Family Law - You Should Be Seeking Advice From Your Family Attorney About These Issues

There are many possible issues in a family law case, especially since laws vary depending on your state. Notwithstanding the foregoing, family law cases can generally contain one or more of the following questions to be resolved.

1) Divorce Grounds.

Most divorces end up being granted on separation grounds. That is to say that the husband and wife are separated for the statutory period necessary before a divorce can be granted. However, that does not mean that grounds for divorce are not an issue, especially at the commencement of a divorce case. Generally speaking, most states have grounds based on separation, adultery, cruelty of treatment, desertion, and incarceration.

2) Custody/Visitation.

Issues pertaining to children are often the most heated of any involved in family law cases. Most jurisdictions look to the best interest of the child when deciding custody. Even when the parents agree on custody and visitation arrangements, the state still has an interest in making sure that the agreement serves the best interest of the child. Therefore, the parents will still need to prove to the court that their agreement is a good one. The best interest of the child is determined based on various factors, all of which are geared towards helping the court make its decision, all with the child in mind.

3) Support of Children.

Child support is determined pursuant to child support guidelines statutes. The guidelines maintain a presumption of correctness in terms of the amount of support, but this presumption is usually rebuttable. Practically speaking, most child support cases are determined per the guidelines, but the factors that the court takes into account when computing the guidelines also varies. Child support, despite the guidelines, is often at issue as people skew their incomes and various other important numbers.

4) Division of Property.

People accumulate property throughout their lifetime, including during their marriage. The manner in which courts determine what property is subject to division and how to divide that property is different in every state. That being said, states can generally be divided into community property and non-community property states. Community property states hold that property subject to division is owned equally (50% husband and 50% wife) by the parties. Non-community property states look to title or actual ownership of the property. Once property subject to division is determined, then the court will either divide it equally or equitably, with the idea that equitable division is not the same as equal division. It is worth repeating that every state has a different method or system for determining and dividing property.

5) Alimony.

Alimony and spousal support are often used interchangeably, and refer to monies paid from one spouse to the other for the purpose of supporting that spouse. Alimony statutes differ depending on the jurisdiction and often include provisions for temporary, rehabilitative, and permanent types of spousal support.

6) Fees and Costs.

Fees associated with even the simplest family law cases can be quite high, and increase exponentially as the case becomes more contested. Attorney fees, court costs, and suit money for expert fees, subpoenas, etc. are many times a hot topic throughout the litigation. More specifically, the question becomes who is going to pay for those fees. Many jurisdictions take the approach that whoever is at fault for the litigation should take at least some responsibility for the payment of fees. Others award fees when one party takes an unreasonable stance in the case. Still others rarely award fees and costs to anyone.

While these are the broad issues involved in family law cases, clearly not all of them will be relevant to every case. Also each broad issue can be broken down into smaller issues depending on the facts of the case. Finally, whether these issues need to be resolved on a temporary basis during the pendency of the case will depend on the facts and circumstances of the particular case.