New York legal procedures when children are involved are quite complex. It is best for you and your spouse to agree on issues of property, custody, and visitation before you begin to prepare the mountain of forms. Consider summarizing your agreement in a memo that you and your spouse both sign and date. It may prevent arguments further into the procedure. There are 17 forms required to complete an uncontested divorce with children in New York. These forms can be downloaded as Microsoft Word documents or as .PDF files for printing. The state has also compiled a detailed instruction book that details how to fill out the forms field by field. As you complete the forms, one or both spouses can elect to be restored to an unmarried surname. This includes couples that elected to legally hyphenate their names when they married. A divorce decree will allow reissue of driver's licenses, social security cards, and voter registration. Nothing in the law prevents you from having help, either your spouse, someone else, or a paid preparer to complete the divorce package. Type or print the forms neatly in black ink. This enables the forms to be copied and scanned clearly. Even if you and your spouse are agreeing to a different amount, you must still file a completed worksheet to show what the payment would be under the law. The judge will only deviate from the presumptive amount on a showing that there will be adequate support for the children. You must also complete a Medical Support Order stating that the parents will enroll the children in employer health care when it is available. You and your spouse can work on the worksheet together, you can exchange it with each of you filling out your part, or you can estimate your spouse's income and expenses. Note, if you estimate it, your spouse can contest the amount and delay the divorce. It is better to cooperate. Most of the documents require your signature, some of them in front of a notary public. There are also places for your spouse to sign for an uncontested divorce. Even though you prepared the documents in black ink, sign them in blue to identify the original documents. Like a divorce with no children, the divorce with children can be expedited if the defendant is willing to waive service and accept the summons and complaint. To waive service, your spouse can sign the Defendant's Affidavit. If your spouse refuses to sign the affidavit, you will have to arrange for a process server to deliver the divorce package and file an Affidavit of Service. This will add approximately 40 days to the length of the divorce procedure. Once the forms are complete and signed, you can file them at the courthouse in the county where you live, even if another courthouse is closer. At this time you will pay the filing fees or file an application to have the filing fees waived. Take the originals and two copies. The court will keep the originals and there will be one file-stamped copy for each of you. Ask the court clerk if there is a requirement for you to appear. Depending on the county of filing, you may or may not have to be present in court for hearings on uncontested divorces. If divorce is granted by signature, you will receive the pre-filled postcard from your divorce package in the mail. At that time, you can pick up your divorce decree at the court clerk's office. Bring your identification and expect to pay around $10. If you have an order waiving your fees, bring a copy and your document fees will also be waived. Give a copy to your spouse. You can now proceed with changing your name on documents, rewriting leases, updating school records, and financial accounts.
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One-sentence summary -- Verify that the divorce is uncontested. Review the legal forms and instructions. Complete the child support worksheet. Sign and notarize the documents. Determine if service is needed before you file. File for an index number and calendar your divorce. Receive your final divorce decree.

Since you don't know exactly how your new dog will act when you get it home, it's best to remove all items that might be enticing for a dog to eat or destroy. For example, put all food and chemicals out of reach of a dog so that it doesn't eat them and get sick. Also put fragile items away until you know how your new dog will act. Set up a space that has a bed and food and water dishes. This space will be for the dog as it gets used to its new home, so it should be an area that can be blocked off so the dog is kept there. Keeping the dog in this small space will help you keep and eye on it and will reduce how overwhelmed the dog may get from getting to know a large new home immediately on arrival. It's a good idea for this area to have a hard, stain-resistant flooring, in case your new dog has an accident. Depending on your home, this could be a bathroom, a kitchen, or an extra room that doesn't have a lot of fragile or precious items in it. When you bring a new dog home, bring along something that has its smell on it, such as a blanket, toy, or other item it has used. This smell will help the dog feel comfortable and calm as it adjusts to its new life. That way, even after you give the dog a bath, it will still have something that smells familiar. Ask the person you are dealing with during your dog adoption for an item that you can take with you, even if it's just a small toy. If your dog doesn't have an item like this, that is fine. However, it's a nice thing if it does. When you bring a new dog home it's important to get its health assessed right away. Have a check up done within a week of having a new dog so that you can get any health conditions treated right away. If you don't know what veterinarian to go to, ask friends, family, and the people who you adopted the dog from for suggestions in your area. During your first veterinary visit you should set up a vaccination schedule for the future.
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One-sentence summary --
Make your home safe for a dog. Create a small temporary space that the dog can be kept in. Provide items with familiar smells. Set up a preliminary veterinary appointment.