Best Child Custody Lawyers in Rancho Cucamonga, CA

While it is not mandatory to hire a divorce lawyer, think about all of the areas of your life that your marriage dissolution will affect -your finances, possessions, assets, home, and children. An experienced family law attorney can protect the things you value and promote your rights. In addition, divorce can be an emotionally turbulent time. Letting an experienced professional take over the legal details could afford you enormous peace of mind and potentially save you thousands of dollars in the process of determining property division and domestic maintenance payments.

The length of the divorce process really depends on the individual circumstances of your case. Although most marriage dissolutions typically take between six months and one year, yours could take longer if there are many disagreements over terms. Raise this question in your first consultation at the Law Office of Luella G. Hairston for a more specific answer.

Mediation is an alternative to litigation. If you and your spouse cannot agree on certain terms of your marriage but you wish to avoid going to family court, you have the option of pursuing an alternative dispute resolution method such as mediation. In a mediation process, you and your spouse discuss the terms of your marriage under the guidance of a neutral third party, your mediator. This is often a very useful tool for couples who wish to maintain control over the outcome of their marriage dissolution without submitting to the arbitrary decisions of a family law judge.

In an uncontested divorce, both spouses are able to come to an agreement regarding all of the terms of their divorce independent of the court. These terms may include property division, alimony payments, child support, and child custody agreements. In a contested divorce, the couple disagrees on one or more of these terms and is unable to reach a consensus. Thus, in order to legally dissolve the marriage, they must settle the issue in divorce court and submit to the final decision to a judge.