Category: Family Law Attorney

Dealing with a family law issue can be difficult and emotional for all parties involved. It is important to secure supportive legal counsel to help you navigate the process and achieve your goals.

A skilled lawyer can help you reach workable child custody arrangements, attain justice with defensible support modifications, and more. Read on to understand the basic laws that govern these sensitive legal matters.

Divorce

Divorce is a major source of family law cases. It involves resolving property division, spousal support, and child custody issues. The process is usually lengthy and emotionally difficult.

Regardless of the length of the marriage, some couples feel they have reached an impasse. It may be due to financial or religious reasons.

When one spouse submits a court petition for dissolution, divorce begins. The petition must identify the parties and their children. It must also state the grounds for divorce. If the parties cannot agree on the terms of their divorce, a trial may be required. The final say on any matter will go to a court. The judge will normally issue a final decree when the case is over.

Child Custody

Disputes over child custody can be one of a family law case’s most emotionally challenging aspects. Attorneys work with parents to arrive at custody arrangements that meet their children’s needs.

In a custody dispute, a court looks at the child’s best interests, including emotional and moral well-being. A judge may grant joint legal custody to both parents or sole physical custody to a single parent.

In either case, a custody agreement will describe the arrangement and set visitation times. It will also establish whether one parent is obligated to pay support. Child support is determined using a statutory formula that considers the parties’ income and expenses, such as childcare costs. A change in circumstances may warrant a modification of the support order.

Child Support

A family law practice Oklahoma City OK, can be emotionally taxing. It takes time to make wise choices about child custody, spousal support, etc. A seasoned lawyer’s perspective can be useful.

Children are the most vulnerable in separation or divorce proceedings. They deserve to be supported financially by their parents. A skilled family lawyer can explain the various laws related to child support.

In Oklahoma, child support is based on parental rights, not marital status. Even if an ex remarries, the obligation to pay child support remains. It can be used to cover the cost of housing, food, transportation, public education, and clothing for children. The state also provides for the payment of “extraordinary” medical expenses.

Prenuptial Agreements

Prenups are contracts entered into between two people before marriage that outline each party’s assets and specify how financial issues would be handled in the event of a divorce. This type of contract is often associated with individuals with substantial wealth, but it can benefit anyone who wishes to protect their assets in the event of a divorce.

A family law attorney can help you draft a prenup that meets all legal requirements, including full disclosure of financial information. Additionally, an attorney can help you add lifestyle-specific clauses, including drug abuse, gambling, or other harmful behaviors. However, it should be noted that prenups cannot dictate child custody rights. Children’s best interests are paramount in any family law case.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic violence is a major problem across Oklahoma. Judges consider domestic abuse incidents during divorce proceedings when making custody and visitation decisions. In extreme domestic violence cases, the abusive parent can lose parental rights altogether.

Domestic abuse includes any behavior intended to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or frighten a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, dating partner, child, or intimate family member. It can include physical assault, battery, and less threatening behaviors like restricting freedom by controlling finances or withholding access to vehicles, phones, or social media accounts.

The state can charge an offender with a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the situation. A lawyer can help an accused person understand how a conviction could affect their future. They can also assist with filing a protective order against the offender.

According to Gray: A legal is that powers which a man has to take a individual or person do or refrain form undertaking a certain act or certain acts, so far as the power arises kind society imposing a legal duty upon a individual or persons. The Fair Labor Standards Act and state labor laws regulate the employment of minors. Nonetheless, it is not always uncomplicated to figure out what rights a kid really does have, specifically with differences in state laws. Your school has a duty to defend LGBTQ and gender non-conforming students from harassment and discrimination. You also have a suitable to have teachers and school administrators call you by your preferred name and to use your preferred gender pronoun (he” or she”). A college employee from Louisiana, Terri Prough, agrees with not serving students who have accumulated substantial lunch bills.

It is illegal for your college to treat you differently from straight students, to single you out for punishment or to refuse to intervene if other students or administrators harass or bully you mainly because of your sexual orientation. We believe that it is illegal for your school to disclose your sexual orientation or gender identity to your parents with out your permission.

If the parents do not pay up by the end of the fiscal college year, the district requires them to court and arranges payment with the aid of a judge. Minors also have rights below the U.S. Constitution Specifically, they have the right to equal protection, which signifies that each and every youngster is entitled to the very same remedy at the hands of authority regardless of race, gender, disability, or religion. However, schools could limit the child’s speech if they feel it could harm other students.

Get peace of mind about your (or a loved one’s) rights as a minor by having a family members law attorney evaluation your case at no cost. Kids are also entitled to due procedure, which consists of notice and a hearing, prior to any of their simple rights are taken away by the government. Some federal courts have ruled that schools shouldn’t reveal a student’s sexual orientation to their parents or any one else devoid of the student’s permission.

Your constitutional correct to totally free expression includes your proper to express your gender identity – the gender you really feel oneself to be. If you are transgender and open about your gender identity, your teachers and school administrators can’t discriminate against you and they ought to treat you with respect, which includes by using your preferred name and gender pronoun (he” or she”).

If you are like most people, you don’t even think about finding an attorney until you need one. This can make you feel unprepared for choosing the right attorney for your family law needs. Therefore, these are a few tips for finding the right family attorney.

Ask For Referrals

If you know someone who has gone through a similar situation, you can ask for a referral. You may also ask other legal professionals if they know a great family law attorney Sun City AZ. However, you then need to investigate these referrals thoroughly.

You may also contact your state’s bar association, local chamber of commerce and the Better Business Bureau for referrals or more information about the attorneys on your list.

Conduct In-Depth Research

You shouldn’t just hire a family law attorney because someone suggested that the person was great. You need to do your due diligence too. Learn about your prospects’ experience and expertise in your legal issue. Find out about their fees and how willing they are to work with your budget. Pay attention to their communication skills. Learn about their trial experience and whether they are willing to argue in front of a judge.

Some of this research can be done online, but you should also interview your prospects in person. Pay attention to how quickly they get back to you when you request a consultation.

Choose Someone You Can Work With

Your attorney is your advocate, your partner. Therefore, you need to be comfortable not only around your lawyer, but you should also be comfortable with the law firm. You will tell these professionals things you would probably not tell anyone else, and your contact will be frequent. You need to feel comfortable being open and honest, and your attorney needs to be able to explain complicated legal processes and procedures to you in a way you can understand.

Choose the lawyer you are comfortable with, who gets back to you quickly and answers all your questions.

Divorce is a complex process. You might be feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and stuck in the middle of it all. More than that, you’re worried about how to best help your kids through it. These feelings are normal and completely understandable when going through such a significant life event as divorce. While a good family law lawyer can help you with your court paperwork, there’s one pillar of substance to learn that helps kids immensely during this time: keeping routines the same as much as possible at both homes.

New Experiences, New Environment, New Routines

Post-divorce life with both parents living separately from one another offers new challenges and experiences for everyone. Kids have had to deal with a very stressful life change at this point. A house or two has changed, bedrooms have changed, bedding has changed, and maybe even mom or dad already has a new partner. If there is daycare involved where there wasn’t previously, then there are new travel routines.

When you can’t fix or change the new routines you have, it’s even more important that, at the very least, both parents work to keep a child’s habits inside their new homes the same as much as possible. The routines you form inside the house at both homes will help the child find at least one anchor point from which they can ground themselves. Once they have this anchor point in their minds and emotions, they can begin to process their other thoughts and feelings. Any routines you do in your home should work for you and your family. Below, you’ll find suggestions to get you started.

Nighttime Routines

While it’s fun to stay up on the weekends sometimes, it’s essential that the kids get to bed near the same hour at both homes on all school nights. Having the set time lets the kids know they’ll need to wrap up their nighttime activities beforehand. It also keeps their sleep rhythms the same.

Before bedtime, both parents can formulate a similar routine: homework check, bathing routines finished, teeth-brushed, and so on. Parents may want to have dinner first and then check homework and other things for one child while the others each take turns bathing. After this, family time could commence. While this may vary periodically, it’s important to cross off the needed activities before or after certain set things take place — like after dinner and before bed.

Morning Routines

Routines can be similar in the mornings. Everyone wakes up and begins dressing. As they dress, parents can be packing lunches. Backpacks and other items for school can be placed near the door. Breakfast can be eaten. Waking up at the same time also helps keep bodily rhythms in place.

Other activities may need to happen in the morning, such as last-minute homework assignments or scrambles to find missing pieces of musical instruments. Each parent should build in extra time in the mornings for these things to avoid being late.

Agreeing on Communication

Parents should agree on how the other parent will communicate with each other and the kids while in the other home. If you’re going to call, decide on a set time of the day that calling happens. In some cases, it may be easier to text or email and make that one phone call every week or two weeks. This way, your child can anticipate when you’ll next talk.

When You Can’t Agree

Sometimes, as divorced parents, you won’t agree on the routines you should have in each other’s home, which is to be expected. It’s not required to match exactly, nor is it needed to match every night. The important thing is that the same general routines are available for the kids in both homes most of the time. If there are hard and fast things you, as parents, cannot agree on and the lack of a routine is negatively affecting your child, then attempt to put workarounds in your home to help your child. If the negative impact cannot be quelled, then speak to your family law attorney for help.