Permanent Counsel Fees

A divorce decree can facilitate an enforcement order, establish rights for both the parties, award custody and enable visitation rights, grant alimony, and distribute property between the parties. Considering the nature of divorce cases and the work involved in obtaining divorce, legal fees often differ from case to case. The fees can differ from city to city, state to state, and law firm to law firm. Preliminary meetings with counsel usually do not involve laborious effort, and usually amount to sorting the factual details. Courts take consideration of the parties' ability to pay counsel fees before awarding fees. Despite the diversity in statutes, courts apply general principles and carefully analyze the parties' financial status before awarding costs.

Fault-based Divorce: Cruelty

There are two basic approaches to divorce: fault-based divorce and "no fault" divorce. Most states permit a "no fault" divorce on the grounds that the marriage is irretrievably broken. Some states still require a fault-based divorce, some allow no-fault divorces, and a few states permit both. The fault grounds or reasons for divorce vary from state to state. Cruelty is a specific fault ground for divorce in most of the states that allow fault based divorces. Prior to the introduction of no-fault divorce grounds, cruelty was the most frequently used reason in seeking a divorce.

Attorney Fee Awards in Community Property States

In an action for divorce under the common law, the power to grant a party attorney's fees and expenses is within the discretion of the court. Some courts exercise such power as a part of general equity and when warranted by the parties' relative ability to pay counsel fees. Numerous factors are considered by the court in awarding such fees, the most significant of which being the time spent and the services rendered by an attorney in representing a party in the divorce.

Impact of Domestic Relations Issues in Divorce Cases

Divorce or the dissolution of a marriage is a very delicate process, and it totally recasts the parties' domestic relations for practical purposes. Divorce involves more than the spouses, and their children, properties, financial commitments and liabilities, and the emotions of everyone by the divorce should be considered. Divorce and domestic relations issues are deeply personal matters, and the family issues that lead to divorce are numerous. Domestic disputes that cause a divorce often reverberate throughout the divorce process and beyond, potentially for years if the spouses have children. Particularly when there has been abuse in the marital relationship, the physical, emotional, and psychological impact on the parties can last far beyond the entry of the final divorce decree.

Grounds for Annulment: Underage

In the United States, all but one state require that a person must attain the age of 18 years in order to marry without parental permission. Nebraska sets that age at 19. Some states allow marriage below the minimum age, with court approval, in cases of pregnancy or the birth of an illegitimate child. Although a marriage of underage parties might be void, it can be validated by parental consent in some states.