Family Law

When dealing with family law it is vital to choose a law firm that can understand and guide you through your options on matters such as adoption, divorce, Alimony and the division of matrimonial assets.

We undertake to guide and provide you with support throughout the process, as this area of law is usually a very emotional issue for most clients. Our aim is to establish and proceed with an amicable and mutually agreed manner between the spouses in order to eliminate any unnecessary strain and tension.

Divorce

For religious marriages, an application for the dissolution of a marriage may only be filed 3 months after the notice to the appropriate bishop is sent. The Existence of an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage must be proven, such as:

Four years of continuous separation

Infidelity

Violence and physical abuse

Immoral behaviour

Imprisonment of the spouse

Refusal on the spouse to have children

The breakdown of the martial relationship,

Absence of one of the spouses for two or more years

Child Custody

When Children are involved, it is advisable to file a child custody application in order to determine which parent will have custody of the children. The Family Court upon hearing the arguments from both sides shall issue a parental care decree, a child custody decree and a communication decree. In the absence of any unusual circumstances the Family Court will award a parental care decree to both parents. The Child Custody decree is usually issued to with the Mother especially if the children are of young very age whilst the other parent is granted a communication decree.

Child and Spousal Maintenance

The Parent that is granted child custody may apply for child maintenance order against the parent who has been awarded the communication decree. Such orders are issued in the following circumstances:

For a child under 18 years of age, the amount is calculated by taking in to account the needs of the child, standards of living as well as the income of the parents.

Where a child is over 18 years of age, the child may file its own application for maintenance against the parent who is not contributing. An adult child is only allowed maintenance if he is a soldier or a student.

What rights do you have on property upon divorce?

To establish if you are entitled a percentage on property that is owned either jointly or wholly by your spouse, we must consider the contribution of each person individually. Even if the property was owned wholly by your spouse you may be eligible to a percentage of their assets if we can establish that the value of their assets increased as a result of your contributions.