What is Family Law?
Family Law
The lawyer who chooses the area of family law as his specialty must be a person who has a lot of compassion because every day he will see heart-wrenching stories of marriages gone sour and contentious squabbling over children. Even four years of undergraduate school, and another three years to achieve a Juris Doctor or law degree, cannot prepare a family law attorney fully for this practice until he or she is fully immersed in the trials and tribulations of contentious matrimonial and custodial battles, as all too soon, he becomes a seasoned veteran over in the hallowed halls of family court. The family law attorney will have a thriving practice since statistics show that almost half of all marriages eventually dissolve into divorce.
Family law has changed
Though women may bristle at this statement, prior to the 20th century, once a man marries, he was considered the guardian of his wife and the owner of her property. Property laws and family law have changed considerably since that time and today’s family law attorney must constantly keep abreast of new laws which constantly tweak the way they will handle matrimonial and custodial issues.
Typical agenda
A myriad of different legal matters fill the calendar of the typical family law attorney. Sadly, most of the practice deals with the circumstance of divorce and its aftermath.
A family attorney often acts as a counselor to help to assuage the situation between two people headed down the divorce path. He or she is willing to help offer the balm to heal the sore … that rift which may have originally began right after vows were spoken. But, often once a couple seeks the help of a family law attorney, it is already too late.
Divorce these days
It shouldn’t be that you must steel yourself with the advice of an attorney and a document which sorts out the assets that each party will bring into the marriage before the happy event even transpires. Isn’t the sanctity of marriage a reason to be joyful, a time to be enamored with one another, not a time to be heading off to ensure one’s assets are secure against a possible default in the relationship down the road? But that is just a fact of life today. This is why a family law attorney in NJ divides his/her time between preparing documents before the marriage vows, and preparing documents to unravel such marriages.
Prenuptial agreements
Prenuptial agreements end the speculation and divisiveness up front. This way, the party who puts the most assets into the relationship, need not be concerned whether the marriage is a sham, i.e. your main squeeze is marrying you for your money and not just your charming personality. Once the document is drafted and the ink is dry from both parties’ signatures, then the wedding plans may resume in earnest.
Post-nuptial agreement
Perhaps the courtship preceding the marriage was a little hasty, and, after the “newness” of the nuptials has worn off, one or both of you realizes there might not be enough in common to sustain a longstanding marriage. But, neither of you are quitters, so off you go to see the family law attorney to put a post-nuptial agreement into place. “Post” is just how it sounds – essentially you are putting a contract into place for your financial security in the event the marriage falters down the line. It is merely being prudent to protect your financial assets, and, even more prudent that you and your spouse seek separate attorneys to prepare the post-nuptial agreement.
Divorce
A family law attorney is the go-to person when home life becomes intolerable. Divorce is considered, by many, a last resort and a topic not to tread into unless absolutely necessary. Along the way, from that first day of wedded bliss, there has been some additional baggage of sorts. That baggage may be emotional or financial. There will be heartache and the attorney must comfort the person who has come to end their marriage – even become a confidante of sorts, and, he/she must also become a financial consultant as to the way that the years of accumulated wealth, or debt, must be handled. Neither is an easy task, and further exacerbating the situation is when there are minor children involved. It gets tricky as to the financial aspect. There are many details. There will be documents to ensure that the attorney’s client is well provided for after the judge bangs down his gavel and declares the parties are divorced and the decree is final. Setting up a schedule for alimony, to provide funds to the person who will have parental custody of the children, is a critical part of the divorce process. These ongoing financial payments are known as alimony. In the case of a parent (and, by the way, this is not always a woman) who has elected to forsake a career, and stay at home to raise the children, there will be compensation forthcoming for expenses related to each of the minor children. There will be schedules drawn up for custody/visitation of the children as well.
But, despite the drafting and implementation of the various documents which delineate to the letter how post-divorce decree details, and the minutiae of alimony, child support and custodial versus visitation schedules will be handled, the cards rarely play out that way because emotions are often still raw and ex-partners begin to butt heads, despite the good counseling of attorneys and the wisdom and decree imparted by the judge who presided over the divorce proceedings. So back to the drawing board – or in this case to court to get the relief requested. Sometimes the situation is quickly rectified, and, sometimes, in the case of custodial payments or visitation, the issues languish in the courts, sometimes for years. Lady Justice may be wearing a blindfold, but your children are not … plus they have ears, so they are well aware of the angst between their parents.