What Is The Right Time To Hire An Attorney For Child Custody?

Going through a divorce or custody dispute is hard enough as it is. You want to make sure your children end up in the best possible situation, and hiring the right child custody lawyer can help with that.

Do Not Do It Alone

While filing for custody without a lawyer may seem like the cheapest option, hiring a child custody lawyer will help you in the long run.

If you were to forgo legal help, you would now have to go through each step of the process as carefully as a lawyer would.

First, you would have to get in contact with a court clerk who would then give you all of the required paperwork to fill out. Not only is this time-consuming but there may be a lot of legal terms that you do not understand.

It is important that you become an expert on the child custody laws in your state. This would require plenty of research and learn on your part.

When doing this research, you need to consider all custody options, and there are a lot of them. While split custody or full custody may seem pretty straightforward, within these options lie many different time-sharing schedules.

If you feel that the custody dispute will not be a clean process, it is extremely important that you keep detailed records of everything that goes on within your life and your child’s life. These records can include phone calls, emails, text messages, and even spoken words.

A child custody lawyer can help you to sort through these records to find out what information will be beneficial to your case.

While you are simultaneously doing all of these things, you need to keep an eye on deadlines. Deadlines are unforgiving and missing one could be detrimental to your case.

When To Seek Legal Help

Choosing the right time to seek help from an outside party has many factors that go into the decision.

Hiring a child custody lawyer can be urgent if you believe your children are in danger. Calling 9-1-1 should be your first move and after that, a child custody lawyer can give you advice on the next steps, including the possibility of filing a restraining order.

In situations where your child’s other parent is not letting you see your child, either by dodging your calls or not telling you where they are, you should be quick to seek help from a lawyer.

If you have been ordered by a court to participate in parenting classes or substance abuse treatment, you are already at a disadvantage in the court. Your child’s other parent can use this as leverage against you, meaning you will need a qualified lawyer to represent you.

If whomever you are going against in your child custody case has a lawyer, it is a good idea to hire one yourself. Failure to hire a lawyer on your side will leave you less prepared than the other side.

If your case is getting more complicated, hiring a lawyer should be your number one priority. For example, if you and your ex were on the same page at first but now one of you has changed your mind, legal counsel will be necessary to reach a decision.

There is no perfect time to hire an attorney for child custody but a good rule of thumb is that if you have been contemplating it, you should act on it.

Child Support

If you have reached a situation where one parent has sole custody, both parents are required to provide for the child financially. This can occur for both parents that have been married and parents that have not.

If the parents were married, child support is typically decided during divorce proceedings. If they have not been married, child support will be decided by a court on its own.

In some states, formulas exist to decide upon a monetary amount of child support. In states where these formulas do not exist, it is up to the parents and the court to settle on an amount.

A parent’s income, debts, and the needs of the child are the biggest factors in determining child support. Seeking help from a child support law firm will be beneficial for the child.

Calculation of a parent’s disposable income can be contested in a number of ways. Child support law firms have experience in many different family situations and can help to determine an accurate amount.

If you are the parent that is being ordered to pay child support, hiring a child support law firm will help to make sure that the order is not taking too much money.

If you are the parent with sole custody, a child support law firm will work to ensure that your child is being provided for sufficiently.

The Best for Your Child

Working with a third party during a custody case will not only benefit you but also your child.

No matter the age of your child, it is important that they do not have to experience this process in their home. You should try to keep your child out of the situation as much as possible while keeping their best interests at heart.

Meeting with your child custody lawyer and the child’s other parent in a neutral location should always be considered. Your child does not have to sit through, see, and hear these meetings taking place.

Although it may be hard, try not to bring your frustrations home or voice them to your child. What happens between you and your ex-partner should not affect your child’s view of them. This can negatively affect your child’s relationship with their parent, which will affect them in the long run.

Having Someone On Your Side

Separations, divorces, and child custody cases can leave you feeling alone. When you hire a child custody lawyer, you will have someone to back you up.

They can help you to make sense of things while taking a few tasks off your plate, allowing you to spend more time with your child.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Human Rights and the Rule of Law

When a pandemic occurs on a large scale, human rights must be put on the forefront of importance. Each day lives are lost to COVID-19 making it everyone’s best interest to take extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of others.

A public health crisis transcends into a human rights crisis when people do not have access to essentials tools. In times like these, it is everyone’s responsibility to protect the vulnerable. As a leading family law attorney firm, we understand the part we must play in maintaining the safety of those in our community.

Read below to learn how COVID-19 is impacting human rights and the rule of law as well as the steps we are taking to be a representative for those in need.

Understanding Your Rights

The U.N. has put an emphasis on maintaining human rights during this time. One of the criteria they have outlined is freedom of movement. Shelter in place orders are enacted for the greater good of society, international law allows these restrictions in times of national health emergencies. With that said, the obstruction of freedom of movement should only be enacted when necessary and enforcement should be non-discriminatory.

In areas that are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19, special measures need to be taken to protect high-risk groups. These groups include but are not limited to; the elderly, those with preexisting underlying disease, and those in lower-income areas that have less access to resources.

Access to services that assist the protection of human rights can be difficult during COVID-19. Individuals often exploit this fact and take advantage of those who can not get the help they need. A family law attorney can help mediate situations where individuals feel their rights are being violated.

Women’s Rights

Unfortunately, in situations like a pandemic where individuals must stay at home, women become vulnerable when exposed to domestic abuse. In addition to heightened levels of abuse, resources for affected women have decreased as many government services have ceased operation in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Women’s access to reproductive healthcare has also been limited due to closures and limited hours of both private and public medical practices.

Women represent a large population of those in the medical field on the frontline protecting and treating those infected with COVID-19. Many women’s organizations have also put themselves at risk in order to offer assistance to the community.

Women are also underrepresented when it comes to making decisions in situations such as the response to COVID-19. It has been reported that solutions are less effective when women are not involved in the decision-making process. In response, the Secretary-General’s recent Call to Action on Human Rights has made a special attempt to have a meaningful impact on the rights of women and girls.

In an effort to offset these negative side-effects of the pandemic, stimulus checks have been distributed in order to decrease the gap in inequalities. Of course, this is not the sole purpose of the stimulus checks however women’s rights were considered with the issuing of such monetary assistance.

When women are facing hardships and feel the need to reach out for assistance, a family law attorney can act as a mediator to help give them a voice. In addition to acting as a mediator, a family law consultation is a recommended first step for women looking to get a divorce or fight for custody of their children when escaping a dangerous environment.

The Rule of Law

The rule of law constitutes four universal principles; accountability, just principles, open government, and accessible justice. The coronavirus has created the need for swift alterations in many governmental operations. There has been a question of whether or not some governmental establishments use executive authority in a manner that compromises the rule of law and how a decrease in judicial presence due to the pandemic has made it more difficult to uphold regulation of officials.

With a decrease in the availability of public services, there is an increase in the opportunity of exploitation from unethical groups. Terrorist organizations have capitalized on public outrage in an attempt to discredit government agencies.

Upholding The Rule of Law

In an effort to uphold the rule of law, a post-action review has been recommended. This can help leaders understand whether or not the use of executive power was received in a positive manner or if a more appropriate response is warranted in the future. It is essential that government officials maintain transparency during these times and listen to feedback in order to establish trust from citizens.

One method of post-review action is to revisit the impact of practices in comparison to how much of the governmental budget was used to put the practice in action. The end goal is to reduce harm and negative impact brought upon the human population. There is the hope that with technological advances, a greater positive impact can be achieved using fewer resources.

Daily press conferences from national and state authorities have been held in an effort to keep citizens informed and allow the people to hold officials accountable for their actions. With a pandemic comes fear which can easily translate into civil unrest. Officials must work with the citizens in order to maintain faith in democratic leadership so that outside groups do not gain power and use it in a negative manner.

The rule of law is put in place to uphold human rights. If you feel your rights are being violated, schedule a family law consultation to assess whether or not you are entitled to assistance.

Maintaining Justice

An international pandemic puts extra emphasis on how essential it is to have members of society that work to uphold the law. Human rights and the rule of law are put in danger when civil unrest occurs as a response to a public health crisis. If you or a loved one feel improper representation during these times, consider a family law consultation. During this meeting, you can have an informative discussion about what you are entitled to as a United States citizen.

COVID-19: Its Impact on International Law and You

Interested in learning about COVID-19’s impact on international law? We’ve got you covered. It is important to take a look at institutions and regulations at an international level that are directly relevant in this current state of pandemonium. As it relates to child dependency lawyers, it’s important to reconfigure the rules and regulations surrounding these in accordance with what the international law is governing.

Let’s take a look at how international law is affecting business for some of the top child custody attorneys within their profession. Because of the current global situation, most parents should be on the same page about their own health and wellness, but more importantly, the health and wellness of their children too. No parent wants to expose their vulnerable child to becoming susceptible to catching the virus, by any means. Keep reading below to have a better understanding of the international laws and how it can have a direct correlation with COVID-19 and the wellness of your children.

Child Custody during COVID-19

Even though the stay at home orders have been lifted, when they were still in place, it was making it difficult or simple to a co-parent, depending on the situation that every family is faced with. Families are looking for guidance on how to best follow custody orders during the tenure of the pandemic.

Co-parenting continues to be arduous due to social distancing and stay-at-home orders. As courts across the country are shutting down operations, the concerns begin to center around including how to handle emerging and unsettled custody matters. This is where your child dependency lawyers can come in to remedy your sorrows.

A seasoned attorney who is well aware of how the law operates will encourage you to follow your state and local orders, adhere to your court orders, communicate well with your co-parent, making arrangements for lost time, and using the aid of virtual resources to communicate with one another.

With all of this being said, just know that this is a stepping stone to get you started, any further action should be discussed accordingly with your assigned child dependency lawyer. As parents, you should treat custody orders as an essential task. After all, this is the well-being of your children that is at stake here. The last thing anyone would want is their life to be compromised due to negligence of any kind.

Courts want parents to be reasonable and easy-going during these times. They are looking for reasonable solutions to counteract these issues. No one has a pandemic clause written into their custody agreements. There is no correct way to co-parent during this time, but it’s important to do the very best that you can.

Parents need to communicate with one another. If changes need to take place, make the request, and explain why you are making the changes. Do you want to change the schedule to reduce travel and mitigate the risk of exposure? Are you concerned about travel between houses because there are rest stops along the way? Is the third party supervisor no longer accessible because of the social distancing measures?

These are all very important questions to consider as you are going through these processes with some of the top child custody attorneys within your area. You can still co-parent through virtual means. Including but not limited to platforms like zoom or skype, in order to be kept abreast of what your co-parent is doing to help raise your children.

Frontline Workers and Child Custody

For our essential workers, it’s even more difficult to navigate through these child custody/co-parenting situations. Disputes are arising over whether front-line workers should even retain custody of their minor children or not. Courts across the country are continuing to deal with this issue.

The court responses vary from case to case. Many people are saying the increased risk of exposure to coronavirus is not enough to remove custody rights. If needed, necessary adjustments can be made to better accommodate the living situation and supervision of these children.

When working alongside some of the top child custody attorneys, you can work together to determine what is the best course of action when caring for your children. If on a temporary basis, you may have to wrap your mind around the idea of temporarily relinquishing custody until things normalize.

There is no clear way to address the trials and tribulations surrounding the pandemonium that our nation is facing and this is certainly true for parents fighting for custody. Parents need to openly discuss their social distancing habits amongst themselves. The parents should be on the same page about how they explain the stay-at-home policies to the children. Every detail of every activity that you are participating in with your children, should be brought to the attention of your co-parent.

We understand that these are pressing times, but rest assured, we will be on the other side of this in the coming days and months. You may not come to an immediate agreement with your co-parent, in which case, you can file an emergency motion to change the orders or enforcement of the orders.

When a court is deciding which issues of conservatorship and possession of and access to your child, the best interest of your children will always be the primary consideration of the court above all else. Parents must adhere to their court-ordered possession and the access schedules unless the parties have agreed to change the schedule or the courts have modified the orders by determining the best interest of their children.

As society starts to reopen, new issues regarding child custody disputes will inevitably continue to resurface and it’s up to the parents to handle these matters in a mature and professional manner. COVID can teach all of us something about making the best of a tricky situation.

Things can always be worse, but as long as we can retain solid levels of control, you should be okay for the foreseeable future for both your sake and the sake of your children.