Practice Areas
Debra J. Braselton, P.C. provide legal representation in all areas of Family Law, including but not limited to:
Adoption and Surrogacy
See Our web site at adoption-law-illinois.com.
Simple, Uncontested Divorce Agreements
Sometimes the parties to a divorce or a separation are in complete agreement as to the division of their marital estate and fully understand all issues associated with custody, child support and visitation. In those cases, a client meets with a lawyer who in turn drafts the necessary legal documents. Simple, uncontested divorces often require only one court appearance.
Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative divorce is a method of dispute resolution that allows the parties an opportunity to settle their divorce without the oversight of the court. Unlike litigation, collaborative divorce allows the parties to negotiate in a structured, but non-adversarial environment with skilled legal counsel actively assisting them. Similar to litigation, the parties involved in a collaborative divorce each hire their own attorney. However, the attorneys involved in collaborative divorce are specifically trained in collaborative law and have settlement - not trial - as their primary objective. Settlement remains the main objective because the lawyers' continued employment depends upon his or her ability to facilitate an acceptable settlement proposal. Failure to reach settlement results in the end of the collaborative divorce process, and an end to the attorney's employment in your case.
Collaborative divorce differs significantly from traditional, litigated divorce in other ways. One example is the use of expert witnesses. In a litigated divorce, the spouses each hire their own experts: psychologists, forensic accountants, business valuation experts and/or appraisers. The hiring of these experts, while valuable to each party's case, results in significant expenditures of marital assets toward the resolution of the case. In a collaborative divorce the spouses agree, with advice of counsel, on which experts to hire in order to decide the disputed issues. More importantly, the costs of hiring these experts are shared by the parties rather than duplicated. This economy of scale reduces the overall costs of the divorce and leaves more money in the family's pocketbook.
Collaborative divorce is most appropriate for those clients who wish to have an active role in negotiating their own settlement while receiving the advice of skilled legal professionals.
Contested Divorce and Litigation
When parties cannot agree on exactly how they wish to divide marital assets and debts, the courts consider the case "contested." Sometimes such matters can be mediated. Other times the parties must go through a process known as “discovery.” Discovery is a legal term used by the Courts and refers to the various methods used by attorneys to ascertain the value of the marital estate. Discovery methods include depositions, written interrogatories, subpoenas and demands for the production of certain documents. Often, one spouse is far more knowledgeable about family finances than the other spouse. In those cases, full disclosure of all assets and liabilities is critical in order to make an evaluation of each party’s rights.
The vast majority of cases settle once the discovery phase is complete. However, we stand ready to zealously litigate and advocate our client’s position when settlement is not possible.
Legal Separation
Unlike divorcing spouses, couples who seek a legal separation must – in fact – be living separate and apart before seeking a formal Judgment from the Court. Debra J. Braselton, P.C. will prepare a Legal Separation Agreement that clearly addresses all financial issues as well as custody and visitation issues. Contact us for further details about the important legal distinctions between Legal Separation and Divorce.
Annulment
A common misconception is that an annulment is only available if a marriage has not been consummated. Not so. In order to qualify for annulment, the impediment to the marriage or the reason for the break up must have existed prior to the marriage. Some of the legal grounds for annulment include consanguinity (e.g., marriage between first degree family members), lack of capacity to consent (e.g., underage, insanity), fraud, and duress. Please contact us for further details on Annulment.
Pre Nuptial Agreements
Whether you seek to protect your children’s inheritance rights or your parents’ family business, a Premarital Agreement may be the wisest investment you ever make.
To be enforceable, Premarital Agreements must be in writing and signed by both parties prior to the marriage. Premarital Agreements can have a significant impact on the lives of the parties in the event of death or divorce. See our section entitled Premarital Agreements for more specific information, or contact one of our attorneys directly.
Parentage Actions
What if we never married and my child’s mother won’t allow me visitation? What if we never married and the biological father is threatening to take the baby away from me? What if we never married and I need child support?
The population of never married parents is growing exponentially every year, and these questions are asked more and more frequently. As we come to accept blended families and families whose parents never married, the law struggles to define an appropriate set of rights and responsibilities for both the parents and the children. At Debra J. Braselton, P.C. we represent a large number of both mothers and fathers who never married. Please see our section entitled Parentage Actions for more information on this evolving area of law. We invite you to contact us personally for a confidential consultation with a lawyer to discuss the facts of your particular case.
Post Decree Matters
Believe it or not, there is life after divorce. However, circumstances often change with the passage of time and the settlement agreement that was perfectly fair at the time of the divorce may subsequently require adjustment. You may lose your job or become disabled for a time. Perhaps the children’s needs have grown so dramatically that you need to return to court to modify the child support order or visitation schedule. Contact us to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about any such post decree matters.
Tip: Once a child support order is entered, never deviate from it without the permission of the Court. A common myth is that once the divorce is final, the parties can make agreements between themselves. Usually, these oral agreements will not be legally binding and can come back to haunt you at a later date. If circumstances arise where you are unable to pay child support (due to illness, lay off, etc.), you must return to court and have a modified order entered by the Judge.
