Family Law: Defining The Key Notions

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Family law deals with family matters and domestic associations. It is a legal practice that deals with matters involving family correlations. Cases usually involve individuals who related by blood or married. In some cases, it affects those in distance or casual associations as well. Majority of family law cases are a result of divorce. This article will focus on divorce and the issues related to it including child custody, support, estate division, spousal support and adoption.

Divorce is dissolution of a union. It allows people to end the union lawfully and live their lives separately. A union may come to an end due to various causes the most common one being death of one partner. However, before a divorce is granted, the court must be certain that the union should be dissolved. It may be granted on two grounds namely fault and no-fault ground. The no fault ground comes along when a couple feel that they are not compatible. It can fail to work because of conflict in personalities which makes reconciliation impossible. Fault ground for divorce includes adultery. Other cause of divorce is unreasonable behavior. People also divorce due to dissertation as well whereby one party can become absent to the extent of not getting traced as to where they are. Parties can file a divorce on the grounds that they are living apart. This considered for parties who are not living in the same household.

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Judicial separation does not terminate a union but only relieves the partners the rights to live together. The parties remain together but cannot live with each other. None of them is free to enter into another union .In this case, there is no financial maintenance offered by one party to another. It had always been the first step towards divorce.

Child custody is provided in a final divorce order when there are young ones involved. The court is guided by a child’s interests when making this order. A physical custody gives details of when a young one will be in physical custody of each guardian. This addresses the amount of time that each one is given to spend with the kid. Legal custody refers to participating in decisions affecting the young one’s welfare, education and health. A guardian with sole legal custody has a right to make decisions in this area. Joint legal custody is when both have the right to make decisions in relation to these areas. However, one is mostly awarded the exclusive right to make decision in these areas

Property division during a divorce has a lot of complications. A judge must make a decision on how to divide the marital wealth. There are two types namely separate and community property. The former refers to wealth acquired by either party before they got together while the latter refers to that acquired by parties when living together. Community property is always divided equally between the parties involved. Incase either of the parties has made a contribution of separate wealth during acquisition, the court then provides reimbursement to the party of the exact amount contributed or part of the amount

Child support deals with the legal requirement of parents who do not have the full custody of their kids to contribute financially to the upkeep of the little ones. It is determined by the use of many factors. The most important factors is the amount of income for each, and the time each one shares with them. The maintenance amount can be fixed and non-modified. The amount can always be modified when circumstances change. The primary key factors used to determine the young ones maintenance fee are amount of income and the time to be spent by each party with the kids. The guardian who cares for the minors and lives with them can apply for the sustenance fee.

Spousal support is the money paid by one spouse to another in the case of a divorce. This depends on the payer’s ability and the payee’s needs. The orders determine the duration and amount of payments. It is classifies as temporary and permanent. Temporary maintenance is payable before the parties enter into judgment. Permanent on the other hand is paid after the involved parties have entered the judgment. The purpose of this law is to provide financial aid to the party who has financial needs. The purpose of temporary support is to maintain the financial status quo of the parties while permanent is paid for the rest of their lives. The court evaluates different factors while determining the amount and duration of permanent support. Generally, the payments are made in equal amounts monthly. The duration is mainly determined by the union duration. Other factors may be considered as well including health and age. In long-term unions, spousal aid lasts until the payee is in a position to maintain themselves, gets married or when either party dies. In a short term, it lasts for a period equal to a half the period of the union.

Adoption is an act of assuming parenting responsibilities for someone. In doing this, the person who adopts takes over all responsibilities, rights and duties from the biological parents. All rights, obligations, and duties between the adopted kid and their biological parents terminate when the adoption process is completed. In law, this process is established between parents and young ones who do not have blood connection. Age of the young one and that of the adoptive guardians must be considered during the process. In the case of adopting an adult, the party which is adopting must be several years older. Those adopting must not be married, however, it is usually hard for same-sex couples or unmarried couples to adopt. It can be classified as open and closed. In open, adoption information about the procedure is given but in closed the whole procedure is disclosed.

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