(US family law and general legal info) Child support laws are in place to ensure that adequate financial aid is given to the children from their parents, who are not staying with their children. Usually, child support is associated with divorce or separation, wherein both the parents are not raising their child together. Thus, a financial aid is generally paid by the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent to meet the financial requirements for care and support to the child. Child support amount can include expenses such as food, clothing, medical care, health insurance, education, housing, and other special needs of the child.
A child support lawyer is a specialist lawyer, who has studied family laws and gained legal experience in handling cases related to divorce and child support. If you are facing a separation or divorce case with children, you may need help of an experienced family lawyer.
Benefits of Hiring a Child Support Lawyer
Representing your divorce case may or may not be simple. If the decision is not mutual, it is likely to be emotionally distressing. You may not be able to represent your divorce case on your own. Thus, appointing a lawyer for the same is a wise option. One more reason to appoint an attorney to handle your divorce and child support case is that the divorce laws are complicated, and those related to child support are complex too. In addition to being complex, child support laws are different in every state of the United States.
A lawyer experienced in child support cases can be abreast with all the updates and has expertise in calculating the child support amounts. In case, there is any difference in the calculated figure and the amount announced by the court, your lawyer can protest the same. Your lawyer can also educate about other factors involved in child support such as how to make the payments, whether or not the child support can be recalculated, and when does the child support will stop etc.
Responsibilities and Duties
Job as a child support lawyer entails performing various tasks right from evaluating your case, advising you, conducting counsellings with you and your spouse for possible ways to handle the case.
Child support cases are filed with Department of Child Support Services. A lawyer has to oversee all the cases related to child support with the department. He has to be involved in advising department staff. He advices parents related to legal issues, and who are involved in support actions and paternity.
He prepares for the pleadings, hearings, motions and conducts discovery required for the case trail, and other legal proceedings. Creates and maintains accurate case records. He is also involved in negotiating settlements with your spouse.
A child support lawyer similar to other types of lawyers, focuses on one arena of the legal system representing child support. Such cases are associated with divorce and separation cases. These lawyers obtain a Juris Doctorate degree and should be active member of the state bar association. A child support lawyer will explain to you your rights related to visitation and the extent to which you can be held liable for child support, depending upon your monthly income and other relative factors.
This Guest post is written by Lords Screw. He is a writer for Typeoflawyer.com