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US Family Law

US Family Law

Aaron Williams452 21-Aug-2019

Many have heard that family values are strong in America. However, few people imagine American family law. What I’ll write now, perhaps you will not read anywhere else on the Russian-speaking Internet.
Family law in the United States, guided by the good intentions of maintaining family and motherhood, has laws that protect, above all, women and children. Of course, they try to protect financially and emotionally from divorce in the event of a divorce. Emotions in the USA have a monetary equivalent and weight.

About a divorce from online divorce expert:

1. If the couple could not reach an amicable agreement, everyone should be ready to spend the lion's share of their budget on a lawyer, which is impossible to do without. One must be prepared for spending over time, perhaps several years. Litigation lasts for years (sometimes up to 5 years or more). A simple process (without children) lasts a year or two. The average lawyer rates are $ 200-250 per hour.
If a person proves that he has no income and cannot hire a lawyer, they will be given Legal Aid. However, if this is a man, he should not rely on this legal assistance, at best, they will help him fill out the paper. If this is a woman, then there is a chance of getting competent legal assistance, it all depends on her ability to look for a good lawyer who agrees to Legal Aid.
2. Cohabitation without marriage for a year or more in North America gives you the right to claim alimony for parting, as well as for part of the jointly acquired property, no matter whose name it is registered in. The percentage is decided in court.
3. “Family house” is a house where cohabitants or spouses lived.
A) If cohabitation lasted more than a year, partners are entitled to a share in the “family home” even in the absence of a registered marriage. Shares are determined in court. As a rule, these are “compensation”. Family will be considered only the house or any other housing that the couple acquired at the time of cohabitation (for whose money, it does not matter).
B) If the couple is in a registered marriage, then the “family home” is the property where the couple lived most of the time, being in a legal marriage. During a divorce, this housing is divided in half (or in shares - less often), regardless of who the house belonged to before marriage. It does not matter if one of the spouses inherited this house or won the lottery, or made a righteous / unrighteous way and when it happened.
In any case, the “family home” becomes common in marriage and is divided in half. In rare cases, and depending on the state, the percentage may be other than 50 to 50.
In other words, a man who has a home and makes an offer to marry a woman in North America at the same time literally makes her an offer to give half of his home.
An interesting question is whether this situation is spreading in the opposite direction. Those. if a woman had a house before marriage, will it become common in a divorce? In theory, yes. In practice, no. In America, case law - but there are no such cases. Those. attempts to sue part of the house by men (immigrants, English speakers consider it below their dignity) are made, but they do not end there.
4. If for some reason there were conflicts in the marriage, which became known to others (neighbors, acquaintances), things are more complicated. If one of the spouses (as you might guess, the wife) decides to call the police and complain about “domestic violence”, then no one will demand any proof from her, however, the police will come and the offending spouse (as you might guess, the husband) will be arrested. In principle, any spouse can turn a bucket and any spouse can arrest. But this is in principle. In reality, a husband will be arrested. Depending on how aggressively the spouse behaved, punishment will follow. If the spouse, say, slammed the door hard, they would arrest him for several hours, call a lawyer, and let him go. But the record of the police call will be made. Two such records - and there are good chances to completely lose the "family home" in a divorce.
If the spouse behaved more violently, then they can put him not only in the cell, but also in a cell in handcuffs for three days, then the lawyer, they will release him a fine. Only immigrants behave violently, especially from the former USSR.
If the wife calls the police during the divorce proceedings for the husband’s misbehavior, he will receive a Restriction order –that is the prohibition to approach his wife and, accordingly, the former house in which she will remain living together with all of his former property. The spouse's bully will be allowed to take personal things, such as a toothbrush, trousers ... In this case, the “family house” in the division of property remains with the spouse, even if the house belonged to the spouse before marriage.
In practice, ex-wives allow their ex-husbands to live in the basements of their former homes. Of course, if ex husbands behave roughly.
5. Alimony. In North America, any non-working ex-spouse receives child support. As a rule, these are women. If the wife did not work (regardless of the reasons), the husband will pay her alimony until she receives the education she needs, continuing education, etc. so that she could find a job suitable for her. The main argument is the inadmissibility of a deterioration in the financial situation of the spouse due to divorce. Alimony is set for one year, if necessary, extended, as a rule, up to 5 years. Alimony is calculated based on the needs of the spouse and the income of the spouse. It has not yet been about children.
6. Usually, children stay with their mother. In rare cases, when the mother is an alcoholic, drug addict, leads a loose lifestyle, etc., they can award 40 to 60 or 50 to 50% of the time the child lives alternately with both parents. They are interested in the views of the child! If the child tells in court that the mother has outdoor parties and this interferes with doing homework and sleeping, in this case the court may decide that at least half the time the child will live with the father. Child support is calculated according to complex formulas and they differ in each state.



Updated 08-Apr-2020

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