What is family law? Basically, any issue that involves property or debt with a significant other, or the relationship between parent and child can be called family law. That covers a lot of ground in a short sentence. It also sets out a wide range of possible problems that you may encounter.
Divorce
Any marriage, common law or formal, must be dissolved by a court’s order. If you decide to end your marriage, you will likely need guidance through the legal system to protect your property or to determine how much access you will have to your children.
Enforcement
Once a divorce has occurred there are court orders in place, but not everyone chooses to obey them. In that case, we would help you take action to make certain that what was ordered is what actually happens.
Child-support
Setting child support amounts and registering for disbursement is also part of what we do. In the event that you are owed unpaid child support, Bexar County has two courts dedicated to enforcing child support through the Attorney General. We can walk you through this process to help you collect.
Third-party rights
If you have had custody of a child who is not yours, you may wish to gain legal custody, and again, that requires a judge’s order and a lawyer’s assistance.
Same-sex couples
Fortunately, now all marriages are considered valid. While this is good news, it means that same-sex couples may experience the same problems described above as well as other issues such as requiring changed birth certificates and certificates of parentage. In cases with IVF, there may be gestational agreements as well.
Adoption
We handle traditional terminations of parental rights and adoptions as well as step-parent and adult adoptions.
Nuptial agreements
There are times when either before or after marriage, you may want to change or guarantee the “character” of certain property. We have experience with pre- and post-nuptial agreements.
As you can see, Family law encompasses a wide array of issues and may lead to others such as taxation, estate planning and even corporate division or dissolution. We can help with some of those challenges. If the need arises however, we maintain an extensive network of trustworthy specialists to whom we will refer you.