5 Things Everyone Should Know About Family Law

When most hear the term family law, they think of divorce only. Well, family law involves every matter related to family issues including adoption, paternity, legitimation, domestic partnerships, gestational surrogacy agreements.

The common areas of family law are divorce, child custody, support, visitation rights, and alimony. Following, we are going to describe all these aspects in brief details.

1. Divorce

This is a legal proceeding that lets a married couple dissolve their legal contract and move on like they were never married.

Contested Divorce is where the parties don’t have resolved their issues. Yes, the couple may need mediation to resolve their issues. They might need a trained mediator. If everything fails, then a jury decides the outcome.

Uncontested Divorce is one where the parties have resolved their issue by the time they file for divorce. It’s possible they might also file for a settlement agreement which will set forth resolutions like child custody, child support and visitation rights.

2. Child Custody and Visitation Rights

These are an important part of a divorce proceeding. These issues have a direct connection with paternity and legitimation cases. Courts cater to the best interests of children’s living standard when it comes to child custody and visitation rights.

The jury makes their decision based on living conditions, employment, income, physical health, mental health, and relationship with parents. The jury also considers the age, physical and mental health of the child along with their special needs. Lastly, they mind the parent’s ability to meet this requirement to deduce what’s in the child’s best interest. Consider hiring a child custody lawyer to make sure you are the most prepared you can be for court.

3. Child Support

Child Support issues are when common in divorce cases. Every state in the US has mandating laws related to the payment of child support by the non-custodial party to custodial party. Every state has set its law regarding how this payment should be made.

4. Alimony

In some cases, one party might seek alimony. Its called spousal support. Laws governing the award of alimony are different from state to state. The court has to consider the length of marriage, education and earning power of both spouses. Moreover, the court also considers a financial and non-financial contribution to the marriage of both parties along with their help.

It’s possible the court may order a spouse to pay alimony for a limited time. This is better known as temporary alimony. In some cases, the court orders permanent alimony. It is mostly rewarded to couples married for several years and if they have substantially lower income or earning capacity. The payment ends with remarriage or death of the recipient partner.

5. Costs and Timing

These matters are time-consuming and quite costly. Its because both parties don’t agree on how to handle several issues. Time is mostly spent on negotiating, filing papers and arguing. It is a lengthy process which might drag on for months or years.

So, it’s better If couples opt for a dissolution instead of divorce. This way, the couple can make decisions without the interference of the court.

We hope you enjoyed this article, and for our Canadian readers, you can refer to Burlington’s Best Family Lawyer to understand more about the nuances and considerations for family law in Canada.