The Surprising Custody Facts You Didn’t Know

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Divorce is always tricky, even when people approach it with the best of intentions especially when children are involved. As any custody lawyer can tell you, divorce proceedings often become more contentious when people are dealing with matters related to custody. With that in mind, let’s look into some of the things you may not know about child custody.

1. You Don’t Have to Go To Court

While many couples do end up going to court over custody, it is not required that you do so when it comes to determining living arrangements. You and your ex can determine custody issues while working through your lawyers while avoiding the battles and fees that come with going to court. For example, in about 51% of all custody cases, both parents agreed that the mother should be the custodial parent.

2. Visitation and Child Support Are Separate Matters

Some parents believe that if they are unable to visit their children, they do not have to pay child support to their ex. This is not the case. Although this issue can vary from state to state, visitation generally isn’t linked to child support. Therefore, if a parent is keeping the person paying child support from their child, the child support still must be paid. Similarly, if someone is behind on child support, this doesn’t mean that their child can be kept from them.

3. There Are Different Types of Custody

Custody does not just refer to who the child lives with. A custody lawyer may help their client determine which type of custody is available: Physical custody determines where the child lives; legal custody determines who makes decisions about things like medical issues and religious upbringing; sole custody decides which parent takes full responsibility for the child, or joint custody where custody is shared by both parents. While custody cases can vary wildly depending on where you live, who your custody lawyer is, and other factors, everyone should keep the child’s best interests in mind. Custody isn’t about determining what is best for the parents; it’s about what is best for children.

How to Avoid Bankruptcy and What to Do If You Can’t

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Filing for bankruptcy might seem like an easy way out, but before you do so, it’s important to consider other alternatives. That’s because there are certain consequences of declaring bankruptcy. For instance, if you have filed for bankruptcy, you have to attend credit counseling and financial management education. Let’s look at some ways to help you avoid bankruptcy.

Perform a Budget Overhaul

If you want to avoid bankruptcy, you need to take a close look at your budget. If you look at your spending history, you can easily figure out ways to downsize your budget. The whole point is to make sure that you’re spending way less than you earn. So, start by looking at your income while also keeping in mind that things like child support are considered as income. In fact, child support income accounted for over 70.3% or two-thirds of the average annual personal income for custodial parents below poverty who received full child support.

In any case, once you have figured out your income, the whole point is to spend less than that. Fortunately, there are ways to downsize your spending, including driving a cheaper car or eating out less.

Consolidate Or Pay Down Your Debts

Being over-indebted can leave you wondering if you should file for bankruptcy. Fortunately, there are other debt management options you can look into it. If you can, consider paying down your debts to the best of your abilities. This will be easier once you have managed to reduce your spending. You’ll have more disposable income that can go towards paying down your debt. If you keep it up long enough, you’ll be able to reduce the size of your debt. Similarly, debt consolidation combines all your debt into one account so that it’s easier to manage.

What to Do If You Can’t Avoid Bankruptcy

While it’s ideal to avoid bankruptcy, sometimes you might not have an option. In that case, the most important thing to do is hire a bankruptcy lawyer. If you’re filing for bankruptcy, there are many advantages to having a bankruptcy lawyer represent you. A bankruptcy lawyer will help you navigate the legal process, and they will also negotiate on your behalf with creditors. To make a long story short, a bankruptcy lawyer will make the process of filing for bankruptcy less stressful.

So, while you can avoid bankruptcy by reducing your spending and finding ways to manage your debt, this isn’t always feasible. If you can’t avoid bankruptcy, then it’s best to work with a bankruptcy attorney.

5 Common Questions About Child Custody

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Even the most amicable of divorces can get complicated when children are involved. That’s why we’re looking into some of the most commonly asked questions about child custody. The more you know about child custody before your divorce proceedings begin, the better for not only you but your entire family.

You’ll probably hear about legal custody versus physical custody during proceedings. Legal custody is the ability to make decisions on behalf of your child, like decisions regarding where they go to school and their vaccines. Physical custody determines where the child lives. While you may think that physical custody would equal legal custody, this is not always the case. Parents often have their child primarily live with one parent, while both parents share legal custody.

What Determines Custody?

Different factors go into how parents divide custody, and each custody case is individualized. For example, 54.7% of all custodial parents have one child, while more children may require more intervention from both parents. When a custody case goes to court, factors like the child’s relationship with the parents, the wishes of all involved, and the parent’s ability to provide for their child are all considered.

Do I Need A Lawyer?

Generally speaking, you should at least consider speaking with an attorney if you find yourself in the midst of a child custody case. Many lawyers do offer free consultations, and you can take advantage to see if working with an attorney ht for you.

What if My Case Involves Domestic Violence?

Domestic violence charges do affect custody cases, as courts are reluctant to award custody to parents who have serious domestic violence allegations against them.

Do Custody Laws Vary?

Custody laws do vary from state to state. It’s important that you become familiar with the laws in your specific state before you begin your divorce proceedings. This could affect your custody arrangement.

Determining custody can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to involve fighting. Approach your custody case with the best interests of your child in mind.

Why You Need To Plan For The Future Now

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It happens in a single moment, and your entire future is changed forever. The passing of a loved one is never easy, even when their death is expected or imminent. Once the initial shock has passed, grieving loved ones are often left behind to deal with significant paperwork issues. In many cases, hospitals, schools, or other agencies, may demand paperwork that may be hard to obtain, and these entities might want it as soon as possible.

The ones left behind are juggling legal and financial issues alongside processing their grief and the emotional hole the loved one has left behind. One of the best things anybody can do for their loved ones is to prepare their legal and financial matters ahead of time. None of us ever really know when our final moments will be.

There are several benefits to planning for estate matters now. Suppose you have or know of others in your family that may cause trouble for those left behind. In that case, having properly drawn up paperwork will prevent disputes from arising and protect your loved ones from expensive legal battles. Suppose you know there is significant debt to be paid after the fact. In that case, you’ll want to make sure you have sufficient life insurance to cover it or your assets placed in such a way that will prevent creditors from seizing them. Over half of Americans, 55% of them, pass away without a properly executed will or estate plan.

Each state has unique rules regarding death, debt, and estate matters. These laws can have an impact on unknowing loved ones left behind. The freshness of the effect of loss will leave loved ones vulnerable to less than ethical debt collectors or others who may try to bully the loved ones into making choices without complete information. It is essential to plan your estate for all eventualities.

In addition, estate lawyers handling things now for you can also help you when your life circumstances change. Suppose you get divorced. What happens to your estate plans once this happens? Suppose you come into even more money than you did before. How should that be distributed? An attorney can walk you through these scenarios and work with you to come up with a solution.

Working with qualified estate planning attorneys can help ease your entire family’s legal and financial transition after death. They will be able to manage the situation far easier, giving you peace of mind.

What Factors Lead to Divorce?

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Divorce is very common. But what causes divorce in the first place? If two people willingly get married, what can cause them to change their minds? While every couple is different, there are several common factors that lead to divorce. Some are easier to handle than others, but all of them come with their own complications.

Abuse and Neglect

If one spouse is abusive toward the other and/or their children, this can be a serious factor that leads to divorce. In this situation, child support and custody arrangements can get complicated. There might be legal consequences for the abusive spouse, which impacts their ability to either have contact with their children or make money to pay child support. This is a situation in which divorce lawyers and the courts will work to untangle in a way that keeps everybody safe.

Infidelity

If one or both partners strays outside of their marriage vows, this might be a cause for divorce. Each marriage has its own boundaries and rules, so a divorce caused by infidelity can be either amiable or emotional. However, this can make child custody agreements difficult. While the cheating partner might have hurt their spouse, the courts might feel this doesn’t impact their ability to be a good parent. This is another situation where it is important that each side work with a divorce lawyer. The lawyers can work objectively to set up a plan that is as fair as possible for each side.

Incompatibility

Sometimes people just realize they shouldn’t be married to each other. This can happen early on or it can happen after decades of marriage. Out of every thousand women, the divorce rate is currently twice as high as it was in the 1960s, when divorce was extremely uncommon. However, it is not nearly as high as it was at its peak of 22.6 in the early 1980s. These days, people can explore their compatibility before making a commitment to marriage, but still have the option to divorce. This means they can separate for any reason they feel they need to, then work out the logistics in the courts.

There are a range of reasons why someone might file for divorce, ranging from simple preference to physical danger. It’s important to work with the courts and your divorce lawyers in order to make the process as simple as possible.