Family law covers all the legalities that come with family life. Whether you are considering divorce, adopting a child, or seeking a domestic violence protection order, you need an experienced family lawyer.
Explicit pedagogy and up-to-date content make this a valuable tool for students and practitioners. The text includes new coverage of medical abuse and forced marriage and an expanded discussion on civil contempt cases.
Marriage
In societies in which the large, extended family is still the predominant form of the family group, marriages are often arranged by the parents. This approach considers the social and socioeconomic benefits of the match and reflects the importance of familial ties.
The legal consequences of marriage are numerous. These include the legal status of couples, spousal rights and obligations, property ownership, inheritance, procreation, divorce, custody and visitation of children, and support.
Divorce
The legal dissolution of a marriage, known as divorce, is a crucial concept in family law. It can be emotionally intense and requires delicate people skills and legal know-how.
Couples often experience five distinct stages in a divorce proceeding. The first is denial when couples try to pretend that everything is okay. This stage can be destructive, leading to bad decisions and harmful words.
When a couple goes through a divorce, they may have to agree on their children’s custody, visitation rights, and child and spousal support. The court considers multiple factors when making decisions about custody and visitation. It also decides how to divide property between the spouses. Spousal support refers to the regular payment made by one partner to the other.
Child Custody
When most people think of family law, they probably consider issues like divorce, alimony, child custody, and support. But there is much more to this family law Hernando County FL than meets the eye.
Child custody is a fundamental family law issue involving legal and physical custody decisions. In determining these matters, the court considers the child’s best interests. Often, courts award both parents significant periods of physical custody so that children can spend time with each parent regularly.
Additionally, a court may decide that the non-custodial parent should receive money to help pay for expenses related to the child. These payments are based on various factors, including each parent’s income. These arrangements can change over time.
Child Support
Family law encompasses all the legalities of starting a family, navigating divorce proceedings, and resolving other issues that may arise throughout a marriage. Its wide-ranging topics include child custody arrangements, property division, and paternity proceedings.
A child support order is a court-ordered payment from one parent to the other that helps offset the cost of raising children. It is usually paid to the parent who has primary custody of a child, although this is not always the case, and many fathers are ordered to pay child support to their ex-wives following divorce proceedings. These payments are based on each parent’s income and vary by state. Those who fail to pay child support face severe penalties, including jail time.
Property Distribution
Unless couples create a premarital agreement, the way that they divide up assets during a divorce is determined by state law. Many states follow community property rules or equitable distribution laws.
Either method can result in different divisions of assets among divorcing couples. Non-marital or separate property includes inheritances, personal injury settlement awards, and assets owned before the marriage if they weren’t later mixed with shared property. It can also include separate accounts kept in the spouse’s name.