Family law is an area that involves family relationships and issues. It can encompass anything from adoption finalization to divorce proceedings. No matter what type of family matters need to be decided, an attorney who specializes in this area of law will make the process a little easier.
An Irvine family law attorney should be well versed in all areas of California family law. Major life changes often take place as a result of the decisions made in these cases, and an experienced, compassionate staff can help clients survive the emotionally taxing process and win the case. It is important to choose a lawyer and firm that will handle each client on an individual basis, taking the time to get to know the client and family and understand the extenuating circumstances of each unique case.
An Irvine family law attorney will be experienced in the various aspects of family law. The most common cases handled in this area are divorce settlements, where a competent attorney is essential to protect the rights of the client and ensure the settlement is fair and reasonable. Divorce is one of the most stressful events a person may ever experience, but the right lawyer can make that difficult time a little easier to handle.
Child custody is often an element of divorce proceedings and can be very emotional and stressful for all parties involved, including the children. It may be difficult to determine where the children should be raised – and who should raise them – when parents split up. When the parents cannot agree on this issue, it is up to the court to decide where the children should live. This is usually done in the “best interest of the child”, although this can be difficult to determine. An experienced Irvine family law attorney can help ensure that a child custody case goes as smoothly as possible and that the rights of his client are firmly protected during the process.
Once child custody is determined, child visitation must also be addressed. This agreement will allow the non-custodial parent a prescribed amount of time with the children so that relationships are preserved in the family unit. The standard visitation order will allow the non-custodial parent to have the children one night a week and every other weekend. It also splits time during holidays and school vacations. If changes need to be made to this standard visitation order, an Irvine family law attorney can make sure those changes are done correctly and with the best interest of his client in mind.
Other areas that an Irvine family law attorney may handle include adoption proceedings, paternity cases, prenuptial agreements and restraining orders. Domestic violence is another stressful situation that may call for the services of a lawyer specializing in the area of family law. When searching for an attorney for any of these cases, it is important to look for a firm that specializes in this area of law to ensure the case is handled in the most professional way. The right attorney will make all the difference in dealing with these difficult situations compassionately and competently.
Archive for February, 2010
Why You Should Hire an Irvine Family Law Attorney
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010State and Federal Laws for Homeschoolers
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Millions of children in the United States are homeschooled. In fact, Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) projects that this number will reach over 12 million by 2015. The United States Constitution does not have specific laws concerning education; each state governs education and has its own laws concerning homeschooling. So, if you’ve considered homeschooling your children, you will only have to learn the laws for your individual state.
Homeschooling laws vary from state to state. Each state has a mandate to provide an education for its students; many states delegate that authority to the state’s Board of Education. The state Board of Education wants to ensure that every child receives an adequate education. Because of this mandate, one Federal law was passed, Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974. This law requires that no state can deny any child an education based on their race, color, sex, or national origin. In other words, every child within every state is guaranteed an education.
While states cannot deny a child an education, it is ultimately up to the parent to choose where that child will attend school — whether public school, private school, or homeschool. Public schools, and some private schools, are regulated by the state. However, since a large percentage of homeschool families do so for religious reasons, there are often few regulations for homeschools.
One state law that appears to be universal is the requirement for children to attend school in some fashion during set compulsory ages. These ages, however, may be different in each state. Some states require children to be in school from 5 to 17, others 7 to 16; it just depends on the state’s laws. To determine what your state’s compulsory ages are you can search the internet, or contact HSLDA.
Home School Legal Defense Association, National Home Education Network, and other websites on the Internet, list the homeschool laws for each state. If you choose to homeschool, it would be advantageous to learn your state’s laws. After you have begun to homeschool, if you move to another state, especially if you are a military family, you can go back to these sites to find the laws for the new state.
Military families often move several times throughout the length of a soldier’s career. Many are choosing to homeschool because it is one way to guarantee continuity in their children’s education. Rather than transferring a child from one school to another, often internationally, a military family that homeschools can continue their child’s education without fear of negative impact.
Choosing to homeschool is not always an easy decision to make. However, it is legal in each of the fifty states. You may have to register your intent to homeschool with your local board of education or you may have to turn in portfolios. Whatever your state requires, just remember that you are allowed by law to homeschool your child, and that there are places to turn if you have questions.
Are You a Law-abiding, Responsible Parent
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010Do you consider yourself a law-abiding citizen and a responsible parent? If so then presumably you would never leave your children unsupervised near a swimming pool nor allow your small child to ride his bicycle in peak-hour traffic on a busy highway, nor play with matches or leave firearms within reach of children. And you would never allow a child to travel in a car without wearing a safety belt or properly secured in a car safety seat.
If you can still honestly say that as far as the law or responsibility in considering the safety of your children, you are above reproach, then you are in the minority if you are a South African motorist. According to a recent survey carried out by the AA’s Public Affairs department only 50% of drivers use their safety belts. An even more disturbing finding was that only 20% of passengers buckle up when travelling in a vehicle.
Considering that passenger deaths in children is the fourth leading cause of unnatural deaths in the country, then it stands to reason that according to South African law an adult is guilty of a criminal offence if they allow a child younger than 14 years to travel in a motor vehicle unrestrained. The driver of the vehicle will be arrested and charged with homicide if a child that was unrestrained at the time of an accident, dies as a result of the accident. This is frightening, but not as hair-raising as the fact that there is a 75% chance that a child will die if thrown out of the car when an accident occurs which, according to Professor Sebastian von As of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, is the case.
On average the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town treats 20 children a month for injuries sustained in car accidents. What is shocking is that on average 80% of these children are unrestrained at the time of the accident. Unfortunately this is not surprising considering that according to a study conducted by the AA, only 16% of children on South African roads are properly restrained while travelling as passengers in cars, despite the fact that 338 children under the age of five died in car accidents last year. It is extremely sad to think that the majority of these injuries and deaths could have been prevented if the drivers of the vehicles had ensured that the children were properly restrained while travelling.
On impact an unrestrained 10kg toddler becomes a 300kg human projectile, rocketing forward, either into the dashboard, into the back of the driver’s seat, or worse yet straight through the windscreen. If children or babies are held on the laps of adults and an accident occurs the forces in a crash often make it impossible to hold onto a child and result in the child being ejected from the vehicle or crushed by the adult holding it.
The rear seat is often mistakenly seen as a safe place to be in a crash, but research and crash tests show that the opposite is true. Unrestrained rear seat passengers are three times more likely to suffer death or serious injury as belted passengers and if the car is involved in a collision unrestrained passengers can hit other occupants with the force of a small elephant causing massive injuries.
Hopefully, if you as a driver of a motor vehicle have in the past been guilty of driving without ensuring that all passengers are safely buckled up, this article will motivate you to obey the law and look after the safety of both yourself and your passengers in future.
Remember that the correct car insurance can replace your car – nothing can replace a life, but responsible driving habits and the use of safety belts can prevent the loss of a life.