Family Justice Center

Archive for the ‘Family Law’ Category

Don’t get caught out by the new rules on privacy laws which allow the media to attend many private family court hearings where previously they would have been excluded, says family law solicitor Anne Blenkinsop.

The rules, which came into force on April 27 2009, aim to encourage greater openness in future.

Anne, a partner and a collaborative lawyer* at leading regional law firm Furley Page, explains: “While the majority of such proceedings won’t be of interest to the press, there is always the chance that a reporter will ask to be admitted to the court room. They might be present, for example, when the court fixes the time table for financial disclosure and valuation of assets – or at the final hearing at which the assets are divided.

“But even if they are permitted to attend a hearing, it doesn’t give them the right to see private documents. Neither can they necessarily communicate information relating to the proceedings to the public.”

The media is excluded when the identity and interests of a child, a party or a witness need protection. The court can make this decision after hearing representations or on its own initiative.

* The collaborative family law process is a relatively new way of dealing with family difficulties and aims to resolve disputes in a fair way. It involves private face-to-face meetings between a separating couple and their solicitors and is felt to be preferable to the standard procedure of negotiating by letter and telephone. Both parties and solicitors sign an agreement to resolve the couple’s differences without going to court. If successful, their case would then be unlikely to attract any media attention.

There often comes a time when misunderstandings between two people who tied the nuptial knot rise to a height that they no longer wish to stay together. One needs to be aware of family law to get separated legally. The family law of Florida permits both fault divorce as well as no fault divorce. Divorces can be either contested or uncontested. Contested divorces are those which have disputes on certain issues. Uncontested divorces are those in which both the parties agree on all major issues or one of the parties, fails to take steps to contest the divorce.

To apply for a divorce in Florida, the couple must have stayed in Florida for at least six months before applying for divorce. Uncontested divorces require a marital separation agreement and a short hearing. Contested divorces usually take a long time and are difficult to deal. Filing for divorce needs to be made either in the region where the couple currently resides or in the place where they last stayed together.

Divorce becomes more complicated when the couple has minor children from their marriage and both fight for the custody of the children or child. The decision of the custody is always taken in the welfare of the child. The non custodial parent is responsible to pay for child support to the custodial parent. The percentage of child support to be paid is decided taking into consideration the salary of custodial parent as well as non custodial parent, needs of the child, age of the child, standard of living etc.

According to the family law of Florida, a legal father is responsible for all the rights as well as responsibilities towards the child. The husband of the woman delivering a child becomes a legal father even if the child was born of her relation with some other individual. He will remain as the legal father until the biological father claims for paternity of the child. The court then decides about whether or not to establish paternity of the biological father depending on the best interests of child.

Unmarried parents living together have separate rules for separation. According to Florida law, if the man is not married to the child’s mother during birth, he has no right to claim for custody even if his name appears on the child’s birth certificate. Such men should file for paternity after undergoing a paternity test through DNA testing.

Sometimes domestic violence becomes the cause of divorce. Abusing the spouse is a serious crime and hence can be filed in court. There are a number of criminal defense lawyers to help out.

Although it is better to avoid separation, but when it becomes a must, take proper steps by knowing the laws before hand.