Life is messy, and divorce can be even messier. Conflicts over children, property, and spousal support are common, and the wrong legal strategy can end up costing you a lot of money.
A qualified family law attorney can help you navigate the divorce process and protect your interests. But how do you choose the right one?
Family law
Whether you’re preparing for a divorce or adopting a child, family law concerns are personal. A good lawyer can help you navigate these sensitive issues with compassion and skill. They can also help you resolve conflicts through mediation and negotiation, avoiding costly litigation where possible.
Aside from Scheidungsanwalt Hattingen proceedings, family lawyers can assist with other legal matters such as child custody and support agreements. They can also advise clients on prenuptial agreements and paternity cases. Paternity cases typically involve mothers seeking child support payments from the biological father.
Spousal support is another complex issue. Some states use a formula to determine the amount, while others leave it to the judge’s discretion. A lawyer can explain the circumstances that would justify a high spousal support amount.
Divorce proceedings
Depending on your state’s law, divorce proceedings begin when one spouse files a divorce petition in court. The petition includes information like the grounds for the divorce, any spousal support or child custody issues, and property division details. The petition must be served on the other spouse.
Once the other spouse receives the paperwork, they can file an answer or counter-petition. The other spouse can also dispute the grounds for the divorce, any allegations in the petition, or decisions about child custody and property division.
A divorce lawyer can help you negotiate a fair settlement with your spouse or represent you in a divorce trial before a judge. Find a family attorney who matches your approach to the case and with whom you feel a level of trust and comfort.
Child custody
Child custody is one of the most important issues for parents separating. It involves decisions about the children’s residence, healthcare, education and religious upbringing. Custody can be joint, meaning that both parents have decision-making rights, or sole, where one parent makes all the decisions.
Physical custody is where the child lives, and can be shared between parents or awarded to one parent. If the court awards joint physical custody, the children will spend time with each parent on a regular schedule.
Ideally, parents work out a custody agreement on their own or with help from their lawyers, but if they cannot reach an agreement, the courts will decide what is in the child’s best interest. They do not usually favor either parent or gender.
Property division
A divorce lawyer can help you decide how to divide your assets and debt. They can also assist you with other issues, such as how to determine what is separate property and marital property, how to find hidden assets, and how to handle the family home.
New York is an equitable distribution state, which means that assets are divided in a manner that is deemed fair to both parties. This does not mean that assets are split evenly, but that they are divided in a way that is fair to both spouses.
Dividing assets in a divorce can be complicated, especially when there are several high-value assets or significant debt. If you are struggling with this issue, consider mediation. A trained mediator can help you and your spouse resolve your differences without going to court.
Spousal support
Whether a spouse will receive or pay support is one of the most important issues in divorce cases. This type of financial support is referred to as alimony or maintenance. Spousal support can be ordered in either lump sum or monthly payments. The amount paid will depend on a variety of factors. It may also be based on the length of the marriage.
The judge will consider what each spouse contributed to the marriage, including raising children. They will also look at how the parties behaved during the marriage. The length of the marriage is a significant factor because after a long-term marriage, a person is less likely to be able to bounce back into the work world quickly and become self-supporting. This is why long-term spousal support is more likely after a longer-term marriage.
