New York Divorce & Family Law

By: David Siegel

The award of attorney fees and the amount to be paid by the parties is within the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent a clear showing of an abuse of discretion. An award of attorney fees in an Illinois divorce proceeding is ordinarily in the nature of support. Attorney fees may be awarded to a litigant only when they are expressly authorized by statute or by agreement of the parties, and a trial court is bound by the statutory grant. The allowance of attorney fees is within the sound discretion of the court. Under this section the legislature has provided the circuit court with the authority to award attorney fees incurred by either spouse in connection with proceedings under this Act.

A court may order the other spouse to pay a reasonable amount for attorney fees for services rendered in a proceeding under this Act, including the defense of appeals from post-judgment orders or petitions seeking relief from final judgments under the Act. This section authorizes an attorney in a pending dissolution proceeding to recover his earned fees from either his own client or the other party. The general rule is that a party seeking an award of attorney fees must show his own financial inability to pay and the financial ability of the other spouse; however, a party who must use judicial process to obtain compliance with the terms of a decree of dissolution is entitled to reasonable attorney fees, even absent a showing of his own ability to pay.

The Act contains no language limiting the trial court's authority to award attorney fees when presented with a proper fee petition. To justify an award of attorney fees, the party seeking relief must demonstrate financial inability to pay and the ability of the other spouse to do so. An award of attorney fees is justified where the spouse seeking relief demonstrates: (1) financial inability to pay, and (2) the ability of the other spouse to pay. Financial inability exists where payment would strip the person of the means of support and undermine her economic stability.

While the trial court should consider the property received by each party and their overall economic status before allocating responsibility for payment of attorney's fees, there is nothing in this section to prohibit the trial court from requiring the petition on fees to be filed and the hearing to be held prior to the disposition of the property and maintenance/child support issues. This section has been construed to authorize prospective fee awards in appropriate circumstances, but such awards should be made cautiously.

The allowance of attorney fees and costs in exercising its discretion, the court may consider, in addition to the abilities of the parties to pay, the questions at issue, the significance or importance of the subject matter, the degree of responsibility involved, the standing and skill of the person employed, and the time and labor involved. An award of attorney fees is not mandatory, but discretionary. Under New York divorce law, the responsibility to pay attorney fees is generally determined by the relative income of the parties. Although subsection (a) allows for an award of attorney fees made in connection with the defense of an appeal, it has no specific provision to negate the general rule that the filing of a notice of appeal deprives the trial court of further jurisdiction.

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New York City divorce and family law firm handling divorce and family law cases throughout New York City and the surrounding areas. Results driven law firm with experience and skill to handle the most difficult cases. Divorce Lawyers New York

Making The Universal Laws Work For You!

By: Adam Price

Have you ever had thoughts like you were heading down a dead end street, trying to reach your goals? When we attempt reach massive goals it can often become a sure fire way to burn out, if we try to do it all alone. But whatever situation you might find yourself in at the beginning, unexpected obstacles will creep in and it's how you overcome them and bounce back that ensures your ultimate success.

One very effective way to ensure your success in reaching your goals is by learning how to work in unison with the universal laws. By asking for help and believing that you will have the resources and help required, you'll effectively eliminate a lot of the pressure that you might feel if you carry the load all by yourself.

If you turn every endeavour into a partnership effort with the universal mind, you can't lose. By knowing how to interact with the universe by implementing the universal laws in your life, you'll begin to manifest resources, help, knowledge and anything else you may need that otherwise was out of reach. This will then enable you to relax and "know" that all is in a divine state of grace and as it should be, while leveraging your skills and taking action.

In the book by Jerry and Esther Hicks "Ask and It is Given," they describe an exercise called a "Placemat Process." This process was invented by Esther through necessity, they were travelling a lot for business and Esther found herself feeling overwhelmed by everything she needed to do on a daily basis.

She worked out a basic way to divide up her duties by asking the universe for help. While she was relaxing over coffee one day, she turned over a placemat and turned it over to expose the blank side. She then drew 2 columns on tha mat, one being "universe" and the other being her name."

She then listed everything she wanted to manifest from the universe in the column marked "universe," and in the "me" column she listed what she felt comfortable working on herself. According to Esther, this exercise was extremely effective. And the universe answered every point she wrote, plus her focus was freed up to take care of her action tasks. This is indeed a very powerful partnership!

You can now utilize this exercise yourself, by taking an A4 sheet of paper and write down your action tasks, and those which you feel that you need help from the universal intelligence. What tasks feel to large for you to handle? What parts of your life and work projects are confusing or stressful at present? And what others do you know you'll handle with no problem? Make sure you "hand write" these tasks on the paper, as the act of writing has magic in it, as opposed to typing. When you're done, fold the paper up and store it somewhere safe.

You can do this in other ways as well if you you're not in a situation to write your goals down, for example you could meditate on them, use self-talk and mental focus, or imagery to bring the change about. But the best way if you can find your way clear of doing it, is to hand write these points out.

Looking at the big picture, it's not the act of the listing exercise that counts. The point is to gain clarity in your life, know your limits and where you need help. Plus, it also helps you to bring "focus" back into your mind, as we often move so fast in life that we skim over those beautiful little things we take for granted. So by focussing on our goals on a daily basis, we'll positively move towards manifesting that very thought.

Done on a regular and disciplined basis, you'll beign to make shifts in your life, which will make living much easier for you. You'll begin to enjoy your work and life again, and you'll attract all sorts of synchronistic events and much needed resources into your life right when you need them. This may all be beyond your understanding, but just know that this process truly does work.

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Adam Price is a holistic success author on the laws of the universe for life & business. Learn how tap into the powerful laws of the universe in your life by visiting: www.Law-Of-Attraction-And-Success.com

John Murphy's Ten Laws Of Technical Trading

By: Martin Chandra


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Which way is the market moving? How far up or down will it go? And when will it go the other way? These are the basic concerns of the technical analyst. Behind the charts and graphs and mathematical formulas used to analyze market trends are some basic concepts that apply to most of the theories employed by today's technical analysts.

John Murphy, a leader in technical analysis of futures markets, has drawn upon his thirty years of experience in the field to develop ten basic laws of technical trading: rules that are designed to help explain the whole idea of technical trading for the beginner and to streamline the trading methodology for the more experienced practitioner. These precepts define the key tools of technical analysis and how to use them to identify buying and selling opportunities.

Mr. Murphy was the technical analyst for CNBC-TV for seven years on the popular show "Tech Talk" and has authored three best-selling books on the subject -- Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, Intermarket Technical Analysis and The Visual Investor.

His most recent book demonstrates the essential "visual" elements of technical analysis. The fundamentals of Mr. Murphy's approach to technical analysis illustrate that it is more important to determine where a market is going (up or down) rather than the why behind it.

The following are Mr. Murphy's ten most important rules of technical trading:

1. Map the Trends

Study long-term charts. Begin a chart analysis with monthly and weekly charts spanning several years. A larger scale "map of the market" provides more visibilityand a better long-term perspective on a market. Once the long-term has been established, then consult daily and intra-day charts. A short-term market view alone can often be deceptive. Even if you only trade the very short term, you will do better if you're trading in the same direction as the intermediate and longer term trends.

2. Spot the Trend and Go With It

Determine the trend and follow it. Market trends come in many sizes -- long-term, intermediate-term and short-term. First, determine which one you're going to trade and use the appropriate chart. Make sure you trade in the direction of that trend. Buy dips if the trend is up. Sell rallies if the trend is down. If you're trading the intermediate trend, use daily and weekly charts. If you're day trading, use daily and intra-day charts. But in each case, let the longer range chart determine the trend, and then use the shorter term chart for timing.

3. Find the Low and High of It

Find support and resistance levels. The best place to buy a market is near support levels. That support is usually a previous reaction low. The best place to sell a market is near resistance levels. Resistance is usually a previous peak.

After a resistance peak has been broken, it will usually provide support on subsequent pullbacks. In other words, the old "high" becomes the new "low." In the same way, when a support level has been broken, it will usually produce selling on subsequent rallies -- the old "low" can become the new "high."

4. Know How Far to Backtrack

Measure percentage retracements. Market corrections up or down usually retrace a significant portion of the previous trend. You can measure the corrections in an existing trend in simple percentages. A fifty percent retracement of a prior trend is most common. A minimum retracement is usually one-third of the prior trend. The maximum retracement is usually two-thirds. Fibonacci retracements of 38% and 62% are also worth watching. During a pullback in an uptrend, therefore, initial buy points are in the 33-38% retracement area.

5. Draw the Line

Draw trend lines. Trend lines are one of the simplest and most effective charting tools. All you need is a straight edge and two points on the chart. Up trend lines are drawn along two successive lows. Down trend lines are drawn along two successive peaks. Prices will often pull back to trend lines before resuming their trend.

The breaking of trend lines usually signals a change in trend. A valid trend line should be touched at least three times. The longer a trend line has been in effect, and the more times it has been tested, the more important it becomes.

6. Follow that Average

Follow moving averages. Moving averages provide objective buy and sell signals. They tell you if existing trend is still in motion and help confirm a trend change. Moving averages do not tell you in advance, however, that a trend change is imminent. A combination chart of two moving averages is the most popular way of finding trading signals. Some popular futures combinations are 4- and 9-day moving averages, 9- and 18-day, 5- and 20-day.

Signals are given when the shorter average line crosses the longer. Price crossings above and below a 40-day moving average also provide good trading signals. Since moving average chart lines are trend-following indicators, they work best in a trending market.

7. Learn the Turns

Track oscillators. Oscillators help identify overbought and oversold markets. While moving averages offer confirmation of a market trend change, oscillators often help warn us in advance that a market has rallied or fallen too far and will soon turn. Two of the most popular are the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Stochastics.

They both work on a scale of 0 to 100. With the RSI, readings over 70 are overbought while readings below 30 are oversold. The overbought and oversold values for Stochastics are 80 and 20. Most traders use 14-days or weeks for stochastics and either 9 or 14 days or weeks for RSI. Oscillator divergences often warn of market turns. These tools work best in a trading market range. Weekly signals can be used as filters on daily signals. Daily signals can be used as filters for intra-day charts.

8. Know the Warning Signs

Trade MACD. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator (developed by Gerald Appel) combines a moving average crossover system with the overbought/oversold elements of an oscillator. A buy signal occurs when the faster line crosses above the slower and both lines are below zero. A sell signal takes place when the faster line crosses below the slower from above the zero line.

Weekly signals take precedence over daily signals. An MACD histogram plots the difference between the two lines and gives even earlier warnings of trend changes. It's called a "histogram" because vertical bars are used to show the difference between the two lines on the chart.

9. Trend or Not a Trend

Use ADX. The Average Directional Movement Index (ADX) line helps determine whether a market is in a trending or a trading phase. It measures the degree of trend or direction in the market. A rising ADX line suggests the presence of a strong trend. A falling ADX line suggests the presence of a trading market and the absence of a trend.

A rising ADX line favors moving averages; a falling ADX favors oscillators. By plotting the direction of the ADX line, the trader is able to determine which trading style and which set of indicators are most suitable for the current market environment.

10. Know the Confirming Signs

Include volume and open interest. Volume and open interest are important confirming indicators in futures markets. Volume precedes price. It's important to ensure that heavier volume is taking place in the direction of the prevailing trend. In an uptrend, heavier volume should be seen on up days.

Rising open interest confirms that new money is supporting the prevailing trend. Declining open interest is often a warning that the trend is near completion. A solid price uptrend should be accompanied by rising volume and rising open interest.

Technical analysis is a skill that improves with experience and study. Always be a student and keep learning.

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Martin Chandra is a full-time investor. He has been researching investment strategies and make his own living. For more information please go to here.