Divorce cases can quickly become contentious and complicated. While you have the right to represent yourself in your case, your lack of legal knowledge can easily jeopardize its outcome. You could figuratively and literally lose more than you can afford in the divorce decree.
Rather than compromise the outcome of your case, you can bolster your case by hiring a divorce lawyer in your local area. These critical services are some that an experienced divorce attorney in your city or state can provide to you.
Filing for Spousal Maintenance
Depending on how long you have been married, you may be entitled to receive spousal maintenance after the divorce. As a general rule, spouses with little to no income who have been married for at least 10 years are entitled to maintenance. You are entitled to maintenance payments for one-third of the time that you were legally married.
Your divorce lawyer can request that the judge overseeing your case awards you spousal maintenance for that period of time. Your divorce attorney can use your financial records to show that you earn significantly less than your spouse or that you earn nothing at all, thereby entitling you to these payments for the minimal amount of time that your state allows.
Requesting Child Custody
Your divorce lawyer in your case can also request that the judge grant you sole or primary custody of your minor children. Most family courts award shared custody to both parents as long as both parents are financially and mentally stable. However, when you can prove that your spouse is violent or mentally incompetent, you can ask the family court to award you sole custody of the children.
Your divorce attorney in your case may alternatively petition for primary custody, meaning that the children live with you during the week and visit the other parent every other weekend and for a month or two in the summer. You and the other parent may share alternating holidays and divide the children's time on school breaks.
These services are some that your divorce lawyer in your city or state can typically provide for any client. It is imperative that you hire an experienced divorce attorney in family or divorce law if you want the best outcome. You can petition the court for decrees like support payments from your spouse. You can also ask the court to give you custody of your children.
What do family lawyers really do? Most people know that they help clients in divorce proceedings, but this is only a small piece of their job. These attorneys also help draft custody arrangements, create adoption contracts, formulate prenuptial agreements, and designate alternative guardianship of kids in situations of abuse. As you can probably guess, working as a family lawyer requires tact, compassion, and an endless drive to do good. We are passionate about the work that these attorneys do, which is why we chose to write about that work on this blog. Our hope is that in reading these articles, you will also develop an improved understanding of family law.