Facing the end of your marriage is an emotional experience. No matter the circumstances, a divorce requires great change for your day-to-day life. To help you through the process and ensure your rights are protected, you should look at hiring a family law attorney in Fairfax, Virginia.
A family law attorney can oversee the many aspects of your divorce and negotiate with your ex-spouse so that you don’t have to. This can take some of the difficult emotions out of the process and ensure that you’re able to move on once your marriage ends.
To help you evaluate whether or not you need a family law attorney, here are some areas of the process that an attorney can have a huge impact on.
Property and asset division
As you and your ex-spouse work through the details of your separation, you’ll need a solution to divide property and assets, unless you had a prenuptial agreement in place. The division of assets can bring back painful memories and be difficult to sort out when emotions get involved.
Having an attorney alongside you throughout this process can not only ease that pain and difficulty but can also ensure you receive your due when dividing the assets. An attorney can also work to create amiable terms for housing arrangements if you owned a home with your spouse.
Protective orders
In the case of a marriage ending due to abuse, an attorney can ensure that you are protected from your ex-spouse with protective orders. This protection can be obtained throughout your divorce proceedings so that you ensure your protection throughout the process.
A temporary restraining order can also protect your assets while you get through the divorce process. By setting up a temporary restraining order, you can ensure your spouse doesn’t do any of the following to inhibit your divorce proceedings:
- Empty a bank account
- Withdraw or move funds from a retirement account
- Change beneficiaries on life insurance
- Cancel life, auto or home insurance
- Get a loan using joint assets, such as your home
- Leave the state with your children
While you could file for a temporary restraining order on your own, an attorney can make the process simple, understandable and ensure it is done right. You don’t want to be left in a vulnerable state while your spouse is upset with you for any reason.
Child custody and visitation
If you and your spouse have children, sorting out the details of child custody and visitation can be one of the hardest parts of a divorce. Deciding where a child will live, how often they’ll see each parent and how to divide holidays will put a strain on you and your children.
An attorney can help you with these details by calling upon previous experience. An attorney uses this experience to know what works best in these situations. Additionally, an attorney can fight for the scenario you hope to achieve in the custody proceedings.
There are various ways to handle child custody including:
- Joint custody: both parents have equal rights and responsibilities to raise the child or children. To appoint joint custody, the judge will be looking at the parents’ ability to work together. Depending on the divorce terms, a judge may see it in the children’s best interest to not appoint joint custody. This is to ensure less fighting and disagreements happen in front of the children.
- One parent with physical custody and one with visitation rights: when this agreement is met, the parent who has physical custody over the child must meet certain criteria. This criteria includes having a safe home with good supervision for the child. The parent must also ensure proper discipline and enrich the child’s life with affection. The other parent is then permitted to regularly visit the child.
- Visitation: this term means that a parent has been given a certain timeframe to visit with a child. The terms of such an agreement are generally set forth in court. They state when and where a parent may visit with a child.
Child support
Finally, in divorces where children are present, you must negotiate the issue of child support. A divorce does not free either parent from their legal requirement to support and care for a child. Neither does custody dictate child support.
Child support is mandated by the court based on income and means of each parent. Additionally, child support can also be renegotiated in the case of changes to income or circumstances.
When looking at child support in court, the judge will rule in the best interest of the child. There is no specific formula for how child support is calculated. But a judge tries to ensure that the child lives in the same manner as it did when the couple was together.
Hiring a family law attorney in Fairfax, Virginia
If you’re seeking a Fairfax family law attorney, Gore and Kuperman have 35 years of legal experience to call upon. We’ll be your advocate and ensure your rights are upheld in court to the fullest.
To learn more about what Gore and Kuperman has to offer and to set up your obligation-free consultation, contact 703-385-7300.