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Family Law
Legal Matters Involving Families and Relationships
Family law, also known as matrimonial law, deals with legal issues arising from family relationships and domestic matters. Attorneys practicing in this area handle a wide range of issues, including divorce, child custody, child support, and spousal maintenance. Some family law attorneys specialize in adoption, paternity, surrogacy, emancipation, or other matters not directly related to divorce.
State laws determine the formal requirements for marriage, such as age and legal capacity, and establish the rules and procedures for divorce, adoption, and other family matters. While many states historically restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples, this area of law is evolving rapidly.
Family law also covers issues such as civil unions, domestic partnerships, child abuse, and child abduction, providing legal guidance and protection for families in complex and sensitive situations.
Divorce And Separation
A “separation” is when a couple decides to live apart from each other because the relationship has broken down. The couple may be married, or they may be unmarried but living together like a married couple in a common-law relationship. A “divorce” is when a court officially ends a marriage. Only legally married couples can divorce. In a legal separation, the parties are still married, versus a divorce where the marriage is ended. A legal separation is a court order that mandates the rights and duties of a couple while they are still married, but living apart. In a divorce, the spouses are no longer married. Legal separations are not too common, but can be helpful to a situation where the spouses work through any personal or financial issues affecting the marriage.
Custody
The legal right to take care of a child (such as a child whose parents are divorced).
Child Support And Alimony
Child support is payment to help raise young children. The custodial parent who is set to spend more time with the kids generally receives child support because they will spend more money on childcare. These payments typically end when the children reach a certain age, usually 18 or 21. Unlike alimony, there is no tax deduction for child support. The person receiving child support also does not need to pay income tax for receiving this money. Alimony, also known as spousal support, consists of payments that one spouse makes to the other person after their divorce is final to maintain the same standard of living after the divorce. A divorce agreement usually involves alimony when one person makes more than the other; the higher earning spouse pays out alimony. The person paying alimony is typically able to claim the alimony as a tax deduction, while the person receiving alimony needs to report the payments as income.