When a marriage fails to survive, people often consider getting a divorce. Because marriage is a legal contract between two people in addition to being a committed form of relationship, certain legal matters must be addressed when individuals seek to dissolve their union. Determining who gets what portion of the marital assets and which parent will be awarded custody of the couple\’s children prove to be matters that often must be resolved by lawyers and a judge.

In fact, child custody sometimes stands out as the most contentious matter to be resolved by divorcing couples. In years prior, most judged automatically gave guardianship to the mother, with fathers being awarded visitation rights. Fathers also typically had to pay a required amount of child support each month to his ex-wife.

Now, however, courts will consider equally the mother and father as far as who will make the best guardian of the minor children. Women do not automatically win custody by default of their gender. It is no longer assumed that women make the best caregivers. With that, more men are fighting for primary guardianship and the ex-wives are having to pay child support to their ex-husbands.

If the children are old enough to speak for themselves and judged to be in good emotional health, they sometimes have a say about with which parent they would like to live. Teenagers, especially, have better standing in these matters, as they are entrusted by judges to be objective enough to understand their parents\’ marital case. Sometimes teens want to remain at his or her school and thus will choose the parent who can ensure that he or she will continue at that location.

When a judge awards custody to one parent, the court usually orders the non-custodial person to pay a monthly amount of support for the children. The amount of money to be paid each month is determined by how much income that person makes monthly. Child support totals are usually no more than one-quarter to one-third of that person\’s earnings.

In addition to the children, divorcing people must decide how they would like their assets divided. Most states award the couple an even split of the marital assets, which can include pensions, real estate, stocks, and bank accounts. Wealth earned by either person prior to the marriage usually cannot be claimed by the opposite party during the proceedings.

However, sometimes couples disagree about what property should be divided and what amount should be given to each person. Lawyers and judges sometimes need to step in and resolve these disputes.

Getting a divorce can help people escape an unhappy marriage and lets both the wife and husband build new lives. However, because marriage has legal implications, divorcing cannot be accomplished without both people filing court documents and their union being dissolved by a judge. Legal matters like who gets the kids and who gets what portion of the marital belongings on occasion leads to contentious arguments that require skilled attorneys and the courts to decide.

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Category: Relationships
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