An order of protection, often known colloquially as a restraining order, is a type of legal document that protects you and your property from another person. In the realm of family law, orders of protection are often issued toward ex-spouses who are or have been abusive or who refuse to stay out of the lives of their ex and children…
Separation is an alternative to divorce, and has some significant differences that you should be familiar with when analyzing your options as your marriage begins to deteriorate. The most significant difference is that a divorce is the undisputed end of your marriage. Legal separation keeps the marriage intact, and you have the option to return to normal married life should…
My firm has handled thousands of cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS) neglect allegations and we have recently won a published appeal that has clarified the law in connection with the CPS definition of neglect. Teachers, doctors and others in certain professions have mandatory rules that force them to report anything that could be deemed to endanger the welfare of…
In most ways, divorce for military couples is exactly the same as it is for the average person. However, due to some federal laws and other certain aspects of military life, there are a few unique differences in military divorce that you should be familiar with if you are seeking one. The first difference is where you actually go to…
Once your divorce is finalized, you may wish to retake your maiden name. This is a common step taken by most women after divorce, as they understandably wish to begin to next phase of their life by shedding the last remaining tie to their previous marriage. There are a variety of laws in place to change your name, and the…
There may be situations in which your ex falls behind in child support payments, causing financial hardship for you as the custodial parent. Whether there is any malicious intent on the part of the support-paying parent is irrelevant — he or she has a legal obligation to fulfill the terms of the support arrangement. If your former spouse falls behind…
Depending on the circumstances of your relationship and divorce, courts may choose from any of a variety of types of child custody arrangements. While courts may draft unique arrangements based on your divorce, there are typically four different types of child custody arrangements that are used: Legal custody. A person who has legal custody a person who has both the…
If you have not been granted full custody of your children, the courts have likely given you a specific visitation arrangement that will enable you to see them. There are a variety of types of visitation, including weekend visitation, supervised visitation and more. If anyone attempts to interfere with your rights of visitation, there are steps you can take to…
Question: Is it helpful if your lawyer is a former judge? Answer: No If your lawyer was an ex-judge that would sound like he has an “in” in the Court system. This is far from the truth. We have experience in these matters as we have done numerous trials against attorneys who were ex-judges. What I have learned is that…
In some circumstances, parental rights can be terminated to provide full custody to one parent or guardian. This is a common issue in cases of adoption or in cases where one of the natural parents is clearly not in the picture. As such, there are several situations in which termination can occur, and it can be either voluntary or involuntary.…