Family Law, not Family Feud

What is family law?

A host of legal issues can easily arise between family members, whether they like it or not. How to deal with and mitigate these issues is largely not up to individual family members, especially if they encounter disagreement. A vast legal framework protects family members and, where necessary, to penalize them for neglect, crime, or delinquency.

Family law is a branch of civil law, but that doesn’t mean it encompasses less issues. Here’s a smattering of situations, ordeals, and concerns that family lawyers specialize in:

Domestic relations, marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, spousal and domestic abuse, child legitimacy, minors, adoption, post-nuptial agreements, surrogacy, child abuse and neglect, child abduction, juvenile dependency and delinquency, divorce, annulment, property settlements, alimony, parental responsibility, paternity, and division of assets.

Remember, that’s only a brief list.

To simplify a bit, think about how all these issues arise between a small number of key players: husbands, wives, parents, children, and domestic partners.

What constitutes family law will vary from state to state because personal relationships are governed by state law, not by the federal government.

You obviously want the best legal advice, service, and representation for you, your family, or your spouse. These simple steps will help you make the best decision.

1. Ask friends, coworkers, or family (those that aren’t involved in the dispute!) for recommendations. Maybe they’ve sought out family legal advice in the past and were happy with a specific lawyer or family law practice.
2. Put together a list of candidates and list their rates. Rates on the low-cost end of the scale can run $750 for full representation and no court appearance; $1000 for full representation and one court appearance; $2000 for full representation, multiple court appearances, and a trial. Some family law practices that offer extremely competitive rates, like $290 per hour. Expect to pay $2000 as an initial retainer for a divorce case. In New York State, $400 can get you the initial complaint, a judge to be assigned to your case, the case brought to court, and the service of this first process.
3. After narrowing your lawyer choices, give them a call and ask for references. Then call their references with questions about the lawyers’ services.
4. Set up initial meetings with the lawyer(s) you choose. Make sure to ask what the charges will be for these preliminary meetings.
5. When you’re speaking with lawyers, look for quick responses and honest answers without hesitation.

Because the practice of law can be an often-changing profession, you may want to ask your family lawyer about any developments or new areas of practice. Here’s one, for example. It’s called “collaborative law.” It provides parties with an alternative to litigation. Instead of going to court, group meetings allow the parties to negotiate. It’s much less stressful for the attorney. But if these group meetings don’t work as expected, there’s always the option of taking the case to court.