Archive for the ‘Divorce – Family Law’ Category

Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde, Attorney's at Law

It is obvious that many people jump into divorce and file divorce papers in court too quickly nowadays. Though we all know that difficulties can easily arise when a man and a woman decide to share a life together in marriage stress often build up when these difficulties add up yet when you think or feel the relationship just can’t survive, the first step you need to take should be for you to consider all other options available to you critically before you commence the process of litigated divorce. Attorneys Grand Rapids counsels you to know that while there are a whole lot of reasons a marriage may end in divorce yet it is really not easy to cope with the financial drain and emotional challenges litigated divorce usually bring.

Why you should first consider all other options to litigated divorce: Have you considered all options opened to you? Won’t you stop and take a sincere and honest look at all options that you can explore and save your marriage or at least save yourself from squandering hard earned cash on litigated divorce? Have you done an honest assessment of both sides of your relationship and have you taken steps to seek marriage counseling or are you open to counseling? Generally, divorce is capable of causing financial, emotional, and other issues for you and the greatest issue is related to the emotional trauma your children may go through if they are involved in your marriage.

However, if after you think you have done your best to save your marriage it appears you still need to go ahead with divorce as a last option, Grand Rapids divorce attorneys advices you to take a look at a better option available to you other than getting an expensive divorce through court processes that could be so prolonged which in most instances are due to no faults of both parties to the divorce case.

Mediation and why you should use it as a better alternative to litigated divorce: For marriage relationships that have gone beyond being saved for whatever reasons, there are many types of divorce processes in the US and the type you might go for depends on the specific material facts of your case but it is in mediation that you will find a less expensive legal means of ending your marriage when you have finally decided to seek a legal termination of your marriage. In fact, mediation can save you much financial costs of divorce and help you prepare for the next stage of your life so quickly if divorce becomes inevitable.

Mediation, often called collaborative divorce, involves having a mediator come between you and your spouse to work out a mutually beneficial terms and conditions of your divorce that includes child custody, alimony and other important issues thereby avoiding the costly court processes. If you opt for mediation, attorneys Grand Rapids can assure you that the mediator will only play the role of an unbiased umpire without making any input to the terms and conditions you are looking to reach with your spouse.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

We all know that divorce is not an easy journey. With the limited resources we have at our disposal these days, it is really important to look at the entire process of divorce and what your goals are before you go through a legally court contested divorce which could turn out to be one of the most challenging life experiences you have the option of not going through.

If divorce is a challenge in itself, why should your journey through it be traumatic? If you are looking for a better alternative to a court contested divorce, an alternative that is less expensive and one that can end your marriage legally without the process being messy and costly, Grand Rapids divorce attorneys counsels that you take a look at mediation.

Understanding the whole concept of mediation as cost effective and better alternative to litigated divorce: Mediation is a process where a neutral party called the mediator comes in between you and your spouse to facilitate a mutually agreeable negotiation leading to a more peaceful divorce process without the mediator influencing the key points of your negotiation with your spouse. If you and your spouse have your separate lawyers, they may or may not be present during the process of mediation or negotiation. But once you have reached an agreement with your spouse during this process of negotiation, you may decide to give the final agreement to your Grand Rapids divorce attorneys for review. However, if you and your spouse fail to reach a common settlement through the mediation process, then you are at liberty to choose to use your attorneys Grand Rapids or the mediator for a litigated divorce depending on any agreement you have reached with your spouse previously.

Benefits of using mediation as a better alternative to litigated divorce: From professional point of view, attorneys Grand Rapids can assure you that mediation will help you save the greater part of the financial costs of litigated divorce and also help you prepare for the next stage of your life faster. The process of using mediation to end a marriage is less adversarial and it also saves time. The entire process of using a mediator to end a marriage is totally confidential and it is based on settling disputes though you are parting with your spouse but you are parting without mudslinging, bitter outbursts, and placing the blame on one spouse. From professional experiences, Grand Rapids divorce attorneys can say that where spouses work together towards a mutually benefiting agreement for ending a marriage, the chances of complying with such agreement and future cooperation particularly where children are involved in the marriage has always been better.

In fact, mediation benefits children a lot. Firstly, mediation teaches them on the importance of working together with people even if there is no common agreement with one another. If children are involved in your marriage, mediation will teach them about the respect that existed between their mom and dad such that in spite of their differences, they worked together to give their children the best though their marriage was coming to an end.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

If you are thinking of getting a divorce, attorneys Grand Rapids counsels you to use mediation as a means of ending your marriage.  One of the hardest facts about divorce is its cost and the cost you will pay for divorce if you go through litigation goes beyond emotional and psychological feelings or the unavoidable stress and occasional anger, mudslinging and bitter outbursts that usually accompany such kind of divorce but the hard earned cash you will have to part with in paying the professional fees of Grand Rapids divorce attorneys and other official legal fees separately by you and your spouse.

Mediation will allow you and your spouse to be the only persons who will decide how agreements are reached on issues no matter how difficult such issues are. It will reduce the emotional and financial costs of divorce and it will help you prepare for the next stage of your life rather quickly. Besides, a mediator will assist you and your spouse to diffuse tensions and emotions that usually accompany discussions of critical issues involved in divorce and also help you to reach agreement on issues without conveying their opinions which is not possible if you go through litigated divorce.

However, it is to be noted that divorce is not the same thing as marriage counseling which is aimed at helping you save your marriage but it is a process that guarantees legal divorce without spending a fortune. Although at the preliminary stage of mediation when the mediator states what you and your spouse must do to accomplish a mutual divorce agreement which will not be contested in court, you or your spouse may rethink the idea of divorce and thereafter seek the help of a counselor in order to save your marriage. Here are important facts Grand Rapids divorce attorneys advises you to seek mediation if you are contemplating a divorce.

You and your spouse will pay one mediator and not two Grand Rapids divorce attorneys if you go through mediation: As a means of saving cost on a divorce, mediation does not involve the payment of a huge bill since you are paying one mediator without a retainer or incurring a huge bill after obtaining a verdict as it is in a litigated divorce. You will surely be shell-shocked when you get the bill because your total bill will normally be less than one third of a litigated divorce. Therefore, you do not have to worry about paying the mediator for months after the verdicts have been obtained as it is with court contested divorce where a spouse could end up paying the divorce attorney the accrued bill for a year or two after the divorce case has been dispensed off because of the huge size of the bill.

Mediation will help you keep your privacy if that is important to you: In a court contested divorce, your divorce files will become public documents for all to see. Also, it is always common to see an attorney and a spouse discussing issues that are very private in a crowded courthouse hallway without recourse to privacy. Therefore, if you crave for privacy while pursuing your divorce matters, mediation is the way to go.

You have the right to choose a mediator that suits your needs but in a litigated divorce you can’t choose your judge: Since you can’t choose your judge if your divorce case goes to court, issues like taxes, child custody and child support, alimony, division of assets, parental visitations, and financial planning may be decided by a judge without making any sense to you or your spouse and yet you’re stuck with the ruling.

Mediation will minimize your job loss, lost opportunity and time loss from work. It will not keep you from pursuing financial opportunities or enhance yourself on your job but litigation will not guarantee all these since you will be attending court proceedings at the schedule of the court. It is therefore a good advice from attorneys Grand Rapids for you to choose mediation over litigation if you are contemplating a divorce.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

If divorce and annulment are terms that sound confusing to you or if you do not seem to understand the difference between them, Grand Rapids divorce attorneys through this article will give you some enlightenment. For the purpose of clarity, divorce and annulment are two different legal means of ending a marriage. In law, a marriage that ends in divorce is viewed differently from the one that ends in annulment. At the point of termination, the marriage of the divorced spouses is recognized by law to have come to an end. That is, such a marriage was a valid contract between two adults contracted legally but brought to an end by filing for divorce. Whereas, when a law court pronounced a marriage annulled, such a marriage is considered in law as null and void as if it never existed before and it was not a valid contract between the two people concerned.

A record is usually made of a divorce with the names of the partners noted though the divorced spouses are allowed in law to remarry if they elect to do so without breaching any law. When a marriage ends in annulment, no record of previous marriage is made about the spouses involved and they are considered as if they were never married at all and no one may make reference to the previous marriage in prejudice because it never existed in the eye of the law. In fact, the process of an annulment erases any previous legality the marriage possessed though children born by the partners are recognized as proper and legitimate children of the two parties.

For a marriage to be qualified for an annulment Grand Rapids divorce attorneys considers that it must satisfy one or more of the following conditions or else, it can only be terminated on the basis of divorce proceedings:

1. One of the two partners committed bigamy by contracting the marriage. If one party to the marriage was married to someone else without the knowledge of the other party before the marriage was contracted, bigamy may be pleaded successfully in court when seeking for an annulment of the marriage.
2. The marriage was forced on one partner against mutual consent or free will. If it can be proved that a partner was threatened to enter into the marriage union in the first instance, this condition may be pleaded when seeking a marriage annulment.
3. One of the spouses was mentally incapable of making rational decisions as at the time of contracting the marriage maybe due to disorders of the mind or intoxication.
4. If the marriage was prohibited by law like when the spouses are biological siblings or relatives such that incest could be successfully proved.
5. Other conditions includes the inability of a partner to undergo marital responsibilities as a wife or a husband and when one or both spouses are underage and so could not have contracted the marriage under the law.

If your marriage isn’t working out and you are looking for it to be terminated either in a divorce or annulment, consulting with one of the experienced Grand Rapids divorce attorneys is the way to go in order to know whether you are qualified for divorce or annulment and avoid taking the wrong steps which may have a far reaching effects on you financially and emotionally.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

If divorce looms in your marriage relationship, you should expect some major changes in your lifestyle, finances and in other aspects of your life. Most of the things that got you united with your spouse will now have to be torn apart. Divorce is disrupting, emotional, and it involves many challenges. The process of divorce is capable of degenerating into a difficult and nasty state of affairs because of all the issues that needs to be addressed particularly in an emotionally charged atmosphere. You could have hard feelings towards your spouse as well as exhibit harmful actions out of frustrations if you have not protected your rights through the legal advice of Grand Rapids divorce attorneys. If much restraint is not applied, there could be further breach of the peace that could lead to a prolonged legal battle between you and your spouse.

The bottom line is that you need to know your rights and your obligations by consulting with attorneys Grand Rapids who would also take some legal steps to help you protect your rights. If there are children already in your marriage, Grand Rapids divorce attorneys will also help you to protect their rights as your marriage relationship crashes. There are numerous benefits in knowing your rights even prior to filing for divorce and taking steps to protect those rights through attorneys Grand Rapids can take a lot of burden off your shoulders and in fact, it can save your time and money.

Grand Rapids divorce attorneys will represent you skillfully: Once you have decided to file for divorce, it is crucial for you to consult with experienced divorce attorneys for legal advice and for the divorce lawyer to represent you skillfully. Once consulted, attorneys Grand Rapids will guide you to fulfill your obligations. Main issues normally addressed in a divorce court like child custody, money issues, visitation, parental rights, property division, and spousal support would have been mutually agreed upon by both parties in a temporal agreement under the guidance of a competent Grand Rapids divorce attorneys. That way, you and your spouse would have been put in a situation that secures your individual rights though temporarily while further negotiations continue. This step is very important as it serves to give both parties to the divorce the assurance of protection of their rights while tensions, stress, and emotions are being reduced to the barest minimum.

Attorneys Grand Rapids will ensure continuity of family relationship even after divorce in order to help your children: If there are children in your marriage, there is the need for the family relationship to continue in spite of your divorce for their sake. Grand Rapids divorce attorneys will help you create a good working relationship with your spouse before and after the divorce must have been consummated by demonstrating your commitment as helpful as possible.

Grand Rapids divorce attorneys will save your time, money and from future grief: When you know the right approach to the termination of your marriage at the beginning, you can be sure that your divorce issues will be solved as quickly as possible. That way, both parties can have the time and the convenience to establish their new homes, adjust quickly to new realities and thereby avoid grief usually associated with prolonged divorce proceedings in court.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

Divorce often becomes imminent once a marriage is drifting apart. However, going through a divorce is never an easy thing. It is a process that makes spouses asks many questions from their Grand Rapids divorce attorneys. One of such questions commonly asked by spouses contemplating or starting a legal divorce procedure is whether they can stay in their marital home while getting a divorce or simply move out. There are no hard and fast answers to this question since there are many factors that must be considered when thinking of whether you or your spouse or even both of you can stay in the marital home before and while the divorce proceedings last. The most important guiding principle therefore is that no two divorce cases are ever the same so that the expert advice of attorneys Grand Rapids is very valuable when it comes to divorce matters and family law and they are well qualified to advice you on what should or shouldn’t not be done considering the facts and the circumstances of your divorce case.

Who owns the marital home?

The question of who owns the marital house is the first consideration in deciding who might stay or move out of the home while getting a legal divorce. If the house is owned jointly by both spouses, then they both have the right to it until it is legally settled by a divorce court of law.  Even if the house is owned by an individual, the family law still permits the other spouse a legal right to dwell in the home till the marriage is legally dissolved by the pronouncement of a judge. Therefore, it is only a court of law that can fully decide on who stay in the house even after the divorce procedures must have been completed. The best advice is to always consult with Grand Rapids divorce attorneys.

What are the implications if you leave the marital home before the legal processes are concluded?

On most occasions, a spouse may leave the marital home before the final divorce legal judgment is obtained just to avoid tension, emotional verbal outbursts, and physical confrontations. However, there are assumptions that could be deduced during the divorce proceedings if you move out before the order of the court is obtained in your divorce case. Firstly, your action could be interpreted to mean that you abandoned the home possibly because you have excess money for acquiring another residence. Secondly, it could also mean that you found it convenient to walk out on your children and so you cannot be trusted with the proper care of your children. All these implications may result in your spouse gaining the house as well as the custody of the children while you are made to pay alimony or it may deprive you from collecting alimony except if you moved out based on the advice of your attorneys Grand Rapids and issues like violence could be proved successfully against your spouse.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

It is on record that the United States continues to be the country with the highest divorce rate of all countries on earth. Statistically, the US is said to maintain about 50 per cent divorce rate of its married population almost regularly.

Therefore it is a wise choice to consult one of the experienced Grand Rapids attorneys once you sense any trouble in your marriage even before a divorce gets on the horizon, so that you can be counseled on the best ways to save your marriage and if the relationship between you and your spouse has become irreconcilable, the attorneys Grand Rapids can defend your assets in the court of law and or secure your financial and material rights for you in the circumstance.

Good divorce attorneys Grand Rapids know that the basis of most divorce cases have to do with such concerns as death of love and loss of respect between spouses, problem of isolation and self-doubt, issues due to a spouse’s low self-esteem, issues that have to do with depression and anxiety, absence of trust in the marriage union, intolerance, anger and cynicism, avoidable bitterness, and a spouse’s feelings of worthlessness or inadequacy. These experienced divorce attorneys are therefore able to mitigate through the help of family groups and organizations in an effort to redeem your marriage where both spouses are willing to allow for reconciliation. Here are some facts about divorce that will interest you and also help you to avoid financial set back.

Let a divorce lawyer guide you before you move out of your matrimonial home and save yourself thousands of dollars: This advice of attorneys Grand Rapids is simple but it will improve your financial situation if taken into consideration. When you leave the matrimonial home without a good reason, you risk the punitive measure of paying alimony or you forfeit your ability to collect alimony which may run into thousands of dollars. In addition, unless your spouse is violent, you may not be able to return to the house until the property has been divided if you move out of it without consulting with an attorney and this period may take more than a year.

Consult with a lawyer before you own up to your spouse if you have been involved in any extramarital affairs: In addition to adultery being illegal in this state, there are other consequences when you admit to an affair without being guided by a divorce attorney. Where your spouse is qualified for alimony, any extramarital affair you commit while the marriage subsists including the period of your separation can increase your alimony payments by several thousands of dollars.

A divorce lawyer will guide you to secure your assets even before you begin to discuss divorce with your spouse: It is the duty of your divorce attorneys Grand Rapids to guide you to secure your assets like vehicles, furniture, collectibles, cash, and bearer bonds before the divorce discussion begins with your spouse. The attorney can even file a Lis Pendens on your behalf in the Deeds Office of any county where you have your real estate property either individually or jointly with your spouse. Lis Pendens keeps third party off your property with a notice of your interest and a pending litigation in the said property.

The truth with Grand Rapids attorneys is that they can help you to save your marriage, your family, and your assets or if you or your spouse is bent on a divorce, they can get you a good bargain of the divorce settlement. This is possible because they handle divorce cases on a daily basis and also have many years of experience dealing with these cases and can therefore put you in a vantage position whichever way your divorce case goes.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

Family law is an area of speciality in the practice of law. When compared to other areas of legal practices, family law appears to be the most profound, emotional and perhaps the most difficult to practice. The reason for this is very simple;  Grand Rapids attorneys that practice family law deals with everything that is family related issues such as marriage, divorce and its settlement, domestic violence, child abuse, child custody and support, adoption, annulment, child abduction and child seizure, alimony, emancipation, and  real estate planning etc. In fact, there are many more cases connected to the family that forms the scope of the practice of family law which attorneys Grand Rapids specialize in.

The scope of the practice of family law if handled by professional family lawyers goes beyond just filing papers at the courts to being able to provide the much needed emotional , moral, and professional advice the client as well as the family requires so badly when it matters most. Helping in reducing the emotional trauma and pain involve in divorce and its settlements is what Grand Rapids attorneys do not fail to do because family law is their professional calling and a line of legal practice where they have put in huge combined years of experiences.

Family legal issues are known to always bring very frustrating and mentally challenging scenarios to the concerned parties which therefore imply that you should not endeavour to go into it without hiring the legal luminaries experienced in the nitty-gritty of family law as typified by the attorneys Grand Rapids who know and practice family law. Here are some brief details about the major aspects of family law you should understanding and be familiar with.

A brief detail about divorce: Many marriages often end in divorce for many reasons that range from irreconcilable differences to infidelity and mismanagement of family finances and even trivial things. Since marriage was contracted based on consent of two adults, divorce can be undertaking at will. However, the process involved in walking away from a marriage carries more weight because of so many things that usually come up during the course of seeking a legal end to the marriage union.

It is therefore not something that can be done without involving Grand Rapids attorneys who are expert family lawyers to professionally handle the case and guide you through safely and help you to exit the marriage without having to nurse wounds many years after. It is possible for a spouse to lose wealth with a divorce; it is also possible for heavy tax liability to be ignorantly inherited by a party where the divorce procedure was not guided by an experienced family lawyer.

Dealing with the issues of child custody, alimony and child support: Determining who takes custody of your children, alimony and child supports are issues that are of major concern during divorce proceedings. These issues have a way of coming up again and again many years after and therefore needs an attorney’s counsel for legal and meaningful resolution.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

Divorce is a process that requires the guidance and the involvement of experienced Grand Rapids divorce lawyers. Going through the divorce process alone or engaging the services of wrong lawyers could end up in very serious consequences for you not only in terms of money but also other issues connected with your divorce settlement. This is particularly the case if your spouse should hire an experienced divorce lawyer against you who could decide to make things complex for you because of what is at stake in the divorce settlement.

Experienced Grand Rapids divorce lawyers would be able to grant you free consultation and give you the needed attention even when you have not entered into a contract to hire their services. Choosing experienced Grand Rapids divorce attorneys requires some diligence and here are some tips to help you with choosing the best divorce lawyer who would help you secure all your rights in the divorce settlement.

Seek opinions of family and friends: The first step is probably asking your family and friends for their opinions and referrals of experienced divorce lawyers in the city. It is in order if you ask people around you for referral of a good divorce lawyer. Ask for referrals from people you know have gone through divorce process and came out safe. If you have some divorce lawyers recommended to you, then you could be on your way towards getting the best Grand Rapids attorneys that will represent your interest throughout the divorce process without betraying your trust. You would, however, need to interview each recommended lawyer to know if such would be suitable for you.

Arrange to have a free consultation with the lawyer: The process of interviewing your prospective Grand Rapids divorce attorneys is very important because you have so much at stake and the onus in on you to make sure you hire the right lawyer for your specific divorce need. Most experienced Grand Rapids divorce attorneys would be willing to schedule an initial free consultation with you. Therefore, you would need to prepare for this interview and be ready to ask every question that you know will help you get the legal expert that will be appropriate for you.

Your probing questions should be on the past divorce cases handled by the lawyer and the outcome of each case, expected fees payable by you, lawyer’s approach of representation in the divorce process,  and  the record of outstanding divorce trials won. You should remember to ask for a list of clients the lawyer has successfully worked for and you may cross check with the references for their word of advice for you.

You may also seek to know through the benefit of hindsight if the lawyer is the type you are comfortable to work with and if he or she will focus attention on your needs as a client.

Check for experience and credentials: This aspect is critical since you shouldn’t hire an inexperienced lawyer in divorce matters neither should you engage the services of a lawyer who does not have the necessary qualification.

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Steve Watt & Sandra Vanderhyde

Divorce is one of the most psychologically traumas and emotionally stressful life engagements that many people must go through. Divorce has its destabilizing effects reflective in the emotions, finances, and the minds of those who go through it such that whoever gets into it should endeavour not to go through it alone without the guiding light of experienced Grand Rapids divorce lawyers who are able to mitigate for you and help you come out of the divorce process uncrushed by the reality of the heavy burden divorce often brings.

In seeking to hire one of the qualified Grand Rapids divorce attorneys, you must consider yourself very lucky if you are able to get one of the few divorce lawyers whose combined experiences on divorce issues will surely get you what you are entitled to in the divorce settlement no matter how difficult your spouse may be and no matter the planned arrangement to frustrate your interests in the divorce process.

In most of the states of this vast country, divorce carries a no fault tag which means either spouse can just decide to end the marriage even if the other spouse is still bent on holding on to the relationship. The spouse interested in divorce does not have to successfully prove any case against the other spouse before the divorce request can be granted in law. The spouse interested in divorce only have to merely state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and that there was no chance for any reconciliation.

In that circumstance, there are many problems with going through the divorce process without having a divorce lawyer to aid you through and some of these problems are briefly explained here. “Pro Se” refers to persons who go through divorce without a divorce lawyer and some of challenges they face include:

Implication of income taxes: Divorce settlement sometimes involves transferring of property such as a house or some stocks.  Without realizing the tax implication of this transfer, one of the spouses may eventually be involved in having to pay a huge tax bill which was not bargained for and was not understood while going through the divorce settlement as a pro se, who had no Grand Rapids divorce lawyers to represent his or her interest.

The legal implication of missed assets: If you go into divorce process without the representation of a divorce lawyer, you may enter into settlement without knowing the differences that exist between marital and separate property and hence, transfer some property which can throw up legal implications afterward.

The issue of pro se and transfer of pensions: Pensions and retirement benefits may sometimes turnout to be the most valuable marital asset available to a spouse in a divorce case. Where the spouses fail to understand the implication of the retirement plan, there could be gross undervaluation of what they have to divide in divorce settlement. This may have very serious consequences for a spouse and the worst scenario comes if there is a death of the employee spouse or where there exist a case of nonemployee which could mean benefits reverting back to the company and not the beneficiary originally intended.

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