Family Law

The decisions couples make during divorce and separation have long-term effects on themselves and their children. For clients in a divorce or separation, there are three major interrelated subject areas to consider:

• Those related to children, including custody, visitation and child support
• Those related to property, including valuation and division ("equitable distribution") of property and payment of debts
• Those related to ongoing support payments by one spouse to the other, often called "spousal support," "alimony" or "maintenance"

Other important subject areas include health care insurance, life insurance and tax consequences. Decisions regarding these areas may be made by the couple alone, or with the assistance of a mediator, counselor, or their attorneys. In a contested divorce, a judge rules regarding these subject areas. These issues can be resolved without court intervention, or by a judge, depending on various factors:

• Difficulty of the issues presented
• Reasonableness of the spouses
• Degree of diligence utilized by their respective attorneys in formulating and presenting fair and meaningful settlement positions on the issues

The goal of the divorce process, by agreement or by Court, is to arrive at a "fair and equitable" result. What that means depends on the facts of each particular case. What is deemed fair and equitable in a short-term marriage may differ substantially from what is deemed fair and equitable in a long-term marriage.