Family Law is an area of practice focusing on issues involving family relationships, such as adoption, pre and post marriage nuptials, baby nuptials, child custody among others. Here at Massiah Law & Associates, we focus on the aforementioned but can also resolve other family law areas like emancipation, marital property, alimony and paternity. 

 

Family law often intersects with a wide range of other legal practice areas. For example, instances of domestic violence and child abuse typically involve criminal investigations (and may result in arrests and charges), while family courts are tasked with determining how to best protect the victims and ensure a relatively safe environment for those involved. Other related legal practice areas include the following:

 

• Mediation and Collaborative Law

• Estate Planning

• Immigration and Naturalization Law

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The most common reasons to hire a family law attorney include:

• Divorce: Each partner hires his or her own attorney, who will help devise a settlement plan in order to avoid a trial. Divorce attorneys typically are skilled at dividing marital property, calculating spousal support, and proposing a plan for child custody, visitation, and support (if applicable).

• Child Custody / Child Support: Court orders and settlement agreements involving both custody and support usually are included in the larger divorce case, but may be revisited as conditions change. For instance, child support may be altered after the non-custodial parent's financial situation changes.

• Paternity: In most cases, paternity cases are filed by the custodial parent in an effort to secure child support payments from an absent parent. But sometimes biological fathers file for paternity in order to have a relationship with their child. Paternity typically is determined through DNA testing.

• Adoption / Foster Care: Adoption is a complex process that differs according to the type of adoption, where the child is from, variances in state laws, and other factors. Therefore, it's important to consult with a family law attorney. Foster parents sometimes adopt their foster children, but the foster process does not necessarily require legal representation.