Middletown Family & Divorce Lawyer
Divorce and other family law matters are typically highly emotional, and sometimes highly contested, disputes that require extensive legal assistance to overcome. The Middletown family & divorce lawyers at the Law Office of Robert S. Sunshine, P.C. have assisted clients in all types of family matters for over 25 years, and are ready to discuss your case in detail.
Dividing Assets Fairly
Marital assets—all debt and property acquired during marriage until the divorce papers are signed—is subject to equitable division. Equitable (fair) division of assets often invokes strong feelings among spouses who may feel that what the other spouse is demanding is unfair. As such, division of assets is a often strongly contested aspect of divorce. Fairness is determined by many factors, including the income of each spouse, non-financial contributions made by each spouse to the household and raising the children, the length of the marriage, the health of each spouse, and much more.
Types of Custody
- Sole Physical Custody—Physical custody refers to where the child lives. If the child lives with one parent more than 50 percent of the time, that parent is said to have sole physical custody. This parent is responsible for day to day decision making and care of the child.
- Sole Legal Custody—Legal custody refers to the major decision making capacity of the parent. A parent with sole legal custody has all legal decision making authority regarding where the child goes to school, healthcare decisions, religious upbringing, and more.
- Joint Physical Custody—Joint physical custody means that the child lives with both parents equally. Roughly 50 percent of the time, the child lives with Parent A, and the other 50 percent with Parent B. Both parents are equally responsible for their child’s day to day plan and care. As such, they must be able to work together well enough for frequent child exchanges, changes of plan, and cooperation.
- Joint Legal Custody—Parents with joint legal custody have equal decision making authority about the major decisions regarding their child.
- Visitation—A parent granted visitation rights has no legal or physical custody rights. They do have court-approved visitation time, which the custodial parent cannot interfere with.
When it comes to child support, the parent without custody rights is obligated to pay a monthly child support payment to the custodial parent in order to help cover the child’s living expenses and other costs.
Spousal Support
Spousal support is based on many of the same characteristics as division of assets. This includes the duration of the marriage, the age and health of each spouse, financial and non financial contributions and sacrifices each spouse made, and the ability of the lower income spouse to become financially self-reliant.
Five Other Types of Family Law Issues We Handle
- Domestic violence orders of protection
- Modification of court orders
- Enforcement of court orders
- DNA paternity testing
- Drafting of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
A Middletown Family Law and Divorce Lawyer is Here For You
Regardless of your specific family law or divorce case, a Middletown family law and divorce lawyer at the Law Office of Robert S. Sunshine, P.C. are confident in our ability to help you achieve your goals. Call us today at 845-735-1300 to schedule a free consultation.
