The Role of a Divorce Attorney in Child Custody Battles

The process of divorce usually involves a lot of emotions and stress. Divorce decisions are quite tough and are usually after several attempts at making a marriage work and failed communication. But, after deciding to get a divorce, you must hire a good legal representation to ensure you get the best outcome of the case.

When you hire a divorce attorney for representation during the divorce, you must understand your role and that of the divorce attorney. The role of a divorce attorney is to ensure you get legal care. This means they advise you on your obligations and rights and handle the child custody case, paperwork, property division, and other matters that might make your case unique.

In this blog, we will explore several roles of a divorce attorney in child custody battles to ensure you properly understand the importance of a divorce attorney in ensuring that the child’s wellbeing remains the utmost priority in child custody battles.

The Legal Landscape of Divorce Attorneys

Divorce attorneys are experienced in family law, especially regarding child custody. They thoroughly understand the subtleties of the federal, state, and local laws that apply to divorce and custody of children. This knowledge is crucial in advocating for their clients and protecting their rights.

1. Offer legal guidance

Offering legal guidance to their clients is the main role of a divorce attorney. It is their legal obligation to ensure clients are appropriately informed throughout the entire divorce case. An attorney advises you of your rights and your entitlement to a divorce settlement and ensures you understand the local law regarding your divorce.

However, an attorney isn’t a therapist, so they cannot offer you emotional support during the divorce case. But they can identify your divorce concerns, such as child custody. Additionally, your divorce attorney also helps identify your goals and needs and articulates these needs for divorce settlement.

2. Child custody battles

When a marriage involves children, getting divorced can be quite complicated. Aside from the challenge of asset division, spousal support, and property division, divorcing spouses must make essential decisions regarding their children. One of these is deciding who will get custody of a child after divorce and who has visitation rights. Though there is the belief that mothers are usually more favored in child custody proceedings, it isn’t necessarily true.

In 2023, only 5.8% of children under 18 years exclusively lived with their mother after a divorce. Divorce attorneys offer guidance to their clients in the best interest of the involved children, helping the parents arrive at a solution that is right for them. When a client seeks sole custody of the children due to addiction problems or domestic abuse, a divorce attorney can also help fight for a sole custody arrangement.

3. Filling a divorce petition

When you intend to file for a divorce, a divorce attorney can help you file a divorce summons in a family law court. You might file for a fault-based or no-fault divorce based on your case. When it is a fault-based case, your attorney will gather documents and evidence that support your claim. The evidence of adultery could be photos and text messages. Additionally, you must ensure you meet the divorce requirements.

4. Negotiation

There is a lot of mediation and negotiation in family law. Divorces have a huge impact on people’s lives, especially since it involves complex and challenging decisions. When negotiation instead of litigation is used, all painters can benefit from it.

So, your divorce attorney’s role is to ensure you get a balanced and fair settlement without too much difficulty and stress on the involved parties. Usually, divorce attorneys negotiate with the opposing counsel to come to a settlement that works for both spouses and children. They can negotiate for a fair share of the involved property, spousal support, more children visitation rights, and fair decisions on crucial divorce matters.

5. Filing paperwork and documents

A divorce attorney drafts the paperwork in a divorce case. However, both the clients and the attorney must work together during the initial stage to know what documents are required for divorce. These documents can include the original divorce petition, the respondent original answer, final divorce decree, ownership of property documents, and other divorce relevant divorce documents.

6. Visitation rights

In Florida, both parents get 50-50 visitation rights. The role of a divorce attorney in this case is to help outline a structured and clear visitation schedule that addresses vacations, special occasions, and holidays. This means that it isn’t just about the time but the quality. This clarity reduces potential disputes and makes sure the child maintains a meaningful relationship with both parents.

7. Anticipate potential issues

Usually, immediate concerns of divorce are the major focus of a child custody dispute, but there might also be long-term implications that might not be evident immediately. An experienced divorce attorney can foresee potential issues that might occur in the future and proactively address them. It could be future medical considerations for the child, financial situation changes, or potential relocation. Anticipating these concerns and adding them to the current agreements can prevent future disputes.

Conclusion

When couples decide to divorce, the process can be quite confusing and daunting. There are several things both parents need to think about, such as child custody, visitation rights, and dividing the assets and property. Many people choose to represent themselves in a divorce proceeding, but this is risky. Utilizing the services of a local divorce attorney ensures you properly understand the process, protect your interest, and get a fair settlement.

FAQs

1. Who primarily gets the custody of a child?

Though there have been changes in traditional family roles, most mothers are still the primary caregivers of children, especially when the children are young. Many children of divorced parents have a higher chance of living with their mothers than fathers.