Areas of Family Law

If you have a positive net wealth or any property to be distributed, you should contact a family law professional to help you correctly draw up a Will and Trust. These are the legal documents that are needed in the event of your death in order for your property and money to not end up in probate court. In these documents you will distinctly specify your intentions for your property. The idea is to ensure that your estate will be handled in your own interests and to make the legalities that follow the event of your death clear and easy to navigate, with the help of a family lawyer, by your remaining family members.

Maybe the most widely known area of this kind of law is within the divorce realm. Unless you are a part of an uncontested divorce, there are innumerous legal issues to be sorted out as a part of the event. Separations of property and determination as to whether that property was marital or otherwise must be determined.

Alimony, which is a payment of support made from one spouse to the other, and child support, a payment made by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent must be determined, and someone who specializes in these kinds of cases is the type of legal support that you need in these types of proceedings. Annulments, although usually affiliated with the religious rather than legal side of the relationship, can also be attained if an attorney is able to help you determine that a legal marriage never existed.

Adoption is probably the least tainted sub-category of family law. When someone has decided to pursue adoption, there is a large amount of legal matters to navigate. There are background checks for the prospective parent or parents, home studies, and, in spite of the happiness that should be on the forefront of the adoption, there are all kinds of legal hoops to jump through and flips to do to ensure that everything is acceptable and in place both for the adoptee and the adopters.

There are three of the broader categories that belong under this umbrella. Things such as domestic violence, victim’s protection, children’s rites, and any other situation in which the defendant and plaintiff are of the same family will fall under this branch of law as well. Finding a family lawyer that is a good fit for your case is really about finding someone that shares your values and goals for the outcome of the case. When you are dealing with your family, only the best legal representation will do, so be sure to find someone who specializes in the area of family law that is most applicable to your case.