The Real Side of a Family Lawyer: Understanding What They Do

Any kind of separation, including a divorce, is one of life’s most challenging ordeals. You must contend with complex decisions about finances, assets, and your children, if any, all while handling the emotional strain of ending a relationship. And with family laws in Calgary often evolving, having a family lawyer by your side proves invaluable. 

Adept Calgary family lawyers go beyond providing legal support. While most consider them professionals who simply outline and complete the separation process, family lawyers facilitate concrete support to help secure a fair outcome for your new future. Here’s a complete breakdown of what a family lawyer actually does. 

Their Work Goes Beyond Separations

A family lawyer advises and represents clients on various family dispute matters, not just for separations and divorces. Their work ranges from pre-nuptial agreements and child arrangement disputes to financial asset separation and cohabitation agreements. Their daily work involves establishing personal connections with clients, drafting applications and documents, offering advice on specific familial circumstances, and keeping a client’s best interests in mind while considering the long-term impact of asset divisions and the needs of any children involved.

What Family Lawyers Generally Take Care Of

Family lawyers often deal with people who are at their most vulnerable point, including family breakdowns, allegations of harm to a child, loss of access to children, etc. While divorces and separations are what most know about, they also help clients with property settlements, child support, and more. 

Divorce and Separations

A family lawyer helps to guide people through divorce proceedings smoothly by ensuring they fully understand their responsibilities and rights under the state’s family laws. An experienced family lawyer can help manage everything from resolving child custody disputes to filing divorce papers, assisting with sensitive areas like property division, parenting arrangements, and custody disagreements. 

Property Settlements

Family lawyers help clients with property divisions in modest to high-value cases. They allow the two parties to negotiate an agreement on asset division, including investments, real estate, and retirement funds, as cordially as possible. Besides handling all the paperwork, these lawyers ensure a fair division of property assets while resolving disputes efficiently and minimizing litigation. 

Parenting and Child Custody

During separations, deciding parenting arrangements and child custody is one of the most emotionally strenuous conversations. As family lawyers step in, they deal with empathy and establish parenting plans prioritizing the children’s best interests for fairness, stability, non-volatility, and adherence to state laws. This process often involves negotiating agreements regarding education, visitation, and health matters and filing legally binding orders to resolve custody disputes.

Spousal Maintenance

Family lawyers also play a crucial role in assessing the financial details of both parties during spousal maintenance situations. They negotiate and set up fair payments by adhering to the state’s family laws, ensuring economic stability for the former spouse unable to meet their needs, and resolving any legal issues regarding providing support.

Domestic Violence Orders

What many don’t know is that family lawyers are also vital for protecting individuals during family or domestic violence matters. They help them file for domestic violence orders (DVOs) and defend them against false accusations to ensure safety and uphold lawfulness. 

Dispute Resolutions

Family lawyers are crucial in resolving various family matters without the courtroom. They have the expertise to mediate and suggest alternative dispute resolutions to help both parties reach an amicable agreement, typically on issues like parenting arrangements, family law disputes, and property divisions. More importantly, they use empathy and understanding to help people see the benefits of choosing the non-adversarial path.

Summing Up

You wouldn’t think of wanting a family lawyer on your best day, but on your worst, they are the ones to offer the right help. From drafting court statements and applications to guiding you on the essential thoughts to focus on (for instance, the future needs of your children), they are your pillar of support when you need it most. A family lawyer’s work may seem like advising and fulfilling legalities, but it goes beyond that. When your future seems uncertain after a harsh familial or relationship situation, a family lawyer can often help you get through it legally and emotionally.