Surprises To Expect In A Divorce Or Custody Case

In this article, you will learn…

• How the length of time of a case can be a surprise,
• Where you may disagree with the court on fairness and equity, and
• How an experienced attorney can help alleviate some surprises.

What Are Some Of The Biggest Surprises That Your Clients Run Into During Divorce Or Custody Cases?

The biggest surprises that people run into in the process of their divorce or custody case are…

• The length of time it takes to finalize a case,
• The cost of a custody or divorce case,
• The amount of details contained in family law, and
• Where the court may disagree with them on fairness and equity.

One of the things that I try to do up front is alleviate as many surprises as I can by giving clients an estimate of the cost and length of their case. Each case is going to be different, with different details and personalities involved, so there is no one-answer-fits-all. This means that a lot of clients will be surprised to find out the estimate of their case.

Something that never fails to surprise clients is the amount of detail found in family law. The law is very well developed when it comes to custody and divorce. Any tiny, particular issue that you have in your divorce or custody case has probably happened before and has probably gone up to the courts of appeal. There’s probably a statute about it and then case law that can be referenced.

A lot of people are also surprised by how the court might view their situation. As your attorney, I try to help you view your situation through the eyes of the court and the law. For example, you may not think your spouse should get any part of your property and that the very idea of alimony would be unfair because they cheated on you, but that’s not how the law works.

When a judge is making a decision about how to divide the marital property, how to or whether to award alimony, or with regards to custody, they aren’t going to be looking at what happened in the marriage. They don’t typically take into account who was the “bad guy” in the situation and then award everything to the other party. They’re looking at a long list of factors that they have to consider that have nothing to do with feelings. It’s very complex.

As an attorney, I take great care to spend time helping my clients come to terms with the law and how things might unfold when they get started. It’s definitely not as simple as many people think it is.

What Are Some Of The Most Common Assumptions That People Have Which Turn Out To Be Totally False When It Comes To Divorce And Custody?

The most common assumption that people make when it comes to custody is that the court is going to side with the mother. It’s a common misconception that the mother has more of a right to a child than a father does. A lot of fathers go into custody cases holding onto this fear, but that isn’t really true at all.

Legally, parents have equal rights to their children. You have shared physical and joint legal custody as a default. That tends to surprise people.

Another common assumption that people make is that denial of access is an emergency. In Maryland, that assumption is totally false. When one parent is not getting the time with their child or children that they’d like to have, whether it be due to schedule conflicts or a complete denial of access for other reasons, it can certainly feel like an emergency to that parent.

Unfortunately, it isn’t an emergency to the court. You aren’t going to be able to get in front of a judge immediately as you might hope to resolve your issue. A police officer may recommend that you file an emergency petition and essentially ask to get in front of a judge immediately, but that will be denied.

It’s very distressing to a parent to go through their custody case without having access to their child, but all you can do is go through the legal process until you can get yourself in front of the judge in the normal course of things.

While it might be six months before you get to your final trial, there are a couple of different things you can do to get a hearing within maybe three months to help with something like denial of access. This is, of course, assuming that there isn’t physical harm or danger involved. For those cases, there’s always protective orders you can file.

With the guidance of a skilled attorney for Family Law Cases, you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we’ll make it look easy. For more information on Family Law in Maryland, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (443) 300-2335 today.