Divorce Attorney in Amherst, NY

Weinrieb Law is based in Williamsville, in the heart of Amherst. When you face a divorce, custody dispute, or support matter, we’re a short drive away, not a downtown commute. We represent residents across Amherst’s neighborhoods and appear regularly in Erie County courts on their behalf.

Many Amherst families have complex financial situations — dual incomes, real estate, retirement accounts, business interests. The stakes are real, and you need counsel with the depth and focus to match.

Family Law Services for Amherst Residents

Serving Amherst from Our Williamsville Office

Weinrieb Law's Williamsville office is located minutes from the heart of Amherst, giving Amherst clients convenient access to experienced local family law representation. Our office at 5555 Main Street, Suite 5, Williamsville, NY 14221 is easily accessible for clients throughout the region. We offer in-person consultations at our Williamsville office, as well as phone and video consultations for clients who prefer to meet remotely.

What to Expect in Erie County Courts

Erie County Family Court handles custody, visitation, child support, paternity, and family offense petitions. Erie County Supreme Court handles divorce proceedings, equitable distribution of marital property, and spousal maintenance. Amherst residents will file in Erie County courts, and navigating the procedural requirements of those courts benefits greatly from counsel with local experience.

Weinrieb Law appears regularly in Erie County Family Court and Erie County Supreme Court on behalf of clients from Amherst and throughout the surrounding area. We know the local procedural requirements, the expectations of the bench, and how to navigate the scheduling and compliance demands that can trip up families who try to manage these proceedings without experienced local counsel.

Why Choose Weinrieb Law for Your Amherst Divorce or Custody Case

Amherst families face the same range of family law challenges as families anywhere — divorce, custody disputes, support issues, and the need to protect assets and relationships during a difficult transition. Weinrieb Law was founded and is based in the Amherst/Williamsville community. We are genuinely local, and our attorneys understand the area, the courts, and the circumstances specific to families here.

Family law is all we do. Pieter G. Weinrieb has practiced exclusively in divorce and family law for over 25 years. Katrina M. Loss focuses her practice on child custody, family offense, child support, and paternity. Together, they cover the full spectrum of family law issues — with depth and focus that general-practice firms cannot match.

Litigation and mediation under one roof. Pieter is both a litigator and a 42-hour certified family and divorce mediator. If your situation can be resolved through mediation, that path is available and often faster and less costly than litigation. If it requires courtroom advocacy, we are prepared for that as well.

Direct attorney communication. At Weinrieb Law, you work with your attorney — not primarily with paralegals or support staff. We return calls and emails promptly and treat clients as partners in their own cases.

Common Family Law Issues in Amherst

Residents of Amherst and the surrounding area come to Weinrieb Law with the full range of divorce and family law matters:

• Contested and uncontested divorce — including property division, spousal maintenance, and parenting arrangements
• Child custody and visitation — initial custody determinations and modifications when circumstances change
• Child support — establishment, modification, and enforcement under the Child Support Standards Act
• Orders of protection — for individuals seeking protection and those defending against family offense petitions
• Post-divorce modifications — when a custody, support, or maintenance order needs to be changed
• Paternity — establishing legal parentage for unmarried parents
• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements — protecting assets before and during marriage

Start with a Conversation

We offer a free initial phone consultation for Amherst residents. No forms, no pressure — just a direct conversation about your situation and your options. Call (716) 759-4529 or schedule online at your convenience.

Where Amherst Family Law Cases Are Filed

Erie County Supreme Court at 25 Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo handles every Amherst divorce. Custody, child support, and family-offense matters that aren’t part of an active divorce file in Erie County Family Court at 1 Niagara Plaza, Buffalo. Both courts use mandatory NYSCEF e-filing for most matters. Amherst residents typically appear in person only for conferences, motions, or trial — uncontested divorces are often resolved entirely on paper. Phone for Supreme Court: (716) 845-9301; Family Court: (716) 845-7400.

From most points in Amherst — Snyder, Eggertsville, Williamsville, the Maple Road corridor, the I-990 corridor — the drive to either courthouse is 15–25 minutes via the 290 to the 33 or the 990 to the 33. Allow 30 minutes during morning rush, longer in winter weather.

Amherst School Districts in Custody Cases

Amherst is split among three school districts, and which district your child is in matters in custody cases — particularly when one parent considers moving within the town or to a neighboring suburb.

Williamsville Central School District covers most of central and eastern Amherst plus parts of Clarence and Cheektowaga. Williamsville schools are consistently ranked among the top in Western New York, which makes the district a frequent point of dispute when one parent wants to move outside its boundaries with a child.

Amherst Central School District covers the Snyder area and parts of Eggertsville. Sweet Home Central School District covers parts of northern and western Amherst. When parents disagree about which district a child should attend after a separation — especially during the contested-residency window — courts look at factors including continuity of education, peer stability, distance from each parent, and any individualized education plans (IEPs) in place.

Family Law Patterns Specific to Amherst

UB North Campus. The University at Buffalo’s North Campus sits on the Amherst/Clarence border and brings a substantial faculty, staff, and graduate-student population to the area. We see family law cases involving academic-year custody arrangements, sabbatical relocations, and the equitable-distribution treatment of TIAA retirement accounts, deferred compensation, and pending tenure-related compensation.

Higher-asset divorces. Amherst has one of the highest median household incomes in Western New York, and many cases involve dual professional incomes, business interests, executive compensation packages, and significant retirement assets. Pension valuation, deferred compensation analysis, and QDRO drafting come up routinely — these are areas where small errors in equitable distribution have lasting consequences. (See our QDRO Attorney page for more.)

Williamsville school district disputes. The school district line drives a meaningful share of relocation disputes. Parents who agree on most issues often disagree about whether a planned move keeps a child in the Williamsville schools. A signed parenting agreement that addresses school district as a specific factor avoids years of post-judgment motions.

Aging-parent and sandwich-generation cases. Amherst has a large population of established families with children still at home AND aging parents nearby. We routinely see divorces where one spouse has been a primary caregiver for an in-law, and the equitable-distribution analysis has to account for unpaid care, foregone income, and the family’s reliance on that caregiving going forward.

From Our Williamsville Office to Anywhere in Amherst

Our office at 5555 Main Street is in Williamsville — which is geographically inside the Town of Amherst. We’re a 5–15 minute drive from anywhere in Amherst proper. Most Amherst clients meet in person at our office, but we offer phone and video consultations as needed. We have evening and weekend availability for clients with workday conflicts.