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The job of a divorce attorney
By: Michael Sanford, Sun Dec 18th, 2005
Marriage is a very solemn and serious chapter on any person's
life. However, due to personal reasons, a couple may decide to
call everything off and file a divorce. Divorce, or dissolution,
as it is increasingly becoming known, is a process that legally
terminates a marriage no longer considered viable by one or both
of the spouses, and that permits both to remarry. All options
for reconciliation are taken before a decision is made to go to
a divorce attorney. But when everything fails, the divorce
attorney takes over and the legal process of divorce takes place.
How is divorce different than annulment? As any divorce attorney
will explain, annulment voids the supposed marriage. This means
there is not marriage to begin with. A voidable marriage occurs
when some defect exists in the contractual agreement in which
all marriages originate, as defined by a divorce attorney. These
include marriages of the underage or the insane, or a marriage
procured by fraud. Sexual impotency existing at the time of
marriage also gives grounds for annulment according to any
divorce attorney.
Divorce, however, recognizes the existence of the marriage and
dissolves it on the given grounds, which are contested by the
divorce attorney. Grounds for divorce are adultery, unreasonable
behavior, or a lengthy time apart. Once the case is file, it is
the divorce attorney's job to confirm the complaint and proceed
to the divorce court hearing.
What takes up most of the time of a divorce attorney is the
distribution of conjugal property. In "community property"
states, the courts recognize both spouses as owning a 50 percent
interest in any assets acquired during the marriage (except for
items obtained as gifts or inheritance.), which will need to be
divided between the two persons and enforced by the divorce
attorney. Likewise, debts are the responsibility of both
parties. In a divorce action one spouse, usually the wife, may
be granted alimony or maintenance payments generally for a
limited period of time. Often a court will order the transfer of
property, such as the matrimonial home, from one party to the
other on divorce; this is particularly common where there are
children from the marriage who are of school age. The custody of
any children may be awarded to either spouse, with an
arrangement made for visiting rights and support of the children
by the divorce attorney. At present, joint-custody arrangements
are being worked out more and more frequently by divorcing
parents rather than in a court and the divorce attorney.
During all of this process, the divorce attorney becomes the
legal representative of the husband or wife in court. All
meetings or agreements should be made with their divorce
attorney present at all times. This lessens the possibility of
violence, especially when the grounds of the divorce are
adultery. The divorce attorney keeps the parties civilized and
help quicken the process even more. The divorce attorney should
not be seen as the villain during such procedures because it is
their job to work as mediators.
A divorce attorney's work is not done until the assets and
liabilities of both parties have been resolved. This includes
overseeing the enforcement of the court's ruling on the division
of assets, visiting rights and custody for the children. With
the time spent on each case, a divorce attorney must maintain
composure despite his or her views on marriage. There is a
possibility that a divorce attorney can lose his or her faith in
the institution of marriage after a while.
About the author:
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