Divorce Advice for Men | Fathers Rights Divorce | Child Custody

By Natalie Bower

Cordell & Cordell Divorce Lawyer

If you are divorced, depending on the state where you live, the court could order you to pay for your child’s college – something no court could ever order a married couple to do.

Roughly half the states have statutory provisions or court rulings under which a parent may be required to help pay the college expenses of a child.

By Natalie Bower

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

While mediation is most often used for custody matters, a judge may suggest that the parties also mediate the financial and property issues.

It is best to avoid discussing financial matters, such as property division or child support, while in custody mediation.

The financial and property issues require more background information in addressing their terms in a final order and can potentially impede one or both of the parties from working toward a resolution on the custody and visitation issues where one party is dissatisfied with how the property or financial issues are being addressed.

By Natalie Bower

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

In preparing for settlement negotiations of legal and physical custody issues, it is vital for you to have a clear understanding of the disputed issues in your case and the applicable legal standards.

By reviewing with your attorney the pleadings that have been filed in your case, the legal criteria underlying each party’s initial requests, and options for a proposed agreement, you will be better armed to effectively negotiate. 

By Natalie Bower

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell

Mediation often provides immense benefits in cases with contested custody and visitation issues, but the procedures for mediation in a divorce case differ from state to state.

Mediation in divorce cases is generally used to address custody and visitation issues and provides a neutral forum away from the courtroom to discuss the most important, and most personal, aspect of ending a marriage – the children. 

Custody mediation is generally more about personal parenting goals than the legal status, such that custody issues can often be resolved, or at least narrowed, through the mediation process.

By Natalie Bower

Attorney, Cordell & Cordell, P.C.

Note: This is Part 2 of a two-part series on orders of protection. Click here to read Part 1.

In the midst of a contested divorce case, some people resort to using Orders of Protection as an expedited means of obtaining custody of the children or exclusive possession of the marital home while their divorce case is pending.

Having knowledge of what an Order of Protection entails and what it can potentially add to a contested custody case enables clients to be better prepared for addressing the Order of Protection itself and keeping focused on the bigger picture of what is truly at stake.