Why You Should Hire a Family Law Attorney

August 4, 2016

Family law encompasses a wide range of situations that affect how you and those closest to you live. Adoption, child custody and support, marriage and divorce, business ownership and shared finances, and even determinations of physical capacity and mental competence fall within the scope of family law. 

How to Choose a Divorce Lawyer

August 3, 2016

Choosing the right Ohio divorce lawyer to advise and represent you makes going through the difficult process of ending your marriage easier and, potentially, more successful. You need to trust your attorney, and expense will be a concern. More than anything, you must feel confident that the individual you select to represent your best interests while also taking account of the safety, health, and security of your children will meet his or her professional obligations to do all those things. 

The legal team of family law attorneys with Edward F. Whipps & Associates have decades of combined experience helping both men and women in divorce cases, child custody disputes, and requests to modify agreements regarding spousal support and property division. Those cases have taught us much about how to work with all types of clients and solve tough problems while working within the strictures of civil and family law. They have also convinced us that no one lawyer or law firm can serve every person. 

How You Can Protect Your Grandparent’s Rights

August 1, 2016

In Ohio, a grandparent’s right to be involved in the life of his or her grandchild depends largely on the decisions made by the child’s birth parents. Courts and officials from child welfare agencies may also get involved. The principal consideration will always be finding placements and setting up arrangements that serve the child’s best interest. Offering solutions that ensure the child will have a stable home, loving relatives, and good opportunities to grow into a happy and productive adult is where a grandparent has a case to make for seeing and caring for a grandchild despite divorce, out-of-wedlock birth, and difficult family circumstances. 

Is Divorce Always the Best Option?

July 31, 2016

When reconciling with your spouse no longer appears possible, you have several ways to end your marriage legally. Divorce is not always the best option. It may prove too final. Going through a lengthy, costly, and contentious legal process may not be necessary. You or your spouse may want to legally claim no marriage ever existed. 

Consulting with an experienced and caring Ohio divorce lawyer can help you weigh your options. Before you schedule an appointment, get a sense for which path you may want to follow by reading through these brief descriptions of the possible benefits of a legal separation, an uncontested divorce, a marriage dissolution, or an annulment. 

5 Reasons You Need a Vocational Expert on Your Divorce Team

July 28, 2016

An Ohio divorce attorney who cares about securing your requests for child support and spousal support will advise you to authorize the hiring of a vocational expert. Research and analyses performed by the vocational expert provide the numbers you and your divorce lawyer use to negotiate with your soon-to-be ex-spouse and, if necessary, make your case in court. 

How to be Approved for an Adoption in Ohio

July 28, 2016

Working with an experienced, knowledgeable, and caring Ohio family attorney while going through a legal adoption process always makes sense. Procedures, paperwork, and qualifications vary depending on which person wants to adopt and whether the potential adoptee is a grandchild, stepchild, foster child, orphan, foreign child, or person over the age of 18 who could benefit from the establishment of a legally recognized parent-child relationship. The overarching considerations will always be the benefit of the individual getting adopted and the ability of the person or people making the adoption to care for the adoptee. 

Alternatives to Taking Family to Court

July 26, 2016

Few people relish the idea of taking a spouse, brother, sister, child, or parent to court to resolve a legal dispute. The time, cost, and contention can seem too much to bear. But what else can one do when a disagreement over property, financial assets, child custody, or some other essential matter cannot be settled through discussion and compromise? 

The family law attorneys with Edward F. Whipps & Associates offer help with three major alternative dispute resolution approaches. We briefly describe these below. Other options also exist, but all proceed from a basic agreement among the parties to the dispute that staying out of court and reaching a conclusion everyone can live with represent primary goals. 

How Personality Disorders Can Influence Child Custody

July 20, 2016

A personality disorder lies at the heart of the difficulties that lead many married couples to separate. Self-serving, odd, and sometimes harmful behaviors arise from the ways personality disorders cause a wife or husband to view and interact with the world, themselves, and others. Each situation is different, but the result of spending years living with and trying to accommodate an individual who can be capricious, mean-spirited, uncaring, paranoid, accusatory, duplicitous, or quick to anger can, understandably, become too much to bear. 

Children of parents with personality disorders suffer alongside spouses, often without any understanding of why their mother or father treats them coldly or cruelly. Divorce courts and judges recognize this, so they prefer to grant custody to a parent who does not show signs of a personality disorder. Accordingly, a man or woman who cites mental and emotional problems in a divorce petition should work closely with a child custody attorney who knows how family law treats personality disorders. 

The Top 3 Reasons to Choose Dissolution Over Divorce

July 1, 2016

Ending a marriage in Ohio by going through the dissolution process can limit tensions and reduce expenses. To deliver those benefits, however, both partners must commit from the beginning to act respectfully, communicate honestly, and strive to build on points of agreement rather than exploit differences. When spouses observe those principles, dissolution has three distinct advantages. 

Your Rights as a Never Married Parent

June 26, 2016

Fathering or giving birth to a child creates legal rights and obligations related to providing for the child’s housing, health, education, and general well-being. Asking a family law court to clearly define and enforce those rights and obligations often makes sense when a child’s birth parents do not marry. Seeking advice from an attorney who specializes in child custody, parental visitation, and child support issues when going to court also makes sense.