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Between the Lines | Family Law Blog




Child Custody Series - The Best Interests of the Child Standard

Courts apportion custody of minor children between divorcing parents based on one standard: the “Best Interests of the Child.”  The most difficult aspect of divorce is ascertaining the best interests of the minor child(ren) involved; understanding and accepting that this might diverge from the best interests of parents, or might be inextricably linked to the best interests of parents.  A custody award is not a prize to one winning parent, nor is its denial in whole or in part a punishment to one losing parent.  Rather, a custody arrangement it a

How to Communicate Effectively with your Lawyer

Communicating effectively with your lawyer is essential to optimizing your case’s outcome.  Attorneys have knowledge of and access to relevant law, but depend on you for knowledge of and access to relevant facts.  A case is decided based on how the law applies to the facts, and both aspects are equally important.  The following strategies can help you communicate effectively (and cost-effectively) with your attorney, who is likely juggling many cases simultaneously:

How to Afford a Good Divorce Lawyer: Interim Counsel Fees?

Divorce is especially daunting for those whose personal income and access to savings and other money dwindle in comparison to their spouses.  A serious concern of all so-called “less monied” spouses is how to afford a lawyer as qualified as his or her “monied” spouse, so as to prevent the monied spouse from outspending and outgaming him or her in court. 

What’s in a Name? How Divorce Affects Your Right to Use Your Own Name

Whether or not a newly-divorced person can resume the use of the name they used before marriage depends on the location (jurisdiction) where people get divorced.  Since we live in an increasingly global world where people from different nationalities get married in country A, may live in country B, and get divorced in country C, this seemingly simple issue can get quickly complicated, although some basic rules apply.

Do you inherit some kind of “divorce gene” if your parents divorce?

Is the tendency to divorce something that’s passed down in your genetic code, like the color of your hair or your fabulous musical talent? Studies have indicated that the children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves than children whose parents stay together, so you might assume that the likelihood of divorce is something that just gets handed from generation to generation.