Family Law The area of family law encompasses a wide variety of legal issues ranging from divorce to visitation and child custody. Family law also includes adoption, child support, spousal support, modifications to previous family law orders, and paternity determinations. Divorce and child custody issues can arise whether or not two people are married, consider themselves "common law married", or have biological or adoptive children together. Because family law is such a broad area, we have provided the following definitions as guidance into the potential areas in which he may be able to assist you. Adoption is a legal way of forming a family. Adoption may include international adoptions, domestic adoptions, agency adoptions, independent adoptions, stepparent adoptions, relative adoptions, surrogacy-related adoptions, closed adoptions and open adoptions. Child support is ordered by the court in situations in which a child lives with one not both parents. The non-custodial parent is responsible for contributing a certain portion of his or her income, based on state child support guidelines, to help support the child, even if the custodial parent has income of his or her own. Settlement agreements must be carefully scrutinized for judicial approval in light of the new (January 2007) support statute. Divorce (including annulment) is the legal process by which a marriage is terminated. In a divorce proceeding, the parties' marriage is legally ended and the related issues, such as spousal and child support, child custody and visitation, and property and debt division, are resolved, either by the parties' voluntary agreement, through the assistance of a mediator, or after a court trial. Custody and visitation issues can arise when parents are divorced or separated, when the parents have never been married, or when some type of reproductive technology, such as surrogate motherhood or sperm and egg donation cases, complicates the issues even further. Courts generally apply a "best interests of the child" standard when determining to whom custody should be awarded. Domestic violence and neglect include physical, mental, and sexual abuse of children, mates, elderly persons, or other vulnerable adults in the perpetrator's household. Abuse and neglect have long-term consequences, but there are legal mechanisms through which victims or interested third parties can seek protection. Juvenile law relates not only to juvenile delinquency proceedings, in which the juvenile is charged with an offense that would be a crime if committed by an adult, but also to juveniles charged with status offenses, abused and neglected children, and children in need of social services. Many issues can be addressed in both juvenile and superior courts. Paternity refers to a legal action to establish that a man is the father of a child. A paternity action may be brought in order to impose a child support obligation, establish a right to inheritance, secure consent for the child's adoption, or gain or prohibit custody or visitation rights.

Family Law