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Contested Divorce A contested divorce is one where the parties cannot agree on the terms of their divorce. In these cases anything that is not decided by the parties will be decided by the trial judge. The trial judge has wide discretion about how to decide the issues. In general the contest issues generally are: Property Division This includes the division of both assets and debts. The court will decide who keeps the house, who pays the mortgage, who pays the credit cards, how much of each spouse's retirement is set aside for the other spouse. The court is allowed to divide all the property that is acquired by the parties jointly. We call this marital property. It is generally the property that you have acquired during your marriage that has not be received by you as a gift or by inheritance. Child Custody and Visitation In the case of children, the court must decide who will have custody of the children. This is generally done by the court determining who is best able to provide for the moral, mental, emotional and intellectual welfare of the children. This is not a simple task and the most bitter divorces involve disputes over child custody. Child Support The law requires that the judge order child support in each matter. Child support is largely a function of your and your spouse's incomes put through a mathimatical formula laid out in the law. With each year this formula has become more and more complicated. Determining child support is discussed further under its own section in our site. Support Alimony Support alimony is money paid by one spouse to the other for their support. It is usually limited to special circumstances and marriages of many years. It is also a highly contested area and one that is rarely settled. Attorney Fees in Contested Matters We handle contested matters on a hourly basis. This means that the client pays for the time spent on their case and we require a deposit of fees before being engaged in the case. We encourage potential clients with contested matters to set a consultation to discuss the particulars of the case. We base our fees on the complexity of each case. As we do this on a case by case basis we cannot give you a quote on fees without discussing the matter with you personally.
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