How Do Courts Determine Custody of Unborn Children During a Divorce?
November 21, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingA father’s claim to custody rests marriage or a determination of paternity. Paternity is difficult to establish before a child is born. Sometimes, a court will not enter a divorce decree until the child is born. After birth, the judge will determine custody according to the court’s understanding of what would be in the best interests of that child. Keep in mind that the court’s preference is to help both parents maintain a relationship with their children. It’s not a bad idea for either parent to start thinking about how they might work to facilitate such a process. A divorce that involves an unborn baby can be particularly emotional and difficult to navigate for either parent. Make sure you have a qualified family law attorney on your side. Contact Barna, Guzy, and Steffen to discuss your divorce case today.
Read MoreHow Can I Contribute to the Success of Divorce Mediation?
November 18, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingDivorce mediation can be an excellent process for reducing costs and increasing the chances of creating a divorce outcome that is livable for everyone. That is not to say that the process is easy, or that it does not carry some unique pitfalls. If you’re asking yourself what you can do to make the process more successful, however, then you are already on the right track. Create a list of reasonable goals. Know what you want this mediation to achieve. Write these goals down. If you don’t know where you’re trying to go then it will be harder to be productive. That doesn’t mean that it will be possible to meet each and every one of your goals exactly as you envision them. But if they are reasonable they at least give you a starting point. Shift your mindset. In a divorce, it’s very natural to start looking for who is at fault. But that attitude is counter-productive during the divorce mediation process. You need to release any need to get revenge, assign blame, or cast yourself as the victim. There is a problem before you and your spouse. The mediation process is successful only when you focus on solving that problem instead of picking apart the events that brought you to the…
Read MoreWhat’s Ending the Most Marriages?
November 16, 2013 | Elizabeth A. SchadingAccording to The Huffington Post, a British study has shown that “unreasonable behavior” is now being cited as a cause for divorce more often than infidelity is. Of course, the definition of “unreasonable” is quite varied. The British don’t have no-fault divorces, and so must list reasons why the marriage has to end. In Minnesota, however, no-fault divorce is the law. This means it doesn’t matter why the marriage is dissolving. The cause could be infidelity, financial indiscretions or the stereotypical “tube of toothpaste” conflict. It simply doesn’t matter as far as the law is concerned. The division of marital property, child custody, child support and spousal support are handled according to the same laws and guidelines and there’s no particular profit in trying to convince the judge that you are the one in the right. That doesn’t mean that every divorce is the same. Far from it. Every divorce is different, and the law can apply to those differences in many important ways. It just means that the “cause” of a divorce doesn’t matter. A judge’s decision generally won’t be swayed one way or another by who did what to whom unless other laws were broken and those laws apply to the case. Minnesota is an “equitable distribution” state. Equitable quite often…
Read More