Most people associate family law with divorce and child custody cases; however, other categories fall within its purview such as paternity cases, legal separation (emancipation) agreements and protective orders against domestic violence and abuse.
This article will define and explore what exactly constitutes family law and its relevance in modern society, while also discussing various approaches such as rights-based litigation, values-driven dialogue and pragmaticism.
Marriage
Marriage is an event with significant legal, economic and social ramifications for its participants.
Historically, law did not pay much heed to unions that did not start out as legal marriages; today however, civil unions and domestic partnerships have come to be recognized as legitimate forms of family life.
As those practicing family law must recognize, many matters related to these cases can be highly emotive and challenging to resolve; often intertwining with criminal issues – for instance restraining orders issued due to domestic violence can have lasting ramifications.
Divorce
People usually associate family law with divorce and related matters; however, this field encompasses much more.
Divorce: Divorce involves legally dissolving a marriage and dividing assets and debts as well as determining spousal support (alimony).
Divorce can be extremely trying on children. An experienced family law attorney can help minimize its negative effects by drafting and filing custody, visitation, child support orders as well as any restraining orders for domestic violence proceedings.
Child Custody
Children are at the core of many family law cases. Judges determine custody arrangements based on what would best serve their best interests as they make custody decisions for their respective cases.
Legal custody entails the right and responsibility to make major decisions about a child’s health, education, welfare and religion. Parents can share this role or one parent may hold sole custody.
Physical custody refers to where a child will reside. Usually, courts grant joint physical custody agreements wherein each parent will have an equal share in raising the child.
Non-biological parents can seek custody if they can present evidence of extraordinary circumstances such as neglect, abuse, abandonment or unfitness for the role.
Child Support
Law recognizes that parents have an obligation to financially support their children regardless of whether or not they are married. This obligation exists whether or not both parents are present.
Child support covers basic expenses like food, clothing and shelter; it also covers mandatory add-on expenses like unreimbursed medical costs (copayments) as well as day care fees so a parent can work or attend school without worrying about childcare arrangements for their child.
Extraordinary expenses, such as those related to high-level athletic training or artistic pursuits, must be assessed on an individual basis. Parents experiencing significant changes in income or expenses may request a modification of child support; these modifications are then reviewed by the court.
Prenuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements (prenups) are legal contracts between two people prior to marriage that define how their assets will be divided during and following marriage and in case of divorce. They may contain provisions such as listing each partner’s assets individually, allocating property acquired during marriage according to set guidelines, assigning responsibility for debts incurred during the relationship and including provisions regarding spousal support provisions.
Prenups can include provisions to safeguard inheritance rights of children from previous relationships and family members. Although prenups are currently non-binding in the UK, Baroness Deech has introduced several Private Member’s Bills seeking to change this; these have yet to pass through Parliament.
Adoption
Family lawyers provide their clients with legal guidance for the various challenges they are experiencing in their personal lives. It requires having a nonjudgmental attitude along with genuine concern for others.
Adoption is the legal process through which an individual establishes a legally recognized parent-child relationship between themselves and another individual, usually a child. Each state sets its own adoption laws; individuals interested in adopting must undergo background checks, criminal evaluations and medical assessments prior to beginning this process. Usually adoptions take place privately though some states allow open adoptions; attorneys also may assist minors who decide they wish to become fully independent from their parents/guardians by helping with emancipation processes.