By Attorney, Mae Creadick
 |
| Mae Creadick |
“Child custody” and “battles” are two words that we wish
would never be uttered in the same sentence.
Unfortunately in cases of domestic violence, many parents
need an advocate to protect their child from experiencing or witnessing
abuse. From our perspective as parents
and attorneys practicing family law, the best option for separating parents is
to reach consensus on sharing custody through mediation or collaborative
divorce. At the Hart Law Group, for the
benefit of all parties and their children, I strongly encourage clients to
choose “collaborative divorce” as the legal option for resolving the end of
their marriage or domestic partnership. In addition, at the Hart Law Group we
provide assistance to individuals who are going through dissolution of their
relationship where they were never married.
In collaborative divorce, separating parties (with or
without children) each have an attorney that will help them navigate the
financial, emotional and legal matters involved in divorce. Both parties sign an agreement to not
litigate, thereby agreeing up front to save time, money and the stress of a
lawsuit. You and the other party
and your attorneys can contract voluntarily disclose all financial information,
to proceed respectfully as you negotiate.
The
parties then work with their attorneys, and sometimes an accountant and
therapist, to reach a settlement. The
end result is a legally enforceable contract that represents the consensus of
both parties. This contract can resolve
all legal issues including child custody, child support, alimony and
post-separation support (where applicable) and division of marital
property. These agreements can also
apply to unmarried domestic partners who are separating.
Litigating child custody matters should be an absolute last
resort. We
believe the non-adversarial process of collaborative divorce, as opposed to litigation,
will benefit families in the long run. Parents who reached an agreement to resolve
custody matters are better able to co-parent their child, which can prevent
serious trauma for children experiencing the conflict of their parent’s
divorce. Of course, we cannot force the
opposing side or his or her counsel to negotiate, and sometimes litigation
becomes necessary. In these cases, we
have experience in advising hundreds of clients heading to court, and in cases
that do not settle (most do), litigating custody cases with a very high success
rate.
At The Hart Law Group, we handle a broad range of other family law cases including
the following matters:
- Separation and Custody Agreements
- Domestic Partnership Agreements
- Gay and Lesbian and unmarried partner disputes following dissolution of relationship
- Divorce, including Collaborative Divorce
- Equitable Distribution
- Alimony, Post Separation Support
- Paternity
- Custody and Child Support matters
- Marital agreements
- Adoptions
We
pride ourselves in being caring and informal with our family law clients during
a time that we know can be extremely stressful and upsetting. Like you, there
is nothing more important to us than our children. We know that securing you a custody agreement
through consensus (rather than a judge’s order) will benefit the entire family
in the long run. We are committed to
helping our clients move through divorce smoothly so that they can move on to
the next chapter in their lives.
If you
would like a consultation with The Hart Law Group regarding custody or any other
family law matter, call for our next available appointment at 271-4278.
