Why Hiring a Divorce Attorney is Essential for Your Case
If your divorce case is complicated, you need an attorney that understands and can keep up with the various issues and complications that often arise during a divorce proceeding. The best attorneys use legal-focused management software to track your case’s details to connect all the dots quickly.
Child Custody
A Sugar Land divorce attorney can help you negotiate custody arrangements that work for your family. They can also provide legal guidance and ensure all paperwork is completed correctly and filed with the court.
Your lawyer can explain Texas’s various child custody options if you have children. A court will consider the parent’s ability to care for their children, any history of abuse or domestic violence that may affect their well-being, and equal the amount of time each parent spends with the child.
If the parties cannot agree, they will go to trial. A Sugar Land divorce lawyer with litigation experience can help you avoid lengthy and expensive problems. They can help you fight to keep assets that are yours.
Property Division
During divorce proceedings, spouses must divide all property they acquired during the marriage. It can include real property, bank and investment accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, stock options, restricted stock, patents (pending and issued), livestock, artwork, vehicles, furniture, jewelry, collections, and more. Analyzing complex financial documents can be necessary for high-net-worth divorces to ensure fair and equitable distribution of assets.
Under Texas law, spouses are entitled to a fair and equitable division of marital property. However, it does not necessarily mean equal. A judge will decide which assets are separate and which are married, considering each party’s contributions to the marriage.
A family law attorney will help you navigate this process and protect your interests. They will also assist you in establishing visitation and child support. They can even help with paternity issues if necessary.
Child Support
How a couple’s children will be cared for during a divorce is one of the main concerns that must be settled if they have children. It is called child support, and it is based on a set mathematical formula that considers both parents’ income. Child support covers mandatory add-on costs like health insurance, daycare, and extracurricular activities.
Having a Sugar Land attorney by your side is crucial when dealing with this sensitive issue. A competent attorney can advise you on whether or not your case even merits going to trial.
In addition, an experienced attorney can assist you in negotiating and filing all the proper paperwork required by law. It includes a Temporary Restraining Order prohibiting your spouse from making large purchases or changing the status quo in your home. Lastly, a reasonable attorney will have testimonials from previous clients to reassure you they are dedicated to their cases.
Spousal Support
Spousal support is a more modern and less outdated version of the older term “alimony.” Spousal support ‘be either short-term or long-term. It used to be tied to fault-based divorces, but now it is more based on the ability of a spouse to earn money and their potential earnings. It can also be linked to health and age considerations.
The court will also conduct a discovery process during which both parties can ask questions and request documents from the other party. An experienced divorce lawyer can help ensure that this part of the divorce process is conducted fairly and effectively.
If spouses agree on all significant divorce issues, they can file an uncontested divorce. This process may take longer than contested divorces but still requires filing several forms and paying filing fees. A Sugar Land divorce attorney must review all paperwork before submitting it to the court.