FAMILY LAW
Family law is much broader than just divorce. Family Law encompasses paternity actions; modification of child support, alimony, or parental rights; domestic violence injunctions; non-parent custody matters, and more. Napier & Rollin appears in most types of family law cases.
The Rules
While similar to other forms of civil litigation, family law does have its own set of procedural rules and attorneys are expected to obey additional guidelines of professional conduct called the “Bounds of Advocacy.” The very first guideline of the Bounds of Advocacy is that an “attorney should strive to lower the emotional level of family disputes by treating counsel and the parties with respect.” Napier & Rollin believes that this approach is also more likely to lead to a favorable outcome for the client. However, operating with professionalism and courtesy to others does not mean ignoring misconduct or giving up valuable rights without getting fair value in return. Napier & Rollin is always capable and willing to enforce its clients’ rights by aggressively pursuing the truth and a just outcome though necessary litigation.
Enforcement of Final Judgments
Unfortunately, the end of a divorce or paternity case is not always the end of family law litigation. When a party disobeys a Final Judgment or other court order, further proceedings may be necessary to compel the disobedient party’s compliance, collect past-due support, or have the court fashion remedies to attempt to repair the damage caused by the wrongdoer. Depending on the particular facts of each family law case, a court might be inclined to award make-up timesharing, attorneys’ fees, interest, or even a “child pick-up order.” In other cases, a party’s non-compliance with a Final Judgment or court order could result in criminal penalties. In many high conflict cases, it may be necessary to impose restrictions on a party’s communication to the other party or child. Some cases require the appointment of a parenting coordinator to act as a referee between parties. If you’re looking to find a lawyer who can help you address non-compliance or contempt issues in your family law case, allow the family law attorneys of Napier & Rollin to represent you.
Paternity
The mother of a child born out of wedlock is generally considered to be a “natural guardian” of the minor child and entitled to sole custody. This may be true even where the father’s name appears on the birth certificate. However, in order to establish child support, timesharing, and the father’s parental rights a paternity action must be initiated. Napier & Rollin is very experienced with helping clients in paternity proceedings.
Modification
Where circumstances have substantially changed since a final judgment was entered it may become necessary to modify provisions related to children or alimony. Judgments are presumed to be final; therefore, modification cases should not be pursued lightly. Napier & Rollin’s attorneys are adept at obtaining and defending against modifications of timesharing, child support, parental responsibility, and alimony awards.
Relocation
Once a final order or judgment has been entered which establishes custodial rights of a child, either party must obtain written permission from the other party or permission from the court before relocating more than 50 miles. Relocation cases are among the most difficult of cases because they often involve high-stakes positions taken by both sides as to where a child will live once the relocation occurs. The attorneys of Napier & Rollin can be trusted to handle even the most difficult family law cases, such as relocation.
Prenuptial Agreements
A uniform statute adopted by Florida in 2007 governs the basic requirements to ensure that a prenuptial agreement will be technically valid and enforceable. However, only the most skilled attorneys know how to draft a high-quality prenuptial agreement which will most likely operate the way the client intends. Many lower-quality prenuptial agreements fail to address important issues or contain ambiguous language. Similarly, a different legal standard applies to agreements entered into after marriage. Without the assistance of a skilled attorney post-nuptial agreements can contain fatal errors or become totally unenforceable.
