Divorce Attorney: Aspects of Divorce

When a divorce attorney is retained for a case, he takes on the responsibility of counseling and guiding the client throughout the case. This means that the lawyer needs to know details about the person who hired him as well as details about his relationship with the spouse. The grounds which the person is divorcing the spouse needs to be valid and legal in order for the case to progress.

 Before anything else, it has to be established whether the proceedings will be a no fault or fault case. In the no fault one; both parties acknowledge that they have differences which cannot be reconciled and that their marriage is irretrievably broken. In the fault proceeding, it has to be established that the spouse is at fault which is why there is a motion for the proceedings to commence. The faults could be anything ranging from adultery, abuse and many others. Recently, in most states of the United States of America, the option to choose between the two has been eliminated. The actual grounds and reasons are usually stated as is, with or without choosing whether the case if no fault or with fault.

What is Included

There are many different aspects that a divorce attorney needs to take care of when the case is underway. These aspects include but are not limited to alimony, dividing properties, assets and debts, child (or pet custody), prenuptial agreements and many others. Alimony is the amount of money and support that a person may pay his or her spouse after divorcing each other. The amount in question is dependent on some factors. These factors are primarily affected by which of the spouses earn more in terms of income or has more in terms of assets. It is unusual for the judge to rule that a spouse with little or no income give alimony to the other. The division of properties is usually mentioned in the prenuptial agreement if there is one, or will need to be discussed, sometimes aggressively, between parties. The divorce attorney of each party will need to be present during discussion or meeting pertaining to division of properties, assets and debts. Usually, conjugal property is divided between the soon to be divorced couple since they acquired these during their married life. There are also some cases, in which, inherited property may be divided between them if there are clauses in the will or the prenuptial agreement that may support this. The divorce attorney should also fight for his or her client regarding custody of the dependents. Dependents can be the natural born or adopted children of the couple as well as the pets that were acquired during the marriage of the couple.

There are also some aspects such as abuse, abandonment, fraud and imprisonment that can be what prompted the action. Criminal offenses against a spouse can be the grounds for the separation and termination of the marriage. The divorce attorney is usually quick to point out any crime committed by the spouse against his client which may have prompted the client to want to end the marriage.