When to Use A Family Attorney

The majority of domestic or civil situations are handled by a family lawyer since they fall into the category of family law. There are a number of occasions such as divorce, marriage issues, child abduction, child abuse and paternity testing all fall under the heading of family law. A family attorney can also cover issues related to juvenile delinquency cases.

Divorce cases are more complicated when there are children involved and a lawyer with family law experience could be necessary to work out agreements for monetary support, custody and visitation. There could be a need to have an order for child support modified or enforced after a divorce has become finalized and a lawyer practicing family law would be the one to ensure that the correction actions are filed in court.

A lawyer can also assist in the creation of a parenting plan. Legal expertise is typically required to guide clients through the process of creating these detailed plans. Adoptions also fall under the area of domestic lawmeaning that family attorneys will the one to handle them. Whether the birth parents retain a limited amount of rights or completely give up parental rights will depend on the adoption location. The laws of the jurisdiction can be explained by a lawyer with family private law experience.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements also fall under the heading of family law which means that a family attorney should handle them. The way that assets are to be divided up in the event of a divorce is decided upon when a couple enters into a prenuptial agreement prior to getting married.

Issues such as custody and visitation are ironed out in a postnuptial agreement. An attorney with family private law experiencecan guide you through the process of obtaining these orders, the court process and having things such as child support orders that result from them enforced. In the case of supervised visitation there will be a need to show why visitation should be supervised and a legal representative with domestic law experience can be of assistance in establishing the case for visitations to be supervised. A parenting coordinator may be appointed to the family when a situation calling for supervised visitation to be drawn up arises so that parenting agreement can reflect the situation adequately.

A lawyer with domestic experience would also be responsible for setting up a trust fund for a child. Paternity and paternity fraud cases would fall under family law. A woman commits maternity fraud when she names a man that she either suspects or knows is not the biological father of her child as the father. It is rare that action is taken in cases of paternity fraud. Establishing a father’s rights when he is not married to the mother would also fall under the area of family law.

There are a number of areas that limit the ability to challenge paternity such as when the couple is married. In most cases if a couple is married when a child is born the law states that the woman’s husband is the father whether he is or not. There can also be limitations on the amount of time that paternity can be challenged.

There are also instances such as juvenile delinquency or domestic violence that can be represented by a family lawyer. Domestic violence divorce cases can include restraining orders making a lawyer that has the knowledge of both family and criminal law useful in the handling of these matters. Criminal law is a sub-specialty of some family attorneys which means that if you already have a family attorney they can handle these matters for you.  When it comes to choosing a lawyer you want one that you are comfortable with and that can meet your needs.