If you have come across family law before, you may have wondered how it differs when compared to normal law. Family law generally incorporates legal practices that involve issues concerning couples and families. A family law attorney will represent married couples, families, parents, and children. The issues that a family law attorney will handle can range from divorce to adoption. There are a variety of ways that family law can help you.
How a Family Law Attorney Assists Couples
A couple may approach a family lawyer for a large number of reasons. A family law attorney commonly handles issues pertaining to divorce. When a couple wants to move forward with divorce proceedings, they will each hire their own attorney to help with a settlement plan. A divorce settlement plan consists of an agreement made between a married couple that will cover child support, spousal support, visitation rights, and custody. If the couple agrees with this plan, they will not have a trial. A family law attorney often will act as a mediator during the divorcing process and will try to help the couple avoid a trial, if possible.
A couple may be interested in a prenuptial agreement. This agreement commonly occurs before a couple, both with notable assets, marries. A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract that will tell how a couple will split their property, income, and debts if they divorce.
A couple may want to become a family through adoption. Adoption is a very complicated process that varies depending upon different factors. These factors include the state the parents live in, the location the child is from, and the type of adoption being carried out. A family law attorney will help a couple throughout the entire process, legally (and sometimes emotionally).
How a Family Law Attorney Assists Families
Similar to adoption, but different in circumstances, guardianship can be obtained with the help of a family lawyer. When a person or couple chooses to take guardianship of a child, they are often doing so because the child’s parents or caregiver cannot take care of them. Legal guardianship can also be given to a person when an adult with disabilities can not make decisions for themselves.
As mentioned before, divorce leads to agreements made over child support, visitation rights, and custody of a child. A family lawyer will help parents come up with an agreement that they both feel is fair in terms of child custody. When working with visitation rights, a family lawyer will draft a visitation agreement that will decide the schedule of visits from the parent that does not have custody. In some cases, a parent has no visitation rights at all.
When parents divorce, they will have to decide upon child support. Deciding how much a parent should pay for child support can easily become complex and frustrating. Family law is there to make it much easier to agree upon how much money should be given. If a parent is paying a set amount of child support and their financial situation changes, the agreement may be altered.
Florida Family Law
If you are located in Florida and feel that a family lawyer could benefit you, Paul H. Bowen Law is here to help. With over 30 years of experience, Paul H. Bowen is skilled in family law matters, child support issues, custody & visitation of a child, dissolution of marriage, and more. When it comes to Florida family law, Paul H. Bowen has the experience and skills to assist you. To set up a consultation, visit our website or call us at (727) 773-1554.