Overview:

The most common area of family law in all 50 states of U.S. is marriage and divorce. Divorce is the most painful experience that some people ever suffer. Instead of this, more than a million people have to face this painful experience in United States alone. Divorce is the ending of marriage before the death of either spouse. Two methods are used for the divorce, one is dissolution of marriage and the other is annulment of marriage. Dissolution is a court order for terminating a marriage. While an annulment states that the marriage never existed, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support or alimony, child custody, child support, and distribution of property.

Marriages have been under severe criticism in U.S. because of high rate of divorce. About 50% of all marriages in U.S end in divorce. A divorce lawsuit involves child custody, spousal support, adoption, separation and property distribution based on the “at-fault” or “no-fault” grounds. An experienced divorce and family law attorney can help you learn about your possible settlement.


Divorce Laws:

No-Fault and At-Fault statutes

Many states have enacted what is called no-fault divorce statutes. This is a response to obsolete common law divorce which required proof in a court of law by the divorcing party that the divorcee had done one of several enumerated things as sufficient grounds for the divorce. This entailed proving that the spouse had committed adultery, or some other morally offensive act. No-fault divorce removes this potentially embarrassing and undesirable requirement by providing for the dissolution of a marriage on a finding that the relationship is no longer viable. It is hard to tell whether no-fault divorce statutes are the cause or an effect of the rising national divorce rate in America.


Types of Divorce:

There are two types of divorce - absolute and limited.

• Annulment: AAn annulment is a judicial termination of a marriage based on marital misconduct or other statutory cause arising after the marriage ceremony. As a result of an annulment both parties' status becomes single again.

• Legal Separation: Several jurisdictions' statutes authorize legal separation. The consequences of legal separation vary from state to state. Typically, a legal separation is commonly referred to as a separation decree; the right to cohabitation is terminated but the marriage is undissolved and the status of the parties is not altered.

Ways to Resolve Divorce Issues:

• Uncontested divorce: About 95% of divorce cases in United States are settled uncontested because the two parties come to an agreement with or without the help of divorce and family law attorneys, mediators or collaborative council. The issues about children support and custody and property are decided. The divorce approval is almost guaranteed after the agreement of two parties on relating issues.

• Collaborative divorce: In a collaborative divorce process both parties get the help of experienced attorneys who are committed for negotiations and settlement without engaging in the legal procedures. Because of the additional support of attorneys and neutrals experts, such as financial specialists and coaches, the success rate of a collaborative divorce is very high. Our firm offers the services of experienced divorce and family law attorneys who can greatly support you for the settlement of related issues in collaborative divorce process.

• Mediated divorce: Mediation is a common trend today for resolving divorce issues. Mediation allows the involved parties a greater control and privacy and saves money. Mediation generally achieves similar results as it is generally obtained by normal adversarial process. Also the courts give a quick approval to the mediated settlements. Lawyer’s Area offers the services of experienced divorce and family law attorney who can act as mediators to facilitate the discussion between husband and wife and assist them by providing suggestions to resolve differences. At the end of the mediation process, the separating parties have typically developed a tailored divorce agreement that can be submitted to the court. Divorce mediation is less expensive than a normal court procedure. The adherence rate to mediated agreements is much higher than that of adherence to court orders.

Other Issues Related with Divorce:


Paternity issue: Due to the rising divorce rates there is also a rise in having children with different partners. Paternity issues and claims of legal guardians of children are the hot issue of family law especially after divorce. Experienced family law attorneys at our firm can guide you throughout the case to identify paternity.

• Custody & Visitation: The most difficult part of a divorce case is usually child custody agreements. Concluding a child custody agreement is usually depends on the law of the concerning state. Divorce and child custody and visitation laws vary from state to state. If you are divorcing, it is very important to have a full understanding of child custody laws especially when both parties can not reach on an agreement regarding child custody. Experienced attorneys at Lawyer’s Area can help you to understand law of your state and can help you to successfully precede your case.

• Child Support & Alimony: In most of the times, the court dictates child support after the divorce agreement is reached among the parent of the child. Sometimes you might be responsible for paying child support, or you could be the one who is asking for child support for your own children. It is very important that you understand the laws that govern child support, no matter who is paying the child support.

• Division of property: All the property of divorcing couples is divided between them including future income like pensions; retirement funds and good will value of the business. There are two general systems for making a division of property – community property and equitable distribution. Sometimes it takes a great deal of negotiation, often between the lawyers, to reach an agreement that is acceptable for both parties. Our experienced family law attorneys can help you for successful negotiations for property division.

Choosing a Divorce Attorney:


The experienced family law attorneys in our firm are specialized in divorce cases and capable of serving you much better than an attorney that is involved in general practice. The laws that govern the divorce process can vary from state to state. The Divorce Attorneys that practices in our firm are well educated and well versed with the specific laws and procedures that govern the divorce process in your state.