Family Law
Not all attorneys practice family law as it is usually an extremely stressful and emotional ordeal for the parties involved. A family law attorney helps with divorces and all their attendant issues, with child custody disputes arising after divorce has taken place, and with child protective proceedings where the state removes an abused child from parental care and places him or her in foster care. The abusive parents' rights may be terminated and the child eventually adopted.
Some couples go through their divorce without hiring any lawyers. Some use mediation. Others, probably the majority, find that they can't work together well enough to work out the painful issues of child custody, property division, spousal support, etc., so they each hire a divorce lawyer.
If you find yourself in the unhappy situation of needing a divorce attorney, be careful to choose an experienced and highly reputed one. You probably don't need the most expensive and high-profile attorney, but neither would you want the cheapest one you can find. Ask friends, neighbors and co-workers if they can recommend a proven one. Collect some possible names, and schedule free initial consultations with them. That way you can meet them and get a sense of how well you could work with them.
If you have a small marital estate, the stakes are not as high. But if you have a large marital estate, or a family business, or even some abuse issues, be careful to hire a lawyer you are confident will handle the matter with your best interests in mind.
Pre-Nups
In today's day and age, Pre-Nuptial Agreements, once thought of as only for the very rich, have become a much more commonplace method of preserving one's assets and maintaining your income in the unfortunate event of a divorce.
Certainly, if you have assets that you would not want torn asunder, or left to a court to divide, or if you have a business that you would not want "raked over the coals" of a turbulent divorce litigation, or if you have a large salary that you would not want to be ripped "limb from limb" by an angry soon-to-be ex-spouse, a Pre-Nuptial Agreement might well accomplish these, and potentially other, objectives for you.
While we will not opine on the receptiveness or reaction of your intended lifetime mate to this idea, since that is entirely up to you, this device has undoubtedly saved those who have implemented it much of the aggravation, uncertainty and expense that would have been caused by a heated, and potentially lengthy, battle over matters that could have been decided in advance.
Therefore, while not only for the wealthy, but certainly not for everyone, if a Pre-Nuptial Agreement has some appeal to you, the law office of Boris Kogan & Associates has expertise in handling these issues and can assist you in achieving greater stability and forseeability if your marriage should prove not to be of the "forever and ever" variety.