Once you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse have decided it is over, it can be sad, yes, but it can also feel like an incredible weight has been lifted. Leading up to a divorce, things are often not in a happy place. When the marriage is finally over, you might be excited to get out there and meet new people, but dating before the divorce is finalized can be a risky business.
Many men pay support for children who are not theirs biologically and you might be one of them. You could have the court order overturned if a DNA test confirms you are not the father of a child you currently support, but getting the judge to make that decision is often difficult and not a sure thing. Learn how courts typically view child support and what you can do to strengthen your case before you petition to end payments.
When families go through the divorce process, the non-custodial parent will be the one obligated to make financial payments that is known as child support. If you have been ordered to provide child support for one or multiple children, you may have questions about what type of penalties you may face if you do not make payments or if you fall behind on your payments. There are some serious penalties for those who do not make payments, including jail time and paying fines.
Your husband decides to walk out of the marriage, and he has the only income that kept your home running smoothly? Depending on the state you live in, and how long you were in the marriage, you may be eligible for spousal support although there are no children from the marriage.
Whether you have recently separated from your spouse or your divorce has been recently finalized, the separation or divorce will have a lasting impact on everyone's life for many years. One of the things that many people find difficult is co-parenting, especially during the different breaks in the year. Summer breaks can be difficult for many recently divorced couples because neither side is used to making schedules on when and where the children will be at all times.
When most people think of divorce, they tend to think of it in terms of the traditional, or advers, divorce.
When it comes to divorce, there are a lot of assets that need to be addressed and often split. However, we tend to focus on the immediate assets, like what is in our bank accounts. Yet, so much more important are the ones we won't need until much later in life - the retirement accounts. These can be tricky to split and even trickier to make sure that everyone can withdrawal their set amount when it is time.
Child support is generally made by non-custodial parents to custodial parents for maintenance of minor children. Due to a variety of reasons, including lack of stable employment, a man or woman might fail to pay all or some of the support. The amount of money owed for back child support is called arrears. In most cases, it is extremely difficult to gain a waiver for all or part of child support arrears but it does sometimes occur.
False allegations are not uncommon in child custody cases, and more and more people are using them as a legal strategy rather than as providing protection. Moreover, false allegations are the most prevalent in child custody cases because, even if made without merit and baseless, they require examination. When your ex-spouse falsely accuses you of physical or emotional abuse toward your children, the allegation can catch you completely off guard. The good news is just an allegation is not enough to strip a father's rights to physical or legal custody of his children.
Lying about anything during divorce proceedings is never a good idea. As a married party, even if you aren't overly vocal about each other's lives, spouses tend to know a fair amount about each other, which makes lies difficult to pull off and never worthwhile. Yet, one of the most common lies that people will try to tell in divorce is about their finances. When beginning the divorce proceedings, both sides will need to fill out a financial affidavit. This helps the court divide up assets and make a decision in terms of alimony. Some spouses may want to receive more or pay less, making lying about their financial standing tempting, but no less wrong.
There are times when grandparents don’t get to see their grandchildren as much as they would like. This is especially common when the parents are separated or divorced. This is especially true if the other parent has full custody. A death of a parent can also put a strain on visitation with grandparents.
When you go to family court or mediation, in typical situations, the system deems that the best outcome for your children is to have both parents involved in their lives and for the parents to work things out amongst themselves amicably. This situation is also known as "co-parenting." If parents have difficulty getting along, the court may order for the parents to undergo co-parenting counseling. Ideally, parents come out of counseling knowing how to respectfully talk to each other and cope with relinquishing complete control over their children's medical, education, nutrition, and other needs.
There is a plethora of advice available about how to handle child custody matters when divorcing. After reviewing some of the material, one author sums up the information as simply: put the kids first. How do you accomplish this? Here are a few tips.
Learning of the stiff penalties associated with child support arrears, such as the suspension of a business or driver's license, can be tough. You might think that penalties have piled up through no fault of your own. You might even be unaware of the consequences of unpaid child support until you apply for a credit card or when you receive a notification that your bank account has been frozen.
Father’s rights and child custody laws can be overwhelmingly complex, especially if you’re an unmarried couple. Unmarried fathers face additional legal challenges in establishing their paternity and gaining their rights.
Adopting a child can be a chance to have the family you always wanted but couldn’t have. Most people want babies so that they easily fit into their lives. However, older children need love and families too. They can be a bit more challenging and require some adjustments.
While the justice system may appear convoluted and bloated at times, the fact is the process follows a structured and predictable pattern, regardless of the category and severity of the charge. If you are scheduled to appear in court by don’t show up, failure to appear can result in a number of possible consequences. Here are a few:
If you're a dad who shares custody of your children, you know that holidays and birthdays are a difficult time of year, especially when the children are younger or when the divorce is fairly new. As each year passes, you and your family will adjust and create new ways to find time to spend together, but for now, you want to ensure that your father's rights remain intact.
Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing number of children born to unwed parents. This has caused an increased look at the fathers of these children, father's rights, and the role men play in raising their children.
A Pew Research study found that the number of stay-at-home dads in the United States roughly doubled over the past thirty years. This reflects changing social norms when it comes to gender and parental roles. But, stay-at-home dads can still struggle against traditional gender biases, especially when going through a divorce. Men have traditionally been seen as breadwinners, and women as caretakers, and each of these views can prejudice men going through a divorce. However, whether it comes to child custody, alimony, or property divisions, men have the same legal rights as women.
Child support evasion can result in the loss of parental right to child custody visitation. A parent evading an obligation to child support payments, may be subject to wage garnishment, property lien, incarceration, and passport denial.
Some men might be concerned that they will be at a disadvantage in family law matters, but the court's opinions have shifted with modern times when it comes to divorce, child custody and alimony. This means a man may be entitled to custody, child support or spousal support when dissolving a marriage in Los Angeles. The recent split between actress Kaley Cuoco and tennis player Ryan Sweeting highlights this as Cuoco is set to pay $1650,000 to Sweeting.
When you think about social media, what do you tend to think about? You probably think about people sharing photographs of their loved ones, sharing videos, posting interesting and uninteresting statuses, etc. This is all true, but there has been a new trend related to social media.
When a relationship ends, it can sometimes be difficult to handle the situation in a friendly manner, even when children are involved. One common occurrence among newly split couples is known as parenting time interference.
Here is the second part of our discussion about celebrity child support payments and what you can learn from them when you are a parent in the Los Angeles area.
Every day, men all across the country look for information and advice after they have been served with divorce papers or any other family legal law matter. This is very important because getting the right information at the right time can make a huge difference in the outcome. It is important for men to make the right decisions in these matters.
What does it take to raise a child? Well, it takes a lot of things to raise a child. Some of those things include love, patience, energy, time, and money. It is difficult for some people to raise a child together, can you imagine how difficult it can be to raise a child alone?
In today's legal climate, most fathers see their rights violated at every turn. Thousands of fathers across the country nearly bankrupt themselves handing over child support checks to custodial mothers who seldom, if ever, let them see the children they're struggling to help. The especially unlucky ones are falsely accused of heinous crimes in the midst of bitter custody battles. Courts, judges, and especially the bulk of divorce lawyers seem to have a vested interest in making sure that fathers do not get a square deal in the courtroom.
It takes plenty of things to raise a child, including money and time. Raising a child, in general, is a tough task to handle, but raising a child alone is tougher. Children have to be supported, and they need the support to come from both parents, not just one parent.
Unfortunately, even though a divorce is inevitable, some spouses still refuse to sign divorce papers. If your spouse refuses to sign the divorce papers, you can still move forward with the divorce by filing as the sole petitioner.
The public often trivializes fathers' contributions to children's healthy development. Although fathers love their children just as much as mothers, this bias causes some fathers to fail to aggressively protect their rights due to an excessively defeatist attitude or fear of being labeled a deadbeat. Ultimately, fathers' reluctance to stand up for themselves hurts their children. Below are common mistakes fathers make with respect to child support and child support arrearages:
Many fathers are not properly informed when it comes to child custody, child support, visitation, etc. One of the common misconceptions is that all mothers will automatically be given priority when it comes to custody. You do not have to sit back and not be a part of your child’s life. A father has the same rights as the mother.
If you have been ordered to pay alimony, you may wonder if there is any time that you can legally stop alimony payments. Generally, the divorce agreement outlines the specific ways in which these payments can be stopped or changed. A judge can also order a change in alimony payments if there’s a change in circumstances. Our experienced family law attorneys explain a few possibilities that may warrant a change in alimony.
Whether you neglected to appear in court because of justifiable circumstances or simple forgetfulness, receipt of a failure to appear notice is jarring for most people. Consequences of failing to appear in court include bail imposition, bench warrant issuance, and driver license suspension depending on the nature of the citation. Uh-oh… what do I do now?!
