Family Law
We can address any questions, concerns, or cases you may have on issues involving family law, such as adoption, divorce, and child custody.
Contact Mike Bianchi For Help
Family Law: Child Custody
Family law tends to focus a lot on child custody comes which down to one overriding principle: what custody arrangement is best for the children. There are a number of factors at play here including fitness of the parents, involvement of the parents in the children’s lives and the living and educational environment that allows the children to best thrive. Nowadays, the concept of custody is broken down into two categories: legal custody and physical custody. Legal custody means which parent(s) is/are going to make all the major decisions for the children. Things like, where the children go to school, whether they get a medical or dental procedure performed, whether they participate in certain activities or take certain trips. These are all examples of legal custody. Physical custody has to do with where the children reside. The children can reside primarily with one parent or with both parents in a joint custody type of arrangement. One caveat here: the more time a parent has the children, the more it will allow for that parent a greater amount of child support. More on that later. Child custody and parenting time are issues which some courts (including Douglas County) require parties to attempt to resolve with the assistance of a mediator. Through mediation, the parties attempt to craft out a parenting Plan which decides custody (both legal and physical) and all other parenting, non-financial issues. What the parties can’t work out is left for the Courts to decide.
Family Law: Child Support
Another major aspect of family law is child support which is generally determined using a calculator which incorporates Guidelines put out by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Generally, a party’s net income from all sources is used by the calculator in determining the child support that each parent must contribute to the child’s well-being. The calculator will nearly always result in one parent paying money to the other depending on the net incomes of he parties, the amount of time each child spends with each parent and any other unusual financial circumstances of the parties. Here it is important to know that under Nebraska law, a child is deemed to have spent a day with a parent if that child has spent the evening hours with that parent. Additionally, the Guideline calculations while used as the starting point can be adjusted by a court if unusual circumstances call for it. Whatever you do, do not simply agree to a child support amount before you have talked to a lawyer. At Bianchi Law, we will give you a clear understanding of where you can expect to stand on the payment or receipt of child support depending on your custody situation.
Family Law: Alimony
The final main component of family law is alimony or spousal support which is a rehabilitative way for a party to a divorce who needs financial support to become acclimated to living without the other party’s financial help. Not every divorce involves alimony. Alimony is NOT designed to keep a recipient of it in the same lifestyle. Factors which are taken into concern in deciding alimony are the length of the marriage, the contributions to the marriage (this especially includes the raising of children and the contributions to taking care to the family home), the need for the recipient to engage in additional training or education, the financial status of all parties, the health of the parties and any other factors that may be relevant. Alimony is usually limited in duration and also terminates on the death of either party or the remarriage of the recipient. Alimony has a tax consequence for recipients and a tax benefit for those that have to pay it. If you are standing on the divorce door footstep, do not negotiate your own alimony award or payment before you talk to an attorney. Only then can you know what is in your best interests going forward. Call us today to discuss your situation.
When you’ve been told that your spouse wants out of the marriage or you have decided that you must get out yourself (usually for the well-being of children as well as yourself), it is not a time to patiently wait for the storm to blow over.
DON’T DELAY, CONTACT US NOW!
I will help you prepare for the effects that this part of the storm will have on you.
