Colleen Sparks
The American model for resolving legal disputes is an adversarial system involving high conflict. This may protect the interests of business litigants in civil court but tends to ignore the consequences of making a contest over every issue to individuals and families in the family law setting. It encourages otherwise decent people to become obsessed with “winning” often at the expense of everyone involved, resulting in a black hole of vicious unproductive litigation.
Whether the adversarial system is ideal for resolving family law disputes is a question best left to the legal philosophers. The more relevant question is how do you reach the end of a family law case without falling victim to the American adversarial system? There is no one answer to this question, but one solution is having the right attorney by your side. The right attorney can guide you through your family law case productively reaching settlements outside of court when possible and vigorously advocating for your interest in court when appropriate.
Source: https://www.custodyfamilyattorneyriverside.com/
When parents decide to separate or get a divorce their children are necessarily impacted in a variety of ways. Provided they are safe and cared for in an appropriate manner, children have the right to enjoy time with both of their parents even when the parents are no longer together. When parents are unable to agree on the division of their child’s time, it may be necessary to involve the courts in the arrangement of child custody.
Many child custody cases are filled with complications and intricacies requiring the knowledge and skill of an experienced child custody lawyer who is accomplished in the field.
A paternity case is generally used to legally determine or confirm the biological father of a minor child when the parents were not married at the time of the child’s birth. Before child support, child custody and parenting time (visitation) orders can be obtained, usually, a child’s parentage must be established in court.
Establishing parentage means obtaining a court order or signing an official declaration of paternity that says who the legal parents of a child are. This is important because if the parents of a child were not married when the mother became pregnant or when the child was born, the child does not have a legal father until parentage is established. So even if a father can prove he is the biological father of a child, if he was never married to the mother, he does not legally have any rights or responsibilities for the child when there is no divorce filed. This means parentage must be established legally to protect the parental rights of the father and to protect the right of the child to be emotionally and financially supported by both parents.
Let’s face it, divorce isn’t for couples who have no problems, and most spouses enter the divorce process feeling hurt and wronged by the other spouse. However, California is a no-fault divorce state, which means a spouse can file for divorce at any time and for no other reason than “irreconcilable differences,” and property division in California divorce cases is never influenced by the behavior of either spouse, although child custody and visitation rights can be.
Deciding to end a marriage is easily one of the hardest decisions a person can make in their lifetime. Navigating the legal system can be daunting for anyone without an extensive legal background at the best of times, and the middle of a divorce is certainly not the best of times for anyone. Family law cases, in particular, can become complicated and messy when not handled properly, however, hiring an attorney early in the process can help avoid the mistakes that inevitably occur when parties seeking divorce represent themselves in court.
In California, domestic violence is abuse or the threat of abuse when the person being abused and the abuser are or have been in an intimate relationship (married or domestic partners, dating or used to date, live or lived together, or have a child together). It is also when the abused person and the abusive person are closely related by blood or by marriage.
Our firm is here to help anyone who is the victim of abuse, no matter the circumstances. We are here to advise and defend our clients when no one else believes them, and when they feel like no one is listening.
Family Law Lawyer Serving the Inland Empire of Southern California.
Colleen is a preeminent Southern Califo...
