Our practice is focused on representing clients in situations affecting their family. We handle two main types of cases, the first category of cases involve the creation of families through adoptions and assisted reproductive technology and the second category of cases involve issues related to marriage and divorce.
After You Divorce
Getting divorced does not necessarily end the personal and financial ties between spouses. Frequently when one spouse is required to pay alimony and when you have children, circumstances change after the divorce is final. When substantial and material changes occur in the life of one or both ex-spouses, you may need to review the alimony, child support, custody or visitation that was ordered at the time of the divorce to determine if changes need to be made. When circumstances change, we can assist you by helping to identify all of the changes that have occurred, determine whether the changes are significant enough to justify a change from the prior order and decide whether a modification is in your best interest and the best interest of your children. We will then help you act on what you decide is in your best interest and the best interest of your children. If you decide to seek a modification, we will help you decide whether to pursue the modification through mediation, collaborative law or a lawsuit and then do everything we can to help you get the results you want. If your ex-spouse has decided to request a modification, we will defend you in whatever forum they have decided to use whether in mediation, through collaborative law or in a courtroom.
Child Custody and Visitation Modification
Change is to be expected when you have children. Most often, those changes do not affect who should have custody or what the visitation arrangement should be. However, there are sometimes when those changes are so significant that they justify changing who has custody or how visitation is handled. When you believe there has been a substantial and material change with the children, we can discuss those changes with you, help you determine if those changes warrant a modification of custody or visitation, help you negotiate a change if possible and, if necessary, fight for you and your children in Family Court to try to get a Judge to Order a change. If the other parent is asking for a change, but you do not believe it is best for you or the children, we can discuss the current situation with you, help you determine how to best protect the current situation, help you prevent any change through negotiations and, if necessary, fight for you and your children in Family Court to prevent any change in the current custody and visitation arrangement.
Child Support Modification
Our life circumstances can change during the time between the original order setting child support and the end of the child support obligation. These changes can include job loss, increase or decrease in income, loss of health insurance, increase in health insurance premiums, extraordinary health expenses for the children and changes in daycare expenses. When significant and material changes in circumstances in the factors that determine child support occur (income, daycare costs, health insurance costs for the children and extraordinary medical expenses for the children), then modifying child support may be an option. If you believe there has been a substantial and material change in one or more of the factors that determine child support, we can discuss those changes with you, help you determine if those changes warrant a modification of child support, help you negotiate a change if possible and, if necessary, fight for you in Family Court to try to get a Judge to order a change. If the other parent is asking for a change you are opposed to, we can discuss the current situation with you, help you determine what steps can be taken to preserve the current child support obligation, help you prevent any change through negotiations and, if necessary, fight in Family Court to prevent any requested change to the previously ordered child support obligation.
Alimony Modification
College Support
Contempt Actions (Rule to Show Cause)
Court Orders often require one or both of the former spouses to perform certain acts. These requirements may include the payment of child support, the payment of alimony, the transfer of property and making the children available for visitation. When someone willfully fails to do what is required by a court order they are said to be “in contempt of court”. Contempt of court is simply the willful failure to do what is required by a Court Order. A contempt action or Rule to Show Cause is used to bring someone who does not follow a Court Order back to Court to ask a Family Court Judge to make them do what the Order requires and to punish them for not doing it before. If your former spouse refuses to follow your Court Order, we will help you identify the specific ways they have violated the Court Order, determine if a contempt action is justified, discuss the possible outcomes of a contempt action including the enforcement of the previous Order and possible punishments and, if necessary, file the contempt action and ask a Family Court Judge to make them follow the previous Order and to punish them for their failure to follow it before. If you have been accused of violating a Court Order, we can help you determine exactly what you have been accused of, identify any possible defenses, evaluate options for complying with the Order and defend you in Court by presenting your story to the Family Court Judge and arguing against any punishment that your former spouse may be asking for.
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