A lot of people who need to handle certain legal issues may be confused by what kind of attorneys they should work with depending on the circumstances of these legal issues. The problem is, it can be a little tricky trying to figure out what circumstances justify which area of law; for people who are looking into family law, they may wonder whether it’s the right fit for their problems. In order to help you figure that out, we will discuss what exactly family law covers.
What does family law cover?
The basics of family law involves anything to do with issues within the family. This is an over-broad term, and fairly obvious, but it is mainly for settling issues within a family relationship. Common examples of this include divorce, emancipation, alimony, paternity, and adoption. What motivates you pursuing a family law attorney is going to vary from person to person, situation to situation. For example, divorces occur for a wide variety of reasons. A common reason is because one or both members of the couple fall out of love, while others divorce due to differences. Polarized political views, disagreements about what role each member should play in their relationship (such as raising children, working, housekeeping, money managing, etc.), are some examples of how people can find themselves having irreconcilable differences. Sometimes, the issues can be more severe than mere differences; for example, you may suffer some form of abuse from their partner, such as physical, emotional, psychological, and/or financial abuse, among others.
What is important to note is that just because a legal issue is to do with a family member does not mean that a family law attorney is right for it. For instance, in a domestic violence case, you should look into an attorney who specializes in that and would be handled in criminal court instead of a family court. You would still want to look into a family law attorney so that you may get divorced and end the relationship if deemed the best decision, which it usually is. For a family law attorney, their goal is mostly to help reduce potential harm to their clients during the process. For example, in a bitter divorce, getting it done with quickly and to your advantage helps not just your mental health, but also the mental health of the children who likely do not enjoy having to have this process occur. Ideally, avoiding a family court trial is the right approach, so long as whatever settlement negotiated is to your liking. Of course, this is not necessarily going to be possible, but good negotiation tactics help out with getting this done.
Even after a divorce is completed, there may be things that need to be renegotiated in the future. For example, if you are receiving alimony and/or child support from your ex-spouse, the circumstances of their life may change, and in turn, their ability to meet their obligations may also change. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people saw their incomes drop, or worse, completely lose their job, through no fault of their own. Having the lawyers and their clients meet up again to figure out what to do from here on is an important process.
In the event that you have to adopt out a child, legal representation in a family court is vitally important and necessary, although it is a process that does not have a strict template that works across state lines. A family Law attorney can consult with you about the exact laws that relate to this so that you are fully up to speed. Paternity law is also a tricky situation, one where a Family Law attorney truly helps alleviate a lot of the stress that would naturally be involved. After all, in cases of paternity, it is not at all uncommon for a person who is claimed to be the parent of your child to flat out deny this. This denial may be the product of dishonesty, or they may just as well legitimately believe that they are not the parent of that child. At this point, the two of you will engage in action to determine the parentage of the child. This is an important legal process in determining whether money is owed for child support, as proving that they are the parent of the child means that they are, in turn, supposed to be financially responsible for taking care of that child.
Children are a common factor in family law, and one that must be handled very delicately. After all, children will inevitably be more sensitive to the potential stresses of family law, especially ones that involve child custody disputes. It can grow especially worse if the dispute over potential child custody involves one or both parents being accused of behavior that would put that child at risk, regardless of whether the accusations have merit or not. These can be rather distressing for the best of adults, much less for children, and a good family law attorney will go to lengths to ensure that they handle the situation with care, although not every lawyer is going to have this tact. Ultimately, the goal of a child custody dispute is to make sure that the child walks away from it feeling the best, and safest, they possibly can be, especially with the circumstances surrounding them.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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