Family law cases often involve some of the most important and emotionally charged aspects of your life, such as your livelihood and children. When dealing with such important issues, it is wise to seek legal advice about how to best to proceed. No matter what type of familial legal issue you are facing, a Marietta family lawyer can help you navigate the legal system and achieve a positive resolution. Speak with a compassionate family law attorney from our firm who can work toward a positive outcome for you.
Types of Family Law Issues
A family law attorney in Marietta can assist with many different types of cases. Many family law issues overlap, and individuals may find themselves dealing with multiple issues simultaneously. For example, someone dealing with a divorce may also need to address custody and child support issues.
Some common legal issues a Marietta family law attorney may be able to assist with include:
- Divorce
- Child custody and support
- Marital agreements
- Domestic violence
- Surrogacy and artificial conception
- Child guardianship
- Paternity
- Adoption
How Can a Marietta Family Lawyer Help With a Divorce?
One of the most common reasons for someone to seek a family law attorney is because they are involved in a divorce proceeding. The legal function of divorce is to terminate a marriage, but in reality, the process involves many other issues, such as the division of property, child custody, child support, and spousal support.
A Marietta family law attorney can help someone considering divorce understand their rights and decide how to proceed. A divorce settlement will have a tremendous impact on the individual’s life going forward, so setting clear priorities and realistic expectations is critical.
Most couples can successfully negotiate a fair settlement. When they can do so ahead of a divorce filing, they can seek an uncontested divorce, which is a speedier process and can result in considerable savings in legal fees. Many couples begin legal proceedings before they can reach a settlement, but with the help of a mediator or direct negotiation between their legal representatives, they settle their divorce before a trial.
High Conflict Divorce
Sometimes by the time a couple decides to divorce, their relationship has deteriorated to the point that they cannot communicate effectively or constructively. Violence, emotional abuse, or coercive control may be a feature in these relationships.
Negotiation is rarely effective in such situations. High conflict and narcissistic divorces require representation from an aggressive attorney who is comfortable resolving legal issues in the courtroom. The Marietta family attorneys at our firm are skilled litigators who will work diligently to protect your rights and ensure you meet your goals in divorce.
Marital Agreements
A family law attorney will be able to help anyone facing a divorce currently, but it is also wise to consider the possibility of divorce even prior to marriage. For instance, a prenuptial agreement is a contract a couple may enter with each other prior to marriage that addresses the division of property, allocation of debts, and spousal support in the event of divorce.
Alternatively, parties who get married without a premarital agreement may want to consider entering into an agreement after marriage that addresses the same issues, known as a postnuptial agreement. Postnuptial agreements are also an effective way to change the terms of a prenuptial agreement that is no longer fair or does not meet the couple’s current needs.
Both parties to a marital agreement should have their own attorney review it and explain its implications. The members of our family law team can draft, review, and revise a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
How Are Family Law Issues Involving Children Decided in Marietta?
When it comes to issues involving children — such as custody, visitation, guardianship, and adoption — the courts must always prioritize the best interests of the child. This means that legal decisions that affect children should be made with the goal of fostering the child’s happiness, security, and emotional development.
The best interests of the child include factors such as the child’s need for a stable home environment, the age and sex of the child, the child’s wishes, and any special needs of the child.
This decision also typically incorporates the child’s relationship to others in the household and extended family. A Marietta family attorney can help establish this.
Child Support
A common family law issue that affects children is child support. Both parents are legally obligated to provide financial support for a child. Child support amounts are based on many factors, but usually include the income of both parents and the special needs of the child.
Paternity and Legitimation
Many unmarried couples raise children together. This is now commonplace, but the law in Georgia still distinguishes between the rights of married and unmarried fathers.
Unmarried couples can establish their child’s paternity by signing an acknowledgment of paternity in the hospital when their child is born. This acknowledgment allows the father‘s name to appear on the child’s birth certificate, and obligates the father to provide for the child financially. However, it does not bestow other parental rights.
The Official Code of Georgia §19-7-22 requires an unmarried father seeking full parental rights to petition the family court to issue an order legitimizing the child. If granted, the father gains the right to seek parenting time, decision-making, authority, and custody of the child if he and his co-parent separate.
Child Custody Issues
Separating or divorcing couples are often most concerned about how the change in their relationship will impact their relationships with their children. The law in Georgia is gender-neutral and does not favor one parent over the other when it comes to deciding where the children live and how much time they will spend with the non-residential parent.
Parents must submit a plan to the court describing in detail their preferred arrangements regarding the children. The plan must include information about where the children will live, how the parents will share time with the children, transportation arrangements, and which parent has decision-making authority over the children’s health, education, and religion.
Ideally, the parents can successfully negotiate a parenting plan and jointly submit it to the family court judge. When parents cannot agree, each must submit their preferred plan and the judge will choose between them or substitute their own plan.
Custody Disputes
When parents cannot reach a custody agreement, courts often appoint a third party to investigate each parent’s home and relationship with the children. The third party then makes a recommendation to the court about what custody arrangement serves the children’s best interests. Our Marietta family law team can provide valuable guidance to parents facing a custody evaluation.
Talk to a Marietta Family Law Attorney
Family law cases cover a wide range of legal issues. In addition to the more well-known issues such as divorce, custody, and child support, family law attorneys also deal with a variety of other issues, including paternity, emancipation, surrogacy, and artificial insemination.
Whether you are dealing with one of the legal issues discussed here or any other familial legal issue, a Marietta family lawyer may be able to help. Contact a family law attorney today to discuss your situation and find out how you might be able to get the outcome you are seeking.
Atlanta Divorce Law Group
533 Johnson Ferry Rd, Suite D-450
Marietta, GA 30068
678-905-5746
Business Hours
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday, 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Specialized Categories
Divorce Lawyer Marietta, GA
Divorce Attorney Marietta, GA
Child Custody Lawyers Marietta, GA
Child Custody Lawyer Marietta, GA
Child Visitation Attorney Marietta, GA
Nearby Places
Restaurants:
Mezza Luna Pasta & Seafood, Seed Kitchen & Bar, Camps Kitchen and Bar
Hotels:
DoubleTree by Hilton Atlanta Perimeter Dunwoody, Wyndham Atlanta Galleria, Radisson Hotel Atlanta-Marietta
