Episode 2: Welcome to the, “Is It Time for a Lawyer?” podcast, with attorney George S. Lamb. In today’s episode, George provides an overview of family law in Kentucky courts. He practices primarily in Jefferson County and the surrounding counties. What Is Family Law? George has handled family law cases for the past 15 years. He begins by explaining that it’s a wide range of legal issues, beyond simply divorce. Family law can involve both married people and unmarried people. While both groups may not deal directly with a divorce proceeding, if children are involved, family law would govern child custody, child support, but not necessarily the property division issues a married couple would need to consider. Included in family law, you’ll have divorce cases, child custody cases, issues dealing with paternity, domestic violence cases which might involve an EPO, DVO or an IPO. It may involve Child Protective Service (CPS) matters. Family law also involves maintenance that may be paid to the former spouse. Mediation could apply to both married couples and unmarried couples. Child Custody Issues The divorce sub-section of family law would include child custody. George explains the common misconception that child custody means “where my kid sleeps.” In reality, in Kentucky, it actually refers to decision-making. There are 3 major decisions that will typically have to be made relative to the upbringing of the child or children: · - Education · - Healthcare decisions · - Religious upbringing George points out that the above 3 decisions really don’t involve where the child sleeps at night. The presumption is that as a parent, you’re a joint custodian. The law presumes you’re both fit to be parents, therefore joint decision-making is the default. It’s possible for one person to attempt to prove the other person is unfit to be a custodial parent. The court also presumes parenting time (“visitation”) will also be 50/50. This presumption reflects current society. Child Support Calculations Child Support this financial issue is calculated by guidelines in state law. Various factors, including the incomes of both parents, the cost of health insurance, child care expenses, uncovered medical expenses, the cost of extracurricular activities and issues impact child support. The law provides a guideline, but the actual amount paid by one parent to the other may deviate from the guideline, if agreed upon in the settlement. Division of Property Family law often involves property division, assuming the couple was married and they accumulated property during the marriage. This can be furniture, vehicles, real estate and other items. It includes financial assets and liabilities. The court will attempt to reach an equitable distribution of the property. George explains that it’s not just a matter of splitting things down the middle. Is there debt associated with a particular item (i.e. a car loan or mortgage)? This debt needs to be taken into consideration during the division of property. Certain property may have been owned by an individual before the marriage, and therefore, may not be considered part of the marital estate. This could also include an inheritance or a gift given exclusively to one of the individuals. Sometimes, these items might need to be included in the marital estate. A skilled, experienced Louisville family law attorney can help you to establish think through property division issues, including the calculations needed to value the specific items to be negotiated. Kentucky law actually contains statutes pertaining to those calculations and the division of property. Tax consequences also need to be considered. Certain items (including the payments for those items) my come with tax deductions, tax liabilities or other issues that should be included in the equitably division of property. If the couple has young children, the impact of family decisions will continue to affect both parties, long after the divorce, itself. Focusing on the Future Once the divorce decree is entered, at some point in the future, the terms of the divorce settlement can be modified. This is referred to legally as a post-decree modification. The circumstances are going to change over the years, as the children grow older, jobs change, incomes change and other factors evolve. The original divorce decree may need to be altered by one of the parties. You, or your former spouse can petition the court to change the terms of the decree to adapt to the new circumstances. Unmarried people may decide to petition the court for a change in child support. They would use the same legal process. Once one party files the petition either for the divorce or a modification, the other party will respond and there will be an exchange of financial information as part of the financial disclosure. Generally, mediation...
