Category: Blog

The Roles of a Family Lawyer

Family Lawyers are responsible for dealing with legal issues that arise between members of the same family. They represent clients in court for contentious cases concerning divorce and domestic violence, but also oversee family estates and offer advice on areas such as adoption and guardianship.

What is Family Law?

 Family law – sometimes known as matrimonial law – is a practice area concerning legal issues and domestic relations between family members. Much of family law concerns marital, civil and domestic partnerships, as well as the termination of these relationships including matters such as:

•     Divorce — Whether your divorce is relatively amicable or highly contested, it is important to assert your rights and safeguard your interests so you can move forward to a successful resolution.
•     Child custody and visitation — handle child custody and visitation arrangements with skill and sensitivity.
•     Property division — Under equitable distribution law, judges have wide latitude to determine what is fair when dividing marital property. In negotiations, mediation and litigation, review the relevant information exhaustively and press for a proper outcome.
•     Child support — Each parent has a responsibility to meet the financial needs of their children. During initial child support determinations, modification requests and enforcement actions, pursue a result that is supported by the facts.
•     Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements — Creating an enforceable prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can protect your assets and avert costly disputes if the marriage ends. Regardless of the particular property that’s at stake, a family lawyer advises clients on how to reach a consensus.
•     Alimony — a family lawyer advocates in cases where one spouse seeks support payments during the course of divorce proceedings and after the marriage is dissolved

Other types of family law include:

• Adoption
• Child care & protection
• Domestic violence
• Paternity
• Surrogacy
• Juvenile law

What does a Family Lawyer do?

 Advising a range of clients – including vulnerable individuals such as children and the elderly – on their options and rights, the duties of a family lawyer can vary greatly from case to case. However, the key responsibilities of a Family Lawyer usually include:

• Attempting to resolve complex claims and reach settlement outside of court through alternative dispute resolution.
• If no settlement can be reached, proceeding the case in court, representing your clients and carrying out all duties associated with Dispute Resolution or Litigation Lawyers.
• Drafting, negotiating and reviewing court documents such as pleadings or witness statements.
• Liaising with a variety of other professionals including psychologists, doctors, social workers and police officers.
• Researching historic cases that bear resemblance to your ongoing files.
• Examining and evaluating any evidence that may prove beneficial to your clients.
• Effectively and empathetically managing emotionally unpredictable situations.

Address Your Concerns Today

Each family law situation is unique, but whether your concerns can be resolved through effective communication or require litigation, always work to eliminate unnecessary delays and expense.

If you have any questions or need any help with a divorce or other family law matter, seek the guidance of seasoned professionals from a reputed law firm like The McKinney Law Group. Learn more about the ways a family lawyer can help you address your concerns.

Reasons Why You Should Hire a Divorce Lawyer

If you’re currently going through a divorce, know that you don’t have to navigate the legal aspects of this process on your own. An experienced Colorado family lawyer can walk you through each step of the divorce process in a client-focused way that is uniquely tailored to your needs. Here are some of the primary reasons why former clients of Zweig Law, PC – Attorneys at Law have chosen to work with our experienced legal team…

Serve as a Mediator

Couples who are going through a divorce often have a great deal of negative emotions towards each other, which can make it difficult to communicate about important issues effectively. This is where a divorce lawyer comes in. They can serve as a mediator and redirect any negative emotions that may interfere with the efficiency and effectiveness of the divorce negotiation process.

Reduce Unnecessary Stress

Even if you and your spouse are separating amicably, divorce is one of the most stressful things that you can go through. Because you don’t tend to make the best decisions when you’re stressed, a divorce lawyer can help guide you through the process and ensure that you’re making smart decisions. This can include:

• Determining what you’re entitled to
• Negotiating a settlement that’s most beneficial to you
• Ensuring that all income and assets are fully disclosed
• Constructing a parenting agreement that is in your child’s best interests 

Protect You From Your Spouse

If you believe that your spouse will retaliate against you or abuse you or your children, you should hire a divorce lawyer right away. A lawyer can act as an advocate while also protecting you from your spouse. If you believe that you or your family’s safety is in jeopardy, a divorce lawyer can give you peace of mind.

Expedite the Process

If you’re going through a divorce, chances are that you hope to resolve your situation as quickly as possible. The good news is that a divorce lawyer can help you achieve this. They can make sure the necessary documents are filed and maneuver the complex legal environment to better ensure a smooth and efficient process.

Determine if You’re Getting Your Fair Share

One of the most important parts of a divorce process involves dividing property and assets. Because different states have different laws for distributing property, it’s important to hire a divorce lawyer to determine if you’re getting the property that you’re legally entitled to under your state’s laws.

Going through a divorce is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be unnecessarily difficult. Connect with our experienced team today to learn more about our approach to representation and about how we can help you, moving forward.

What Should I Do After My Claim is Denied?

The consequences of sustaining an injury after an auto accident can be devastating, making life for victims exceedingly difficult. The financial expenses can be just as damaging to victims as the physical injuries. However, not every car accident claim gets approved. So what do you do when your claim gets denied? 

This issue is more common than people think. If you believe that your valid car accident claim was denied, talking to an auto accident lawyer like one from Ward & Ward Law Firm can give you legal assistance so that you can challenge the denial and keep your legal rights protected. 

Why was my claim denied?

An insurance company can deny your claim for several reasons. It can be denied for small errors on your application, such as your name misspellings or putting an incorrect address. Some of the most common reasons claims are denied include:

• The value of your claim exceeded your insurance coverage. If your claim results in $100,000 of medical expenses and your coverage only goes up to $75,000 the remaining balance will not be covered under insurance. 
• Your information is not accurate or detailed. You may not have put enough detailed information in your application, such as not reporting specific parts or enhancements to your vehicle. 
• You were breaking traffic laws. If you were driving with an expired license or driving drunk prior to the accident, it can result in your claim getting denied. 

If you find out that your claim was denied, here are the next steps that you should take: 

Learn your legal rights 

Become familiar with your rights as an accident victim. Having a basic understanding of your rights is recommended so that you can make informed choices. 

Request mediation

You may have the option of settling your dispute through mediation. An arbitrator will hear your case and obtain an estimate to determine the value of your total losses. 

Hire an experienced lawyer 

To improve your chances of challenging your claim successfully, hire a skilled lawyer who has helped clients with rejected claims. They will be able to offer you legal advice and represent you in court if necessary. 

If your auto accident claim was denied, don’t panic. There are options that you can look into, and you may still be able to recover the compensation you need. Schedule a consultation with an auto accident lawyer now to learn about your options.

Will Bankruptcy Affect My Child Support Payments?

As a bankruptcy lawyer from a law firm like Pioletti Pioletti & Nichols can explain, if you are responsible for paying child support and you’re also having trouble managing your finances, you might be considering filing for bankruptcy. 

Is Bankruptcy a Good Choice?

While bankruptcy can be a good option for some people, it’s important to remember that isn’t a perfect solution for everyone. Not only will it affect your credit score for years to come, but depending on the debts that you have, you might not even be able to get your debts discharged. Child support payments are a prime example of debts that cannot be discharged during any bankruptcy (even a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, where most debts can be discharged and erased). 

However, there are some cases where filing for bankruptcy can be a good option. Chapter 13 bankruptcy, for example, allows you to reorganize your debts and create a repayment plan — not to mention, it also stops harassment from debt collectors.  

No matter your situation, you’ll want to arrange a meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer before moving forward with a bankruptcy case. Each person’s case is unique and it’s important to know what to expect if you do choose to file for bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy and Child Support

Some parents file for bankruptcy thinking that their unpaid child support payments will be discharged along with all their other debts. This is not what happens. In fact, a child support lawyer would likely tell you that the opposite occurs: child support debts are considered “priority debts” and they are paid off before any other creditors are paid. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, this means that your assets may be seized and used to help repay outstanding child support bills. 

With Chapter 13 bankruptcy, this may mean that your repayment plan prioritizes paying off your child support bills before any other debts. Because a Chapter 13 repayment plan cannot last longer than five years, it also means that your monthly repayments may be quite high (depending on how long you have been delinquent in child support payments). Furthermore, you’ll be expected to continue paying current child support bills on top of making back payments in your payment plan. 

This can sound very overwhelming, but keep in mind that a bankruptcy court will assess your total financial situation and your ability to pay back your debts. If you are earning income on a regular basis, the court will look at your average monthly income to determine how much your payments will be. If you change jobs or lose your job and your income decreases, the court may be willing to reassess your payment plan. (Similarly, if you get a raise or a new job that pays more, the court may require you to make higher monthly payments.)

Taking Action Sooner Rather Than Later

Both a bankruptcy lawyer and child support lawyer would likely recommend that you take action as soon as possible if you’re having financial trouble. If you are having difficulties making child support payments on time, it’s better to seek an adjustment in your payments than to let these missed payments pile up. 

Types of divorce cases

Two Types Of Divorce Cases.

What Is Divorce?

Typically speaking, there are two kinds of divorce. One is called “divorce from bed and board,” which is readily available in some states. At its core, this enables couples to legally different, and is typically used by partners who wish to live their own lives but, for whatever reason, do not want to officially end their marital relationship. Divorce from bed and board is infrequently seen nowadays.

The more typical kind of divorce is an “outright divorce” which dissolves the marriage. A legal tidy break, so to speak. It’s this principle that this short article will focus on.

There are numerous approaches available to reach the objective of having a judge problem a judgment of absolute divorce. For the sake of benefit, it’s become standard practice in the law to identify each of these techniques as a separate kind of divorce, which is how we’ll explain them listed below.

Summary Divorce.

In lots of states, an expedited divorce treatment is readily available to couples who have not been married for very long (generally 5 years or less), don’t own much property, don’t have children, and do not have substantial joint financial obligations. Both partners need to agree to the divorce, and need to file court papers jointly.

A summary (sometimes called “streamlined”) divorce includes a lot less documents than other types of divorce– a couple of forms are typically all it takes. For this reason, summary divorces are easy to do without the help of a legal representative. You can normally get the types you need from your state court’s main website, or from the regional family court clerk’s office.

Uncontested Divorce.

In regards to handling the court procedure, the path that typically produces the least quantity of tension is an uncontested divorce. That’s one in which you and your spouse settle up-front all your differences on issues such as custody and visitation (parenting time), kid assistance, spousal support, and department of property. You’ll then integrate the terms of your settlement in a written “home settlement agreement” (often called a “separation agreement”).

Once your case is settled, you can declare divorce with the court. Courts almost invariably fast-track these types of cases, so you can get divorced in a fairly brief period of time. In some states, you do not even need to make a court appearance, however rather can submit an affidavit (sworn statement) with the notary.

There are several different aspects to this type of law, as a divorce lawyer like the ones at the law offices of Patterson Bray, can explain.

Contested Divorce and Custody Issues

In many contested divorces the contest involves issues of custody of children. Frequently these battles involve two parents who are both capable and competent care givers.  Typically both parents love their children.  Unfortunately, parents who are getting divorced have to learn how to share their children.  In most cases, if the parents were good at sharing and cooperating together they probably would not be getting divorced.

Each person has their own reason for fighting for custody.  For some people it is ego.  For some, it is a desire to hurt their spouse.  For others it is money.  Some people have a genuine belief that the children are better with them than with the spouse.

Some people fight over custody because child support is tied to the issue of custody.  If a parent doesn’t want to pay child support then he or she needs to obtain primary custody of the child.  If primary custody is not available then shared custody with each parent having parenting time for one half of the time available is a goal.  Even 50 / 50 custody can result in lower child support payments.  Of course, the parent with the lower income may fight for custody only to get child support payments or higher child support payments. 

Courts approach custody from the point of view of what is best for the child.  The name for this concept is “the best interests of the child standard.”  This simple statement gives a judge broad discretion in making a custody judgment. 

1.)  What was the custody arrangement when the couple was together?  Custody trials tend to have a lot of contradictory evidence.  Each spouse tends to exaggerate the other spouses flaws and minimize their own.   Start with the question of who was the primary custodial parent when the couple were together.  Most couples have an allocation of responsibilities within the marriage.  One spouse tends to be the primary wage earner and the other tends to be the primary housekeeper and child custodian.  When the wage earner testifies how dangerous the other spouse is and how that spouse poses a threat to the child, ask “How did you go to work each day leaving the children in the care of this person you claim is a threat?”  When day after day a parent is left alone with the children it is hard to believe that they are a danger to the children.

2) Which parent has the strongest bonds with the child?  While children may love both of their parents, they usually choose one parent over another for comfort and security.  When a child is injured, which parent do they seek for comfort and protection?  As children get older, which parent do they feel more comfortable talking to?  Children may indicate that they can’t imagine living separate from one parent but can easily imagine living separate from the other.

3) Each parent’s plan for taking care of the children.  In order to argue for custody, a parent must provide care for a child 24 hours a day, every day that the child is with the parent.  This means that the parent must have an appropriate physical setting.  Do both parents have separate bedrooms or is a parent proposing to share a bed with the child?  Where will the child be going to school?  How will the child get to school?  If a parent proposes 50 / 50 custody but lives an hour away from the other parent then the child will be subjected to unreasonable commuting to get to and from school.  How will the parent provide care to the child when working?  How will a parent care for a sick child that can’t go to school?  Will the child live in the same home as prior to the divorce and be able to continue to play with the same friends?  Judges may call this evidence “stability and continuity in the child’s life” but once can tend to think of it as having a better parenting plan.

4) For many judges, the ultimate measure of the best interests of the child is the success the child achieves in school.  This means that each parenting plan should be considered in terms of how it encourages success in school.  A judge should consider how each parent deals with the child’s homework and school preparation.   Are the parents consistent on bedtimes on school nights?  How have the parents interacted with teachers in the past?

5)  A court will also consider living arrangements and lifestyles of each parent andhow such circumstances may affect the child.  The mere fact that a parent intends to live with a new romantic partner should not determine child custody.  While some states consider such a living arrangement to be morally harmful to the child, most states don’t consider such moral evidence.  Instead, courts should consider how the new love interest treats the children.  Any live in partners will have to be involved in care giving for the children.  A Court should view cohabitation from the viewpoint of benefits and disadvantages to the way the children are treated.

6) Increasingly courts are considering the manner in which each parent interacts with the children about the other parent.  Parents should protect the child’s relationship with both parents.  No derogatory comments about the other parent.  No excessive questioning the child about activities with the other parent.   No blaming the spouse for the termination of the marriage.  Potential or actual parental alienation should be considered by a judge in a custody decision.   Most experts advocate that children need quality time with both parents.  There is a current trend to give both parents significant time with the child. 

Contested child custody cases can be very difficult.  If you can’t agree with your spouse about custody of your children you should consult a child custody lawyer for advice and assistance.

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