What is family law?
Family law is a term used to encompass a broad range of legal topics that typically revolve around marriage and children. This can include a range of specific subjects like:
- Divorce – A divorce is a court procedure that formally dissolves a legal marriage
- Adoption – This type of court procedure makes an adult the legally recognized parent of a child that is not his or her biological child. This formally establishes a legal parent-child relationship
- Guardianship – When a child or person over eighteen years of age that has been declared mentally or physically incapacitate has no one to care for them, a court will appointed a supervisor known as a legal guardian
- State child protection – The State can step in and take a child into protective care in situations involving parents who are being investigated for neglect or abuse.
- Domestic violence – The law defines domestic violence as more than a man beating his wife. Rather, this behavior includes any person exerting forcible control, including emotional and physical abuse, over another person. This can include partners that are married or not married, heterosexual or gay, living together, separated or even just dating
- Restraining orders – A restraining order is a special court order that is placed against an individual requiring them to either do or not do a specific act. A restraining order is typically used in harassment, domestic violence, stalking, and/or sexual assault cases
- Child support – This is the amount of money a parent is required by the court to pay to the parent who retains primary custody of the child or children. Child support is ordered for the benefit of the child, and meant to help pay for the child’s food, shelter, clothing, health care and educational expenditures
- Alimony – Spousal support is court ordered regular payments that are made from one spouse to the other during a separation or even after a divorce. The purpose of this spousal support is to recognize the recipient spouse’s contribution to the marriage, even if it was not financial, and to assist the spouse in achieving financial independence post-marriage
This is not an exhaustive list of family law subjects, but it does highlight some of the most common ones.
What types of legal documents are involved in family law?
Some of the most common family law documents involve divorce. This can cover a wide array of topics including custody, child support, alimony and more. A legal document assistant can help their clients with a wide range of family law documents including:
- Filing for separation or divorce
- Alimony
- Child custody
- Visitation
- Child support
- Annulment
The division of property during divorce is also a common issue in family law cases. When you are attempting to file for divorce or other uncontested family law matters, consider hiring a legal document assistant to ensure your legal papers and filings are done correctly in lieu of hiring an attorney.
Is there a difference between divorce and annulment?
Yes. Though both are court procedures that dissolve a marriage, they are not viewed the same. Unlike a divorce, which recognizes the marriage, an annulment treats the marriage as if it never happened.
Can I get a divorce without hiring a lawyer?
Not all divorces are messy. Oftentimes, spouses can peacefully divide their assets themselves. If you are filing for divorce and know that you and your spouse can divide your assets and make other important decisions together, you do not need a lawyer. Typically, lawyers are hired in divorce proceedings when spouses need someone to ensure they receive a fair division of the assets, when the couple cannot decide on child custody or any other important issues. Sometimes you may be able to use a third neutral person, known as a mediator, instead of hiring a lawyer to help you evenly divide assets and make important decisions together.
Many people cannot afford to or do not wish to spend the money to hire a lawyer when getting divorced. While you can obtain “do-it-yourself” books or software to prepare your divorce or other legal documents, it is not a good idea. These complex legal documents are difficult to complete correctly without the proper knowledge or background. Oftentimes books and software cannot keep up to date with the many frequent changes in court procedures, local laws, or required documents and forms when filing for divorce or other family law matters.
Can I & E Solutions help me with my Family Law legal documents?
If your family law documents are not properly prepared, it could cause potential problems when you attempt to file them. Rather than risk prolonging a divorce or other family law matter due to improperly prepared documents, trust the skilled and experienced team at I & E Solutions.
I & E Solutions is here to offer assistance to those in uncontested legal matters by preparing their necessary documents. Our registered and bonded Legal Document Assistants will always prepare documents in accordance with court rules. Our comprehensive document preparation services do not end with simply preparing your documents. Rather, we will file and follow matters in the court until conclusion while updating clients throughout the process.
When you take advantage of our extensive family law document preparation services, you will know that your documents for divorce or other family law related matters are prepared correctly and in a timely manner. Rather than hiring an attorney or spending hours trying to figure out how to correctly prepare documents, trust the experts at I & E Solutions.
We are not attorneys. We can only provide self-help services at your direction. Services are provided at customer’s request and are not a substitute for advice of a lawyer.
I & E Solutions is owned and operated by a Registered and Bonded Legal Document Assistant.
