Family Law

Our Attorneys and staff are ready to assist those in need of guidance and assistance in Family Law matters.  CCM is able to provide advice in the following areas:

Divorce (Contested and Uncontested)

1. A fault divorce may be granted when the proper grounds for divorce are present and at least one spouse files for it.

The traditional fault grounds are:

• cruelty (inflicting unnecessary emotional or physical pain) -- this is the most frequently used ground for divorce
• adultery
• desertion for a specified length of time
• confinement in prison for a set number of years, and physical inability to engage in sexual intercourse, if it was not disclosed before marriage.

2. The divorce/dissolution petition is a legal document that is filed in court by a spouse who seeks a divorce. Also called the "complaint" in some states, the petition informs the court of the filing spouse's (called the "petitioner") desire to end the marriage, and its filing with the court signifies the initiation of the divorce process. Once the divorce/dissolution petition has been "served" on the petitioner's spouse, it also notifies him or her that the divorce process has begun. The person who has been served with the petition has a certain number of days to respond to the petition.

3. A divorce can be resolved through informal negotiations between the divorcing spouses (usually with attorneys), through use of out-of-court alternative dispute resolution proceedings that tend to facilitate a voluntary settlement, or in the traditional court setting -- when a judge or jury makes final decisions. The vast majority of divorces are resolved before issues must go before a judge or jury, many through the use of alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation, collaborative family law, and arbitration.

4. Points or factors that determine distribution of assets:

• The Family Home
• Other Real Estate
• Family-owned Business
• Pensions
• Personal Property
• Allocation of Debt
• Credit Card Accounts
• Insurance Policies
• Effect of Bankruptcy
• Personal Injury Awards
• Lottery Winnings

Paternity

Paternity" refers to the legal establishment of who is the father of a child. While the identity of a child's biological mother is usually by nature easy to establish, the father's identity may in some cases be uncertain. Paternity issues often arise in cases involving child support, but they can also be important in relation to adoption, inheritance, custody and visitation, health care, and other issues.

Child Custody and Visitation

There are several custody issues that need to be addressed. For example:
1. Sole Custody
2. Legal Custody
3. Physical Custody
4. Joint Custody

Each custody issue is addressed either by the parties, through an agreement, by a mediator and finally by a judge.

Child Support

When married parents divorce or separate, or when only one of the unmarried parents of a child has custody, the court may order the "non-custodial" parent (the parent with whom the child does not live) to pay a certain portion of his or her income as child support. This is not the only scenario in which child support might arise. Less frequently, when neither parent has custody, the court may order them to pay child support to a third party who cares for their child.

No matter what situation gives rise to the need for child support, it might help to think of the legal right to child support as being possessed by a child (which it technically is), for his or her proper care and upbringing, regardless of who actually receives child support payments.

Settlement Agreements

If a divorcing couple (and their attorneys) negotiate and resolve all issues related to their divorce, whether informally or through out-of-court processes like mediation, the couple's decisions are finalized in detail in a written marital settlement agreement. This agreement is then shown to a judge in the county/district branch of state court where the divorce petition was filed. An informal hearing will usually follow, during which the judge will ask some basic factual questions, and whether each party understands and chose to voluntarily sign the agreement. As long as the judge is satisfied that the agreement was fairly negotiated, and the terms do not appear to blatantly favor one spouse over the other, the settlement agreement will almost always receive court approval.

Issues in a marital settlement agreements:

• Child Custody
• Living Arrangements
• Visitation Schedule
• Division of the couple's marital property, debts, and resolution of other financial matters;
• Child support and spousal support (alimony: who pays, who receives, how much, when, etc