As you may know, with COVID-19 the Courts and the Court’s Clerks have been essentially shut down and have been operating only sporadically. This means, that if you filed for divorce before the COVID-19 Pandemic, that your divorce will be delayed.

Each County has been handling their divorce cases slightly differently. Therefore, you need to know how your County is operating. For example, Suffolk County may be able to process your divorce papers faster than Nassau County. Yet, even in Suffolk County, it has been stated that already filed divorces may be delayed for two to four months. In Nassau County, it has been rumored that it may take longer than that.

If you have an attorney, the best thing to do is consult with your attorney. If you filed the papers by yourself, it may be difficult to get information from the court system.

David Badanes and the Badanes Law Office, P.C. have helped numerous clients in obtaining a divorce. If you are contemplating getting a divorce, call David Badanes at 631-239-1702.

COVID-19 and the Coronavirus has had multiple effects and one of those effects is that the Court system has been virtually shut down and is not taking any new divorce cases (or by the time you read this, it may finally start taking some new divorce cases).

Although, the Courts may be closed or only operating partially, there are many things you can still do to start the divorce process.

1. Hire an Attorney: If you haven’t hired an attorney, now is the time to do so.
2. Financial Documents: Get electronic or hard copies of your financial documents. You most likely will need a copy of your recent Tax Returns and last year’s W2 statement. In addition, you will need Bank statements, Retirement statements and Mortgage statements. Now is the time to get a copy of these documents as your attorney will need them.
3. Credit Cards: Make a list of your credit cards and also get at least one year of statements. Most credit card accounts have at least one year of statements available online.
4. Get Your Own bank account: You should open up your own bank account (both checking and savings). It is also a good idea, to open up the new bank account at a different bank than the one you have with your spouse.
5. Start Saving Money: Start putting money into the new bank account. If you are employed, then you may want to put your paycheck (or some of your paycheck) into the new bank account.
6. Get a new accountant or talk to the one you have. In many divorces, you may want to obtain a new accountant. The time to start looking for one is now. Your new accountant can help you with your tax returns and maybe give you good financial advice. If you want to keep your existing accountant, you may want to talk to him/her and see what financial advice they can give you.

All the above steps will help to facilitate your divorce — even if the Coronavirus will delay things.

If you are considering getting divorced, then you need an experienced attorney who can help you. David Badanes can be contacted at 631-239-1702.