An Annulment is a legal process by which a marriage can be declared null and void, as if the marriage never happened. It is not a divorce, as a divorce ends or terminates a legal status between two individuals. An annulment establishes that a marital status never existed. An annulment may be granted based on several causes including, incurably incapable of having sexual intercourse, marriage with persons under 18 years old, incurably insanity, among other causes.

An uncontested divorce is when there are no disagreements about the dissolution of the marriage, where both parties agree to all issues to be resolved leading to a divorce. Both parties must want the divorce and must agree on the grounds for the divorce. If children are involved, issues related to custody, visitation and child support as well as spousal maintenance and distribution of marital assets must be agreed to by the parties. Neither party will need to appear in court if all the issues have been resolved prior to the filing of the divorce complaint and the divorce will proceed as uncontested.

The adoption process in New York can be a complicated and lengthy process and will depend on whether it is a state sponsored adoption or a private adoption, domestic versus international adoption. However, there are some things that are true for most, if not all adoptions in New York, generally, the adoptive parent must be an adult, and if married, both spouses must adopt the child unless the parties are legally separated. For most adoptions the adoptive parent(s) must choose an adoption agency to work with, submit an adoption application to New York State, complete a home study, complete adoptive parent training, work with a case worker to find a child and visit the child. The cost will be dependent on whether the adoption is private, or state sponsored and whether the child has special needs.