of the divorce attorney, as well as
their professionalism. Google and Yandex are not the way to go. One never knows who is writing the reviews and if
they were the former client, the former opposing party or anyone else. Remember – the individual is placing their
trust in someone they may have just met an hour prior. They are relying on the lawyer to meet their goals and
expectations, as well as obtain for them the best possible result in light of what the law provides.

The typical mediation involves a mediator, the parties and usually their attorneys.  The process is not binding on either party and typically involves several non-consecutive days of mediation.

There are several advantages to mediation versus litigation.  First, resolving a divorce case in mediation is a completely private process and therefore, all of the details are confidential.  In litigation, the details of your divorce are mostly public knowledge and occur in open Court and any paperwork filed with the Court is part of the public record.  Mediation also allows for more creative solutions in resolving your divorce case versus litigation where a Court is limited in its remedies. Mediation allows the litigants to control their own destiny and not put their lives in the hands of the Courts.  Typically, the duration of the mediation process is many months shorter than going to Court and litigating your divorce case. Since the process is typically much faster, there is much less emotional cost on the parties and their children and the financial cost is typically less than litigation as well.

There are, however, some disadvantages to mediation.  First of all, it takes two willing participants in the mediation process and typically, one spouse has superior knowledge of the parties’ financial circumstances so the other participant must trust at a certain level that the opposing party is providing the full, accurate and complete financial information.  Similarly, there is a risk that the financially superior spouse takes advantage of the other spouse resulting in an inequitable agreement. However, with attorneys involved in the mediation, this risk is mitigated significantly.

50/50 is not necessarily the standard relative to parenting time.  In some cases, parenting time is split equally but parties agree to, or Judges order, a myriad of different schedules.  The standard for determining a parenting schedule is the “best interests” of the child or children. In my experience, one of the most relevant considerations is a parent’s prior involvement in the caretaking of the child or children. While, it is not uncommon for a parent to be allocated more exclusive parenting time subsequent to a divorce than they had when the parties were married and residing together, the parties’ prior involvement is often used as a guideline.  Given that every family is different – children’s ages, activities and needs vary, as do parent’s work schedules and other obligations – every parenting schedule is different. Parents should try to work together to determine what will work best for their child or children- and not feel that the parent allocated the majority of the parenting time somehow “wins.” In reality, everyone wins if the parenting time schedule works for the entire family and provides for an amicable resolution of one of the most emotional – and important – aspects of a divorce.
 

Two sets of issues may arise regarding any cohabitation agreement or contract. The first is the issue of enforcement of the cohabitation agreement or contract. In order to ensure that there is a valid contract, our recommendation would be for each party to conduct a full and complete disclosure of their individual, separate assets prior to entering into the cohabitation agreement. Our experience demonstrates that such a full disclosure not only assists the parties in understanding their respective financial positions but also, if there were to be a dispute as to the validity of the contract later, full disclosure ensures that the contract is less likely to be set aside and (or) disregarded. The second set of potential issues relates to the terms of the agreement, the interpretation of those terms, and (or) the failure to include anticipated concerns that may not be addressed in the agreement.

Yes, the non-custodial parent has a say by participating in the action. However, the Court may order certain remedies over a parent’s objection. For example, the Court may order a grandparent to have visitation rights or decision making responsibilities in certain limited circumstances with or without a parent’s agreement. A grandparent must have standing pursuant to the statute to pursue the relief he or she is requesting, and he or she will need to establish the necessary elements of the statute. Therefore, there are certain requirements and burdens that the grandparent must meet.

There are a growing number of cases in which partners are having children outside of marriage. Cohabitation agreements are usually ineffective in dealing with children’s issues, custody, allocation of parental decision making, parenting time, visitation and child support. The Court retains jurisdiction at the time there is a dispute as to these issues regardless of what cohabitation agreements entail. In other words, the parents cannot waive the rights of future children. 

Nevertheless, the parties may set forth in the cohabitation agreement their intentions and desires regarding their children in the event that they are no longer partners. Ultimately, the Court allocates parenting time, parenting decision making and support of children in the children’s best interests pursuant to Statute.
 

Child support is meant to cover the basic necessities for a child. This includes keeping a roof over their head, food in the pantry and clothes on their back. More specifically, a Court will consider the following expenses when determining a child support amount: mortgage or rent, utilities, groceries and household expenses, transportation costs, including insurance and gas, clothing and grooming, entertainment, vacations, and any other expenses that are pertinent to maintain the lifestyle the child would have enjoyed if the parents had remained together. In addition to basic payments, several categories are given special consideration and require the contribution of one or both parties in addition to a basic child support obligation. These include, educational expenses, health insurance premiums, uncovered medical expenses, child-care, extracurricular expenses, and sometimes camp.

Child support is always modifiable, as is contribution to additional child-related expenses. In order to modify, a parent has to show that there has been a “substantial change in circumstances”. While this is a legal phrase of art, the “substantial change” is usually related to the reduction or increase of one of the parties’ incomes. However, other changes may also qualify, such as a sizable increase in health insurance premiums, or the child’s expenses increasing.

A change in parenting time can also trigger a modification of support and the income share model factors in parenting time. If a parenting time schedule is modified so that each parent has at least 146 overnights, child support is drastically effected because it would be calculated using the “shared care” model as opposed to just the income share model.

It should also be noted that the change in the statute is not a substantial change in circumstances and a Court will not modify an existing order because the law has changed. Anybody seeking a modification must show that something related to their income or expenses has caused a substantial change and is substantial enough to modify child support.

There are two different kinds of decision-making authority: sole and joint. As you could guess, sole decision-making authority means that one parent is making the decisions, and joint means that the parents are making the decisions together. Decision-making authority for each of the four major categories: education; religion, health care and extracurricular have to be allocated either to both parents together or to one parent individually. This is not to say that all four categories are a “package deal”. You may have a situation where both parents agree on all things except for education. The parties could agree or a Judge could order joint decision-making for religion, healthcare and extracurricular activities, and one parent can make decisions regarding education.
 

Parenting time is based upon the best interests of the child. In order to determine what is in the best interests of the child, the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act considers a multitude of factors, including:

• The wishes of the parents;
• The wishes of the child taking into consideration the child’s maturity and ability to express their independent preferences;
• Any prior agreement or conduct between the parties as it relates to caretaking functions;
• The relationship the child has with his (her) parents, siblings and other people that play a major role in the child’s life;
• Adjustments to home, school and community;
• The mental and physical health of all involved;
• The distance between the parent’s residences;
• The child’s needs;
• The willingness of the parent to facilitate a relationship between the child and the other parent;
• Any other factor that the Court finds to be relevant.

Each child and family is different and subject to its own circumstances and the Court can consider any other factor it deems relevant, there is no way to have an exhaustive list of all of the things a Judge may consider.
 

COVID-19 has caused important changes to the legal landscape in just a few months, and these changes are likely to affect clients for many months to come. Courts continue to operate at reduced capacity, and many issues that are important to individual clients are not being heard by courts at present. Eventually courts will hold evidentiary hearings and judges will once again decide issues on the merits of a case, but the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the income, finances, and earning capacity of divorcing spouses, and on court ordered support obligations remain to be seen.

In family cases, many parties are facing financial distress from the economic consequences of the pandemic. We expect to find that litigants in divorce cases and post-judgment alimony and child support modification cases may be underemployed or unemployed, and these situations will raise many fact-based questions about whether a person’s termination was unavoidable or whether he or she is intentionally depressing his or her income to avoid (or seek a downward modification of) an existing support order. In some instances, parties will look to our courts to make financial orders based on the other party’s earning capacity rather than their actual earnings. But earning capacity may look very different as COVID-19 changes the job market in the tri-state area, litigants are laid off or furloughed, and working remotely becomes the “new normal.”

What is Earning Capacity?

Pursuant to Connecticut law, the trial court in a dissolution of marriage action is required to consider the occupation of each of the parties. But the court must also consider both parties’ earning capacity, vocational skills, education and employability in determining whether to award alimony and if so, the amount and duration of those payments. The same factors are relevant to the distribution of property between divorcing spouses. When a court considers modifying alimony following a divorce, these factors are also often at issue.

A trial court in a dissolution of marriage case may, under appropriate circumstances, base financial awards upon the earning capacity of the parties, rather than on actual earned income. Although a court may consider a party’s earning capacity, it is only appropriate to consider this factor where there is evidence of that party’s previous earnings. To determine the earning capacity of a party that has been out of the work force for an extended period, the court must have evidence to support a specific earning capacity. In some cases, that evidence takes the form of prior earnings – tax returns, pay stubs, and other documentation. In other cases, one party may believe that the other has intentionally accepted a position where his or her earnings are below his or her maximum earning potential or has failed to make good faith efforts to obtain employment at an appropriate level. In these cases, it is common for parties to engage earning capacity experts to provide the court with specific findings about what a litigant might be expected to earn in the workforce. These experts evaluate a host of factors: the party’s educational background and training, his or her skill set, volunteer opportunities in which he or she may be involved, and available positions in the workforce, to try to “match” a party to various appropriate job opportunities.

Has COVID-19 Changed the Landscape of Earning Capacity?

The full impact of COVID-19 on family support orders is uncertain at this time. An earning capacity determination largely hinges upon the factual evidence presented. Case law can provide guidance in terms of how the court may use earning capacity in the determination of financial awards, but not in terms of a bright line rule of what type of evidence must be presented. Each case stands on its own.

As the COVID-19 crisis fades, certain traditions of the workplace have changed, and further changes may be forthcoming. While jobs in a litigant’s immediate geographical area may have been the most relevant for earning capacity inquiries in the past, the expansion of remote work possibilities may broaden the list of available jobs that unemployed litigants can be expected to consider. On the other hand, layoffs, downsizing, and employee furloughs may leave more litigants unemployed or underemployed than ever before. In these instances, a party who had a robust earning capacity (or earnings) several years ago may suddenly be in a more precarious financial situation. Your lawyer can carefully develop facts that may help to support an earning capacity argument in an appropriate situation, or help you to defend against such a finding if you are the spouse who finds yourself responding to an earning capacity allegation.

Although the legal standard for establishing earning capacity has not been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, our expectation is that our courts will be faced with new factual challenges in this area of the law for which litigants and their lawyers should be prepared.

Kseniya Kadochnikova is well-versed in this area of the law, and her attorneys have worked successfully to litigate and resolve earning capacity cases, including using experienced experts to prosecute and defend these cases. If you have questions about earning capacity or any other family law issue, please reach out to family law attorney Kseniya Kadochnikova for a discussion.
 

To obtain an American immigrant visa, you must familiarize yourself with the requirements for the applicant for various immigration programs and choose the most suitable one for yourself. If it is difficult to choose an immigration program on your own, then you should contact immigration lawyers who will help you not only find the best solution in your particular case, but also draw up all the necessary documents and accompany you throughout the entire process of preparing and submitting a petition.

Well, in a perfect world, people don’t get divorced—they live happily ever after. But despite best efforts and intentions, people change and grow apart and decide, for whatever reason, that it’s better for them no longer to be married. In a perfect (divorce) world, the couple is reasonable about expectations. They are kind to the person who—unlike in other lawsuits and litigations—they will be dealing with for the rest of their lives if they have kids. They make informed and considerate decisions about the next steps they’re going to take. That requires staying educated about the laws in their state—either by going online or meeting with professionals for advice—and then taking that information and talking about what would be ordered if a court were making decisions to negotiate a settlement that makes the most sense for them.
There has to be a lot of communication for the process to go smoothly. You need to extend honest information about finances, even when it’s uncomfortable or a surprise to your partner. The other communication that’s important is with yourself. Examining what’s really important to you.

Exactly which divorce forms you will need to file with the court for your Russian divorce will depend on whether you and your spouse have children or not (more on that later), as well as things like whether you own any property.
If you are using a divorce lawyer, they will help make sure you’re filing the appropriate forms with the court.
The benefit of working with an attorney on your Russian divorce is that the attorney will be familiar with family law and make sure your documents are in line with the court’s expectations.  
Your attorney can also give you legal advice on what to ask the court for in your divorce papers.
However, many couples these days opt to do an online divorce through a platform «Gosuslugi».

In a legal guardianship, the parental rights of both parents or the only living parent are terminated. A legal guardianship can also be established if both parents are dead. If the child is adopted, then the caregiver becomes the legal parent of the child. With adoption, the biological parents' rights are terminated. A parent’s rights are not taken away in a third-party custody proceeding. Even if someone gets third-party custody, parents may be allowed parenting time and may have to pay child support. Even if someone gets third-party custody, the child is still the parents' child for purposes of inheritance and social security.

Divorce is a difficult process, often exacerbated by how long it takes to bring a divorce to a conclusion. In fact, litigants, attorneys and others involved in the case have life changes and events that can snag the process. But if you would like to accelerate your divorce, these tips may help:

• Remove your case from the Court system. The Court process can be slow and you are one of hundreds of cases before a Judge, hire attorneys who have the experience that translates to helping you settle out of Court. If necessary, and if you have the means and your spouse agrees, then hire a mediator to help negotiate a settlement or an arbitrator to hear your case and issue a decision. 
• Choose  between your time or your money. Make a decision as to what is most important to you – your time or your money. If it is your time, then end the tough negotiations on lesser points, and make an offer to your spouse that may less favorable to you than you had originally wanted, but that will allow you to end the process and move on with your life. 
• Have a Prenuptial or Marital Agreement. This advice is not for someone divorcing who did not previously enter into a Prenuptial or Marital agreement with their spouse. However, be smart the second time around. Prenuptial (entered into before marriage) and postnuptial or marital (entered into during marriage) agreements can resolve many of the issues that you face in divorce. Although it can be uncomfortable to ask your (intended) spouse for such an agreement, it may be worth facing the awkward conversation to potentially avoid an expensive, drawn-out, emotionally taxing litigated divorce.
• Set the tone. The posture that you take matters. An aggressive posture is going to lead to a drawn-out process. Be strategic about how you approach the process so that the results are not only fair but as swift as possible.
• Leave Your Emotions at the door. Divorce is an emotional process. Take your time to work through your emotions. Work with a therapist if necessary. It is best to leave your emotions behind when negotiating your divorce settlement.