Family Law - Divorce Law - Child Support - Personal Injury - Wills and Trusts

Separation and divorce can be stressful and life-altering events for all family members, especially children. The legal complexities that arise when a family divides often appear overwhelming. This firm handles annulments, divorce, custody and visitation, parent relocation and other change of custody issues, spousal and child support matters, equitable distribution of marital assets and liabilities, the preparation of pre-marital and marital agreements, adoption, domestic relations appellate litigation, enforcement of settlement agreements or Court-ordered property and support issues and other post-divorce issues, parental abduction, and related matters.

Although we are never shy to litigate when the occasion demands, we also urge our clients to explore alternative dispute resolution avenues, such as negotiated compromise and settlement, marital or co-parenting counseling, mediation or arbitration.

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In Alabama, a divorce can be granted on either fault or no-fault grounds. Fault typically involves adultery,
desertion, cruelty or felony conviction and confinement for two years or longer. Generally speaking, a so-called "no fault" divorce can be obtained after a six-month continuous separation, if there are no minor children and the parties have entered into a written separation agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, or if minor children are involved, a one-year continuous separation is grounds for divorce.

Whether you initiate or defend against a suit for divorce, the issues and procedures are essentially the same.

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In Alabama, both parents owe a duty of support to their minor children. Child support awards are largely governed by statute. The Code of Alabama contains a schedule of basic child support obligations based upon the
combined gross incomes of the
parents, giving consideration to expenditures for work-related child care, children's health care coverage and extraordinary medical and dental expenses of the children. The court may deviate from the scheduled child support amount in order to give effect to special circumstances or needs in a particular case.

A personal injury is a type of harm that an individual suffers as a result of someone else's wrongful act or omission (failure to act when they should have). The types of injuries suffered vary depending on the circumstances and can include (among others) broken bones, lost sight, severed limbs, and death. Also, the wrongful injury causing event could be something caused without fault or intentionally. An example of an unintentional harm is when somebody accidentally rear ends the car in front of them because they simply were not paying attention. This is commonly referred to as negligence. Negligence, in a nutshell, means that a person either did something or did not do something, which resulted in someone else getting hurt. The actual legal requirements are a little more complex, but this simplified explanation will work for now.

The current Court system requires, and actually prefers, that those responsible for harming someone else accept
responsibility and pay to the victim reasonable compensation. Reasonable compensation includes such things as lost wages, lost future wages if the hurt person can no longer do their job, the payment of past and future medical bills, and the costs of future and ongoing care if the person can no longer care for themselves. There are additional items that constitute reasonable compensation but the list can be infinite because each person and each harm is unique.

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Both Wills and Trusts are devices which you can use to provide for the distribution of your estate upon your death. Deciding whether a Will or a Trust best fits your needs depends on your circumstances.

A Will is the legal document that allows you to distribute your property to those you choose. A Will allows you to designate beneficiaries to receive specific items from your estate, and other beneficiaries to receive everything else. A Will also gives parents of minor children the chance to nominate a guardian. The court makes the final decision when appointing a guardian for your children after your death, but the court will usually accept your nomination.

A Trust will be used as the mechanism to manage your property before and after your death, as well as provide how those assets, and the income earned by the trust, are distributed after your death. If you should become incapacitated or disabled, the Trust is in place to manage your financial affairs, usually by a successor trustee, if you were serving as trustee. A living Trust is not subject to probate, and therefore, all provisions of the Trust will remain private.

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