After separation, many people want to discuss with their lawyers some of the immediate issues that need resolution: temporary child support, temporary parenting schedules, and who gets to live in the house. As part of these discussions (especially the one regarding which spouse gets to live in the home), they…
The beginning of the school year means new teacher(s), new classmates, waking up earlier and more changes for most kids. Many kids in two-home families have an added adjustment to make. They have to adjust to their parenting plans changing back to the school year schedule. As we discussed previously…
A discussion recently transpired among family law practitioners regarding child support payments in circumstances where parenting plans provide for equal (50/50) residential time with each parent. A novice family law attorney was coming to the (more experienced) field of family law lawyers looking for an answer to her client’s question…
The most important decision in most child support and spousal maintenance (commonly referred to as alimony) conflicts is the determination of how much income each spouse is earning. In some cases, this is not a difficult or elongated task. If the earning party (or parties) receive a paycheck from an…
When clients come into our office seeking to initiate or respond to a family law action, they are often full of energy (and sometimes anger) and want to get moving on their case. This energy and enthusiasm usually continues for the first few weeks, but often decreases after that. Most…
Many people have heard of a prenuptial agreement. A prenuptial agreement is an agreement that is entered into prior to marriage that determines how assets and liabilities will be handled during and after the marriage (among other things). Less people have heard of a postnuptial agreement. Postnuptial agreements are similar…
As this blog has previously discussed, many family law actions require a parenting plan or residential schedule be created. As part of this plan or schedule, parents may request that the court order things in addition to the basics (i.e. outlining where the kids will reside, who has decision making…
The summer is a busy time of year for many families. This can be especially true for two-home families (i.e. families in which the parents of the children are not married and/or live in separate homes). In addition to attending summer camps, daycare, playdates and barbeques kids are often experiencing…
One of the first decisions that needs to be made in a divorce case, is where to file the petition for dissolution of marriage (or other family law action). For some, our response is very straightforward: if the children and both spouses have all lived in the same county for…
When parents are unmarried at the time a child is born (or within 300 days of a dissolution), the marital presumption does not apply. In this circumstance, more has to be done to establish the child’s paternity. It is necessary to establish the child’s paternity for purposes of entering an…