Category: Family Law

Children are generally automatically assumed to be their mother’s biological children when they’re born to them. This isn’t the case with fathers though. Unmarried dads must establish their paternity before they’re allowed to exercise their parental rights to visitation or custody with their child. One way that fathers can do this is by taking a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) paternity test. You may be surprised to find out just how accurate such tests are.

Data compiled by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) shows that DNA tests are a particularly effective tool for determining paternity. They are 100% accurate at excluding a man as the father of a child. DNA tests can be used to confirm that a male is a dad with 99.9% accuracy.

In case you’re wondering how these tests are performed, it involves a clinician taking a small sample of tissues or bodily fluids from both you and your potential child. That genetic material contains both chromosomes and genes and is unique to both of you. Half of your’s and the mother’s genetic material join and form the child. A small sample from both you and a child can show geneticists whether you two share a biological parental connection or not.

Clinicians can sample cells from around the body. The ones that they most often take and test for paternity are buccal (or cheek) cells and blood. The genetic profile of samples like these is consistent no matter what bodily source they come from.

Unmarried fathers generally don’t enjoy any parental rights to their child until they establish their paternity of them. This means that you aren’t legally entitled to visitation or custody of your child. You’re also not entitled to make any decisions about their education, religious upbringing or medical treatment unless you’ve established your paternity either.

If you aren’t listed as the father on your child’s birth certificate and their mother seems reluctant to sign any necessary paperwork to add you to it, then you should initiate the paternity process right away. An attorney here in Dallas can advise you of the steps that you must follow to move forward in establishing paternity and exercising your parental rights here in Texas.

Prenuptial agreements used to be something that the average person never considered. They carried a bit of a stigma, for one thing, and some people felt that just bringing it up was offensive. They were also mostly used by the wealthy, as they had more at stake.

These days, though, more and more couples are getting prenuptial agreements, even when they’re not wealthy. It is clear that the younger generations have embraced them in a new way.

One reason for this could be the fact that divorce rates soared after the development of no-fault divorce cases. That mass increase has leveled off, but it means that a lot of today’s young couples grew up in a world where divorce was far more common. It’s easier for them to accept than it was for previous generations.

Another reason is that people often delay getting married into their late 20s or even their 30s. You don’t see nearly as many couples just getting married right out of high school. They put it off and focus on careers and dating relationships. This means that they may have far more assets when they actually do get married than couples had in the past, so the use of a prenup just seems to make a bit more sense to them.

It’s still true that most couples do not use prenups, but it’s also clear that they’re beginning to see how useful of a tool these can be. If you want to use one, it’s important to know exactly how to get it set up properly before the wedding.

Today, most people get married because of how they feel. They fall in love with one another, decide they can’t spend life apart and choose to get married. This has been dubbed the “marriage of feeling.”

It has certainly not always been this way. As much as we romanticize this idea now, the “marriage of reason” has been more common over human history. People did not get married because they were in love but because of the advantages of the marriage.

This is easiest to see with royalty, as they often married as a way to secure peace between two countries. The people getting married may never even have met, but the marriage wasn’t about them. It was about creating allies.

Even with commoners, though, marriage often happened for practical reasons. Two people may have land next to each other and decide to marry in order to join their properties. Parents may look for partners for their children based on what religion they followed. Historically, women often wanted to marry men because they needed them for financial support, while men want to get married because of the need for offspring.

While this still happens today, things have changed. The marriage of feeling is far more common, and many people feel like it sounds very unfair and wrong to get married for any other reason.

The issue with the marriage of feeling, though, is that it is only bound by those feelings. With no practical reason to be married, couples who fall out of love may want to end the union. When they get divorced, it’s important to know about the legal options they have.

The divorce process is complicated and stressful, which often contributes to mistakes that you end up regretting in the future.

Fortunately, with the right approach to divorce, you can avoid mistakes that cause you trouble. Here are some of the many mistakes that have the potential to sneak up on you:

• Neglecting to create a property division checklist: Property division is always a top priority during divorce, as you want to secure all the assets you’re entitled to. A checklist can help keep you on track, while also making note of which assets are joint and separate.
• Putting your children in a compromising position: Your children are going through the divorce process as well, so do your best to protect them. Don’t put them in the middle, such as by forcing them to take your side against your soon to be ex-spouse.
• Forgetting to plan for the future: There’s so much going on in the here and now, that you may lose sight of the fact that there will be life after your divorce. Now is the time to plan for your new life, such as by creating a post-divorce budget and thinking about where you want to live.

When you avoid these divorce mistakes, among others, it’s easier to feel good about the steps you’re taking and where you’ll end up when everything is said and done.

The key to success is understanding your legal rights and the best way to protect them. With this approach, you’ll have the confidence necessary to deal with anything that comes your way.

When determining your child custody schedule, one thing to keep in mind is that it may not last forever. Your child’s needs will change in the future, and it may become necessary to alter or update the plan to account for that. Many parents fail to do so, and it can lead to some complications.

For instance, maybe your child is five years old and just starting school. It makes sense for them to live with you all week, since you live near the school, and to go stay with your ex on the weekends.

Fast forward ten years, though, and your child is now 15. They love spending time with their friends. It’s very important to teens, and their friends are like a second family.

However, with your schedule, your teen isn’t able to spend weekends with their friends. Your ex lives two hours away. Your child has to go live in a town where they have no friends. They feel lonely and it seems to them like they get back to school every Monday just to find out what they missed.

When your child was young, the plan worked. As a teen, it makes them feel miserable. It still makes sense for you as a parent, but does that mean it is still in your child’s best interests?

If you do want to change the custody schedule, you need to get your co-parent’s agreement or ask a judge to order the change. Either way, the custody agreement needs to be updated to reflect any changes. Talk to your attorney about your what steps to take.

Even if you are confident in your ability to get along with your ex-spouse, don’t assume that you’ll never disagree with them when co-parenting your children. This is likely to happen at some point. When it does, it’s critical that you take the right steps.

When co-parenting disagreements become the norm, it’s easy for stress to bog you down. When that happens, you may find that you’re not giving your children 100 percent.

Here’s what you should do if you can’t seem to escape the cycle of arguing with your ex:

• Fall back on your parenting agreement: As a legally binding court order, it should provide you with guidance as to what you both should and shouldn’t be doing.
• Talk it out: If you’re not on the same page as your ex, it’s difficult to even consider sitting down and having an honest conversation. However, if it’s for the sake of your children’s well-being, it’s a must.
• Don’t put your children in the middle: As your disagreements and arguments continue, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using your children against your ex. Doing so only causes more problems, while also putting unnecessary stress on your children.

You shouldn’t expect everything to go smoothly when co-parenting after divorce. Despite your best efforts, there will be times when you disagree and argue.

However, if this has become an ongoing problem, you need to take immediate action. You may determine that requesting a modification of your custody agreement from the court is the best way to proceed. Your attorney can help you.

If you have visitation rights, it’s important that you take full advantage of every visit with your children. But even if you have the best intentions, there may come a time when you’re unable to visit with your children in person.

Virtual visitation is on the rise, as technology has made it easier than ever before. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can use technology to connect with your children.

Here are some of the many things you can do with virtual visitation:

• See your child’s face, as opposed to simply talking on the phone
• Read your children a bedtime story
• Help them with their homework or a project in real time
• Witness a special event in their life, such as a dance recital or baseball game

There are many forms of virtual visitation, ranging from video chats to instant messaging. If you’re interested in this, work with your ex-spouse to find technology that works for everyone involved.

As you work through the details of your divorce, parenting plan and visitation schedule, take the time to strongly consider the pros and cons of virtual visitation. If you think it’s something that could benefit you in the future, work it into your parenting plan.

There is no replacement for physically spending time with your children, but that’s not always possible. For this reason, you should learn more about virtual visitation and then take advantage when it makes sense to do so.

If your ex is making it difficult for you to spend time with your children, look into your legal rights for requesting a parenting plan and/or visitation schedule modification.

When a divorce case goes to court, both sides tend to think about one thing: winning the case. It feels like it is them against their ex as they debate who gets to spend time with the children or who will keep which assets — and much more.

If you instead choose mediation, is it very important to change this mindset. Remember that it is not about winning, being right or showing that your ex is wrong. Instead, it’s about working together to reach an outcome that is favorable and works for both of you.

In some cases, you may both feel unsatisfied with parts of the agreement. It happens. Maybe you wanted to see the children every week, for instance, and so did your spouse. What works best, though, is an every-other-week schedule, so that’s what you do. You both wish you could see them more often, but you know it’s best for the children to see both parents, so you compromise to make it happen.

This spirit of compromise and cooperation is what makes mediation work. You and your ex are trying to solve a complex legal situation, and you’re trying to do it together. You’re working toward a solution that puts the children first, or if you’re not parents, that makes the divorce go smoothly and efficiently. If that’s what you’re committed to, mediation can succeed.

Whether you’re interested in mediation, a collaborative divorce or a contested divorce that has to play out in the court system, just make sure you know what legal steps you need to take.

Asking your soon-to-be-spouse to sign a prenuptial agreement is easier said than done. While it sounds like a good idea to you, once you bring your thoughts to light your spouse may take issue.

Of course, you shouldn’t let the fear of disagreement stop you from discussing a prenuptial agreement with your partner. Instead, it’s critical that you take the right approach to the conversation. Here’s what you should do:

• Focus on the benefits for the both of you: If it appears that you want a prenuptial agreement because it only benefits you, you’re more likely to get push back from your partner. Explain the benefits for the both of you, as this makes it more appealing.
• Don’t argue, work together: Asking for a prenuptial agreement shouldn’t lead to an argument. It’s a time for you to work together on something that can benefit the both of you. An open and honest conversation is the best way to make progress.
• Don’t issue demands: If your partner pushes back and you become aggressive with your demands, it has the potential to result in a serious disagreement. And that’s not what you want as you move toward your wedding day.

Even if your partner is on board with the idea of creating a prenuptial agreement, actually discussing the terms and conditions can be a challenge.

Fortunately, with the right approach, a willingness to compromise and enough time, you can work through the details of your prenuptial agreement so that you get it in place before your wedding day arrives.

When school lets out for the summer, it’s a classic, free time in a child’s life. If that child’s parents are divorced, though, it can make for one complicated summer vacation schedule for the parents. It may have to be different than what they did during the school year.

For instance, one couple used a schedule of two weeks with one parent and then two weeks with the other. While this meant they got to make fewer exchanges than they would if they traded time every week or every few days, it also meant going 14 days at a time without seeing their child. The girl was 10 years old, and her mother said it was very hard to be away from her for so long during the usually fun summer months.

Another potential issue to consider is where to make the exchanges. A lot of parents just do it after school during the year, to keep things easy. During the summer, they need a set schedule to make exchanges on their own.

Furthermore, parents may have to consider child care options. Maybe one parent stayed home with the children when the couple was married, but now both parents have to work after the divorce. That’s fine when the children go to school during the day, but what will it mean when they’re home? Will the parents have to hire someone to care for them or will they need to change their work schedule?

These are just a few of the questions parents need to ask, but they help illustrate why it’s so important to think carefully about your custody options.