Buckhead Family Lawyer

Going through a legal issue within your own family can be very difficult both emotionally and financially, and anyone going through such a personal struggle may benefit from professional legal guidance. A Buckhead family lawyer may be able to help you with a wide variety of family-related legal problems, including difficult issues such as property division and child custody, managing family rights, and even helping with adoptions. Seek the services of a compassionate and experienced attorney and know that you are in good hands.

Dissolution of Marriage and Related Legal Issues

When people think about a Buckhead family law attorney, divorce is often the first thing that comes to mind. Divorce is the process by which a couple can legally terminate a marriage, but the process of doing so involves many separate issues, ranging from potentially straightforward decisions regarding child custody and parenting time to more emotionally charged disagreements over property division and child and spousal support.

Child Custody

Child custody involves both legal and physical custody. Legal custody grants a parent the right to make important choices about their child’s upbringing, such as those related to medical treatment and the child’s religious upbringing, while physical custody refers to who the child will live with most of the time. Custody may be joint or sole in nature, although a parent who does not have physical custody of their child is usually granted parenting time and may have to pay child support.

The Official Code of Georgia 19-9-3 requires family court judges to make custody decisions based on the best interests of the children. The law explicitly states that the gender of the parent should not be considered in custody decisions. Instead, the judge should make the decision based on who can best provide for the children’s physical, emotional, and educational needs.

The courts expect parents to submit detailed parenting plans describing how they will cooperatively raise their children. When parents cannot agree, each submits their own plan and the family court judge decides based on which best furthers the children’s interests. Ideally, parents work together to create the plan that is right for their family.

Child Support

Both parents must support their children financially. The custodial parent, who is the parent the children live with most of the time, usually receives payments from the non-custodial parent. Financial support is a child’s right, and parents cannot waive child support even if they do not need the money.

Child support is based on a formula. However, once a couple calculates the formula amount there are numerous adjustments and possible deviations they can apply. It is wise to work with an experienced Buckhead family law attorney to ensure your calculations are correct.

Property Division

Georgia courts use the equitable distribution standard to decide property division issues. An equitable distribution of the marital property is not necessarily an equal split. Each spouse gets a portion of the property that seems fair considering the circumstances.

When a couple has complex finances dividing the marital property can be a time-consuming and contentious process. First, the spouses must distinguish marital property from separate property. Then, they must agree on evaluation of the marital property. Only then can they negotiate a fair division.

Spousal Support

Spousal support, which used to be called alimony, is not automatic in a Georgia divorce. The spouse seeking ongoing financial support must prove that they have a need and must also prove that the other spouse has the means to pay.

When a family court judge grants post divorce financial support it is usually temporary. Except in cases of long marriages, or when a spouse‘s age or health prevents them from becoming self supporting, the alimony obligation typically ends after several years.

A Buckhead lawyer may be able to help families understand these various legal issues and the processes that accompany them. A family law attorney can also help couples address issues related to divorce in advance by helping them obtain a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement.

Other Family Law Issues Surrounding Children

While divorce is one of the most common family law issues, individuals may have many other reasons for seeking guidance from a family law attorney. As mentioned above, they may seek legal guidance for child custody, parenting time, or child support that is not part of a divorce.

Other family law issues that affect children include paternity, adoption, emancipation, child abuse, and third-party custody issues. A lawyer in Buckhead could explain the details of any of these legal issues further and help families work through them together.

Paternity and Legitimation

When unmarried couples have children in Georgia, only the mother has legal parental rights. An unmarried father can acknowledge paternity by submitting a form with his coparent at the child’s birth. Acknowledging paternity allows the father’s name to be on the baby’s birth certificate and obligates the father to provide financial support to the child.

However, another step is required for an unmarried father to gain full parental rights. The father must bring a court petition to legitimize his child to gain the right to custody and parenting time. Our Buckhead family attorneys can assist a father who wants to legitimize his children.

Sometimes fathers do not sign an acknowledgment of paternity because they were unaware of a pregnancy or dispute that they fathered a particular child. Either parent can bring a paternity action in the Georgia family courts to establish a man’s paternity. When a father disputes paternity a Georgia family court judge will typically order a genetic test to resolve the issue.

Adoption

Many couples choose to grow their families through adoption. Our team can assist you whether you are choosing to adopt through the foster care system, a private domestic adoption agency, or international adoption.

Rights of Grandparents in Buckhead

While child custody and visitation issues usually arise between the parents of a child, they may sometimes involve a grandparent or other relative. A grandparent may seek visitation rights when a parent of a child is preventing them from having a relationship with the grandchild, but not if their grandchild currently lives with both parents who are still married. In the latter case, the court defers to the parents’ decision regarding time spent between the child and grandparent.

Grandparents seeking custody of a grandchild may have an uphill battle ahead of them unless the child’s parents voluntarily relinquish custody to them. In most cases, however, the parents’ right to care for their child is given considerable weight. A grandparent seeking custody of a grandchild will most likely have to show the parents are unfit and that custody being granted to them is in the child’s best interests.

Consulting a Buckhead Family Attorney

The scope of family law is broad and deals with many issues, from marriage and divorce to children’s well-being. No matter what type of family law issue you are struggling with, you could seek knowledgeable advice from a Buckhead family lawyer by calling today and scheduling an initial meeting with our intake team.