Boutique matrimonial representation across the Nassau County Supreme Court Matrimonial Center and Nassau Family Court, both in Mineola. Great Neck office — twenty minutes from the courthouse. Discreet counsel for complex marital estates.
Michel Law represents Nassau County residents in contested and uncontested divorce, equitable distribution, child custody, and post-judgment matters. The firm appears regularly in the Nassau Supreme Court Matrimonial Center and Nassau Family Court in Mineola.
The firm represents individuals, closely held business owners, and family-office principals in matrimonial matters where the marital estate includes real property, retirement accounts, trust interests, or ownership stakes requiring professional valuation.
The firm takes a limited number of matrimonial engagements each year. Every matter is handled directly by the managing attorney, with no case associate layered between the client and the work.
Nassau Supreme Court operates dedicated matrimonial parts — judges who hear only matrimonial calendars and apply the Matrimonial Center’s Part Rules consistently across cases. The Preliminary Conference Order entered at the first appearance sets early discovery deadlines under 22 NYCRR § 202.16 that out-of-county counsel frequently miss. Nassau judges enforce the deadlines.
Statements of Net Worth under § 202.16(b) must be exchanged with specific supporting documentation. Nassau parts routinely reject incomplete Statements and require a cured filing within a shortened window — a procedural trap that generates sanctions when counsel appears without having first reviewed the client’s returns, pay stubs, and brokerage statements front to back.
Automatic Orders under DRL § 236(B)(2)(b) attach the moment a Summons with Notice is filed. Nassau judges hold both parties strictly to the asset-preservation and insurance-continuation provisions. Prelitigation financial moves — a transfer, a refinance, a change in beneficiary designation — become evidence at trial, not footnotes.
The firm’s Great Neck office is twenty minutes from the Mineola courthouse. Court-ordered conferences, settlement meetings, and in-chambers appearances are handled in person, not by phone from Manhattan or further out.
First-chair representation in actively litigated matters — preliminary conference through trial. Dedicated attention from Fabrice K. Michel at every appearance.
Business interests requiring valuation, trust distributions, real property across New York and elsewhere, retirement accounts with QDRO treatment, and investment portfolios structured through LLCs or partnerships.
Legal and physical custody determinations under DRL § 240. Representation of custodial and non-custodial parents in contested first-instance custody and in modifications based on changed circumstances.
Negotiation and litigation of post-divorce maintenance under DRL § 236(B)(6), including departures from the statutory formula based on the parties’ lifestyle, earning capacity, and asset base.
Representation of parties seeking to enforce a signed prenuptial agreement at the time of divorce, and parties challenging agreements signed under duress or without independent counsel.
Modifications of maintenance and custody, enforcement of judgments of divorce, and appeals to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
Jurisdiction: All actions for divorce, separation, and annulment, together with custody and support determinations ancillary to matrimonial relief. Dedicated matrimonial parts under 22 NYCRR § 202.16.
Appearance note: Preliminary conferences typically scheduled 45–60 days after RJI filing. Compliance and settlement conferences held in person at Mineola.
Jurisdiction: Custody, visitation, child support, paternity, and family-offense proceedings where the parties are not married or no divorce action is pending. Not a divorce venue.
Appearance note: Nassau Family maintains a separate matrimonial-support referral docket for post-judgment enforcement of Supreme Court support orders.
Michel Law represents residents throughout Nassau County, with concentrations in the North Shore communities nearest the Great Neck office. The firm regularly handles matters for clients in:
Great Neck, Manhasset, Port Washington, Roslyn, Sands Point, Kings Point, Lake Success, Old Westbury, Brookville, Mill Neck, Oyster Bay, Locust Valley, Glen Cove.
Garden City, Mineola, Westbury, Hempstead, Uniondale, East Meadow, Levittown, Hicksville, Jericho, Syosset.
Rockville Centre, Lynbrook, Valley Stream, Baldwin, Freeport, Merrick, Bellmore, Massapequa, Seaford, Wantagh.
New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Elmont, Franklin Square, Williston Park, Albertson.
Consultations available by phone, by Microsoft Teams, or in person at the Great Neck office at 277 Northern Boulevard, Suite 100.
Divorce actions are filed in the Nassau County Supreme Court Matrimonial Center at 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola. Nassau Family Court, also in Mineola, handles custody, visitation, and child support when the parties are not married or when no divorce action is pending. Family Court does not have jurisdiction to grant a divorce.
Uncontested divorces in Nassau are typically resolved in three to six months from filing to the Judgment of Divorce, assuming all paperwork is in order. Contested matters — particularly those involving business valuation, custody disputes, or extensive discovery — commonly run eighteen months to three years. Nassau judges maintain active calendar control and will enforce scheduling orders once entered.
Nassau judges apply the maintenance guidelines under DRL § 236(B)(6), but routinely depart from the statutory formula when the parties’ income, lifestyle, or asset base warrants a different result. Deviations are explained on the record and preserved for appeal.
Under CPLR § 509 and DRL § 230, venue lies in the county where either spouse resides. If you live in Nassau and your spouse lives in Queens or Manhattan, Nassau is a proper venue. Your spouse may move to change venue under CPLR § 510, but the burden is theirs to show that another venue serves the convenience of material witnesses.
The Preliminary Conference is the first substantive appearance in a Nassau matrimonial case, typically scheduled 45–60 days after the Request for Judicial Intervention is filed. The court enters a Preliminary Conference Order setting the discovery schedule, identifying custody and property issues, and directing appointment of neutral experts where needed. Statements of Net Worth must be exchanged at or before this conference.
Any attorney admitted in New York may appear in Nassau Supreme Court. Local counsel offers practical advantages: familiarity with the Matrimonial Center Part Rules, in-person availability for court-ordered conferences at the Mineola courthouse, and prior appearances before the sitting judges. The firm’s Great Neck office is twenty minutes from the courthouse.
All inquiries are held in strict confidence.