A divorce lawyer is an attorney who does marital divorce. Generally, most attorneys that practice family law also handle divorce, although some family lawyers only do divorce, and other family-related cases. Family lawyers are highly educated professionals who have completed formal law school and who have extensive experience working as an attorney in different legal fields. They will generally know all aspects of family and marriage law, including matters that deal with prenuptial agreements, spousal and child abuse, child support and alimony, custody and visitation, termination of a marriage, division of assets and liabilities, partition of marital property, issues regarding annulment, dissolution, and various defenses to divorce, as well as their own special areas of expertise.
A divorce lawyer will represent either one of the couple, the person who initiated the divorce or the parties’ attorneys. If you are a party in a divorce case, your divorce lawyer may work on your behalf to settle all legal issues, including prenuptial agreements, asset partition, property settlement, child support, alimony, child custody and visitation rights, and the division of the couple’s jointly held assets, among others. If you are a spouse in a divorce case, your divorce lawyer will work with your spouse’s attorney to settle all legal issues, including: divorce, property settlement, child support, alimony, child custody and visitation rights, division of the couple’s jointly held assets, and/or a divorce judgment.
A legal separation is different from a divorce in many ways, most notably in the way property is divided. In a legal separation, the court does not grant divorce; rather, a written contract is drawn up outlining how each party will divide and dispose of the marital property. This contract is referred to as a “division agreement” and will be filed with the courts. Once the paperwork is filed with the courts, you will be invited to participate in pre-trial court-ordered counseling provided by your divorce lawyer. Counseling usually takes place in one or more sessions and is separate from the divorce case.
Once the divorce lawyer prepares the divorce case, the judge will make a decision about the properties to be divided. Once this decision has been reached, the two lawyers will meet privately to discuss child custody and visitation. In most cases, the parents’ attorneys will have separate meetings with the judge to discuss these topics. The divorce lawyer will advise his or her client on how to present their case to the judge. The divorce lawyer may also prepare the required paperwork and serve as the official mediator between the spouses in the marriage, which allows the divorcing spouses to avoid the expensive fees of a divorce lawyer or family judge.
Typically, a spousal support award may take about one-half of the monthly salary of the supporting spouse. This award covers bills such as mortgage, credit card debt, car loans, medical expenses, and the cost of living. Child support is determined by the state laws. Usually, the child support formula is based on income and the number of children in the family. The judge may require the spouse who pays child support to provide documentation of the amount of money that he or she earns. This information is used to calculate the amount of child support that needs to be paid.
After the divorce process has been completed, most Missourians will hire a St. Louis divorce lawyer to help them complete other legal processes related to the marriage. If you are going through a divorce and are unsure of how to proceed with it, contact a St. Louis divorce lawyer immediately. The sooner you contact someone, the faster you can get on with your life. The St. Louis Divorce Lawyer can give you the advice you need to keep your finances in order, set up your living situation, get custody of your child or children, and even work out your property settlement with the other spouse. You do not have to worry about the stress of the divorce process when you have a professional attorney working on your case.