There are a few reasons why it is important to hire someone who practices family law for a family law case. I know that a lot of people rely on their social network of friends and family to get a lawyer. I know a lot of people feel more comfortable with this. If you find an attorney you are comfortable with, that is great. That's important. However, if that attorney doesn't practice certain family law the majority of the time, they probably won't be able to spot all of the issues in your case that need to be addressed as well as they might otherwise have. Some attorneys will tell you this. Listen to them. Many attorneys are pressured into practicing something they don't usually, like family law, because a close friends referral wants them to be their attorney.

                Trust is important, but it's not everything. You need trust in your attorney and you need that attorney to know the type of law you need. In family law, knowing the law means more than memorizing the statutes. It means knowing the case law and knowing the unwritten circumstantial standards. For instance, most practitioners in my field will tell you, certain counties are more apt to listen to younger children's wishes in regards to the parenting plan. This isn't written anywhere. It's something you learn by practicing the law.

                You also need that attorney to know your judges. If they don't practice in this field often, they don't know the judges. One easy example for family law is marijuana. If you have a family law case and children are involved and you or your spouse (or the parent of your children) smokes marajuana, you are going to see widely disparate results with different judges. The same goes for maintenance. If your attorney knows their judges, they can pass on the first assigned judge and ask for another. This can be a real help for your case on polarizing issues where discretion for the judge is high. 

It is important to get an attorney to take care of a simple ticket like speeding or improper driving because if you do not have an attorney handle the ticket, you will get points on your license. These points are going to be visible on your record for multiple years to come. Insurance companies can see these points. They will increase your insurance rate accordingly. The price of hiring an attorney to handle the ticket (between $75 and $150 usually) will vastly be outweighed by the extra money you pay in insurance over the next few years that this offense shows on your driving record in almost every case. This is because in many cases, an attorney can compromise for you so that no points (beyond what you already have) appear on your license. You will likely have to pay a fine as well as the attorney fee the fine is typically similar to what you would have paid for the ticket in the first place, so that comes out to no loss or gain. 

As an attorney, I think a lot of people think that their assets aren't big enough and their life isn't interesting enough to warrant an estate plan. To the first issue: you would be surprised. You don't have to be "wealthy" to make an estate plan a smart move for you. As I have mentioned before for instance, having a small business (or any business) would make estate planning a must for you. You don't have to be wealthy to have a small business. Most people who have kids, a decent job, some savings, some retirement savings, a house, a spouse, a car or two, even someone with a special collection of collectibles—anyone with any one or any combination of these is a great candidate for an estate plan.

Also, to the "interesting" issue, in this day and age, divorce is not unusual. An adult being single also is not unusual. The combination is not unusual. These themselves probably make your life "interesting" enough. I know some adults who grew up being raised by their mothers and barely knew their fathers or vice versa. They don't realize that if they die prior to their parents, the one they like and the one they don't like could very well inherit their assets equally, when really what they want to do is give all their money to just the one who raised them. This particular problem can be fixed with a simple Will. The same goes for someone whose sole objective is to give a certain collection to a friend or family member who may appreciate it like they did throughout their life.

I know an "Estate Plan" sounds expensive. It sounds like something normal people don't need. But we need to get away from the intimidating sound of that and start planning. In fact, a simple Will can cost as little as $250.00. In our office that's the price at which we begin. You get a consult with an attorney so that you know what you need and that same attorney writes up your documents. You can sleep easy at night knowing that your wishes will be followed and that it was done properly. It can be quite a deal for the peace of mind it brings and far less expensive over time than life insurance or all the other types of insurance and things we buy to prepare for the worst.

Bottom Line: As the saying goes, "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst."

Recently I handled a case in which Grandparent Rights were at issue. As I have written before on this blog, Grandparent Rights are not as strong as a Grandparent might hope for or expect. There are only special circumstances in which a grandparent may ask for rights. Many times this is in a divorce case or a modification of the order from that previous divorce case in regards to the child custody portion of that divorce case.

The law allows for Grandparents to Intervene in Divorce cases and Modification of Child Custody cases. It also allows for Grandparents to request rights in other ways, under other circumstances. However, there is a loophole in the law as it exists at this moment. Consider this circumstance:

A couple has children together. They split—either by divorce or just split as a couple. Either the couple goes through a divorce and comes up with a custody plan or the unmarried couple splits, no court required. A grandparent has a chance to intervene here in the divorce. In the second situation, the grandparent does not because there is no court proceeding to intervene in. The grandparents have been close to the children for years, but the grandparents believe that the dissolution is their son or daughter's own business and they don't want to get mixed up in their case. This is a legitimate consideration. Divorces are messy. Many times these proceedings can bring out the worst in people, and in this case it's grandma and grandpa's son and daughter-in-law or vice versa. Grandma and Grandpa don't want to see this part of their son or daughter and they don't want to hear the accusations the other spouse has.

The reluctance of a grandparent to intervene could very well be a mistake that costs them their right to have a relationship with their grandchildren. In many instances, this is something that you can go back and ask for but here is the rest of the scenario:

                Grandma and Grandpa's son or daughter dies. Son or daughter is in a car accident. Son or daughter has a terminal illness like cancer and passes. Perhaps son or daughter dies some other way.

Terrible things happen all the time. One of the things we do as lawyers is prepare people for those terrible things and hope they never come to pass. If grandparent does not intervene and does not ask for grandparent rights before son or daughter's death, their rights to see their grandchildren could be in jeopardy. When son or daughter dies, past daughter-in-law or son-in-law may request the court for their current partner to adopt the son or daughter's children. As of now, the law has explicitly disallowed grandparents (whose son or daughter is the deceased ex-spouse) from intervening in an adoption. Once an adoption has occurred, all grandparent rights cease for the grandparents (whose son or daughter is the decease ex-spouse).

BOTTOM LINE: Intervening when the opportunity presents may allow an attorney to add language to court documents that can preserve your rights.

The answer to this question is going to depend on a few things, but first and foremost, you need to respond within the timeline written on your notice and request a hearing. First of all, do you believe you are the father of the child? If not, then you will need to contest the paternity of the child. This does not mean that you need to run out and do your own testing then give that to the court. This is a bad idea for a few reasons: One, the test you choose may not even be admissible to prove or disprove paternity so the court will not even look at the results, and second, you might be wasting money if the child turns out not to be yours. If the child is not your child, and you work with FSD (Family Support Division) to get the correct test, you will not be charged. Additionally, even if the child is your child, the test is likely cheaper through FSD due to the fact that they contract with a laboratory for testing just for this purpose and therefore can command better pricing.

Now, what do you do if you know the child is yours? You can acknowledge Paternity and not have to pay for the genetic testing. This is a serious decision though, so if you are not 100% sure, this is a juncture at which you should consult with an attorney so that you understand where you stand after this acknowledgement from a legal standpoint. It is difficult and often impossible to go back and get the money back that you paid into child support if later on you find out the child is not yours. It is much easier to pay the few hundred dollars for a paternity test if there is even a shadow of a  doubt.

If the child is yours, you will want to make sure that the child support calculation has been done correctly. You will want to respond and provide all the documentation that FSD asks for as far as income statements and participate in any hearings that are scheduled. It is a thousand times better to confront the payment situation from the beginning than it is later. First of all, if the amount should be lower, you want to ensure that the child support begins accumulating at that lower number from the start rather than the higher number. If you do not contest the higher number within the timeframe your letter states, you will be responsible for paying all that has accumulated regardless of whether the number was correct or not. If you are confused or do not know what the right amount is, consulting an attorney is important. A single consultation will likely suffice to let you know if you are paying too much or if you are not, and therefore if you will be successful in contesting the calculated child support amount.

IMPORTANT: Remember that this administrative child support order is not a legal order with enforceable custody rights. You can only get that by filing in the Circuit Courts. If you file in the Circuit Courts, the administrative action will likely be stayed (a legal word for halted) because the Circuit Court proceeding can deal with both support and custody, whereas the administrative courts are only equipped to deal with the support portion of the case.

A paternity action filed in the Circuit Courts. A lot of people confuse this with the administrative process. Sometimes, when the mother is not married to the father, she can have him paying into child support for the child but the father does not have any enforceable custody rights. Additionally, it being dealt with this way may not only deprive a father of custody rights, but also has a very good chance of making the child support too high. Why? Because there are factors that administrative child support is not equipped to take into account as well as a Circuit Court might. One of these is the amount of time that a noncustodial parent gets credited for caring for the child on the form that calculates child support. The more that is credited, the less child support will have to be paid.

At this point, you might be wondering and worrying if you can file in the Circuit Courts if an administrative action has already begun. The answer is yes, you can, and if you want custody rights that are enforceable through the courts and law enforcement, you have to do so. You will want to consult an attorney on a Paternity case. She or he can help you understand the documents you need to file. A next friend will need to be appointed for the children. This is almost always the mother. While there are some similarities between custody in a dissolution and custody in a paternity, the initial filing and petitioning will be different in very distinct ways. You will still need to create a parenting plan however and this is the heart of the case. This plan will layout when and how you spend time with your child. It will also dictate how decisions on the child's behalf will be made—for instance doctor visits, extracurricular activities, and where they attend school.

(1)    Not understanding the law and what you are entitled to before agreeing to a Settlement agreement. For example, a lot of potential payors on child support or maintenance don't realize how much the law and the legal landscape has changed in the past decade, and therefore they end up paying far too much, because of their preconceived notions and expectations about what they were going to have to pay (notions which are probably based on outdated societal expectations). Recently, higher credits for noncustodial parents were allowed, but you have to know how to ask for them and why. Also: a lot of spouses leave huge assets on the table that they are legally entitled to have. This happens commonly with retirement accounts but also happens with other assets.

(2)    Not knowing how to collect the assets that you are awarded in the divorce case. This is a problem with child support. This is also a problem very commonly with retirement accounts. Litigants don't understand that collecting these does not automatically happen when the court enters their orders. More paperwork is many times required especially in the two above-mentioned situations.

As an attorney, I know that some people will need  to do some of the legwork on their own, but a great time to consult an attorney is when you have been offered Settlement Documents by the opposing side. An attorney can charge you just for the few hours to review the document and consult with you about your rights. This is well worth the expense for any litigant. Additionally, if that attorney knows your final Settlement agreement, she can advise you on what you will need to do to collect your assets. Something easily defined like the required order to get to retirement assets or the required request for child support payments directly from noncustodial parent's workplace can also be accomplished on a "flat fee", which means that you will know how expensive the work is before the attorney does it. This is not a viable option with an attorney for a full dissolution proceeding because of the unpredictability of the work needed, but it is an option at these very specific points in the case.

You can file a dissolution on your own. Depending on what county you are in, some may be more difficult than others. For instance, here in Missouri, in St. Louis County, there are some services set up to help with this. On the other hand, the surrounding counties like St. Charles, Franklin County, St. Louis City (separate from St. Louis County), and Jefferson County, which admittedly are much smaller, do not have the same resources. Additionally, none of these resources can give you free legal advice.

For legal advice, you need to hire an attorney. Some people may qualify for legal aid with places like LSEM or CLAM, but many do not and, these organizations do have problems meeting the huge need for their services even for people that do financially qualify. If you look up federal poverty guidelines, you will get an idea of who qualifies. The levels are extremely low and depending on the size of household, can be between income of approximately $14,000 a year and $35,000 a year in income. 

The legal community sees that there is a need for people beyond these lower limits that is not being met. It offers as a solution Limited Scope Representation. You can represent yourself for most of the case, but get legal advice when you need it.

Bottomline: You can file a dissolution yourself, but you may want some advice along the way.

The answer to this is yes. You can always try to start the process and call an attorney later if you feel the need. This might not be advisable for a number of reasons, but if you need one, late is better than never. That said, there will be times where most attorneys will refuse to jump into the case. Taking on the responsibility of representing someone is something that we take seriously. Coming into a case midway means a lot of catchup for an attorney who has not been involved with the previous proceedings. They will need to know the history of the case by, at the very least, acquiring a copy of the court file and speaking with the opposing party's representation. Sometimes we will see the need to collect further evidence, which can take time—not atypically, months of time.

If you think you need an attorney, the very latest a prudent person should get counsel is at least a month before any planned trial. Depending on the circumstances, some attorneys may still refuse to get involved at this late date. We want to be prepared and maintain our reputation in doing so. If we feel we cannot meet those standards in a certain time frame, we may decline representation. We are also ethically obligated to provide diligent, competent services and shortening the timeline makes it that much harder to do so. On the other hand, if we think it is likely we can get a continuance of the trial date, we may jump into the case at a late date. Some courtrooms are more likely to do this than others. This has to do with the judge but also has to do with the docketing system. Some judges simply cannot afford to move a trial because their schedule or "docket" would be so backed up, cases would be delayed for an unduly long period of time. 

The Faulstich Law Firm: Serving the following areas: St. Louis City, St. Louis County (Affton, Ballwin, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Beverly Hills, Blackjack, Breckenridge Hills, Bridgeton, Brentwood, Chesterfield, Clayton, Crestwood, Creve Coeur, Des Peres, Ellisville, Earth City, Eureka, Hazelwood, Fenton, Florissant, Jennings, Kirkwood, Ladue, Maplewood, Maryland Heights, Manchester, Normandy, Northwoods, Olivette, Oakville, Overland, Pacific, Pagedale, Pine Lawn, Richmond Heights, Rock Hill, St. Ann, St. John, Sunset Hills, Town & Country, University City, Valley Park, Vinita Park, Webster Groves and Wildwood.), St. Charles County (Augusta, Cottleville, Dardenne Prarie, Defiance, Flint Hill, Foristell, Lake St. Louis, New Melle, O'Fallon, Orchard Farm, Portage DeSioux, St. Charles City, St. Peters, Weldon Springs, Wentzville, & West Alton), Jefferson County (Antonia, Arnold, Barnhart, Byrnes Mill, Cedar Hill, Crystal City, Desoto, Dittmer, Festus, Herculaneum, Hillsboro, High Ridge, House Springs, Imperial, Kimmswick & Pevely) Franklin County (Anaconda, Caseyville, Catawissa, Oak Grove, Pacific, Robertsville, St. Clair, Sullivan, Union, Villa Ridge & Washington), Lincoln County (Auburn, Brussels, Ellsberry, Foley, Hawk Point, Moscow Mills, New Hope, Old Monroe, Troy, Whiteside, & Winf).