Divorce Lawyers in Lebanon, Ohio
Warren County, Ohio’s Premier Divorce Attorneys
A divorce is a legal proceeding that ends a marriage. Through the divorce process, you’ll work with the court and divorce lawyers to determine the disposition of your marital property, spousal support issues, and custody and child support issues.
Lebanon Divorce Lawyers – How our Law Firm Can Help
The experienced attorneys at Kirkland & Sommers specialize in all aspects of family law, including:
Why is it important to hire a local divorce lawyer? Because we know the local courts and magistrates and have years of experience dealing with them. For example, Lebanon, Ohio courts typically favor shared parenting custody arrangements. Lebanon also offers a court-run mediation process (Early Neutral Evaluation) which gives both parties the chance to sit down with a magistrate to discuss your divorce case. This process might help resolve your case, or it could give you an indication as to how the court feels about certain issues.
Our Lebanon, Ohio divorce lawyers take pride in establishing close relationships with our clients. We want you to leave your initial consultation feeling confident, informed, and prepared to move forward. We assist clients with legal representation throughout all phases of the divorce process and after, in the event a divorce modification becomes necessary, just as every family is different, every divorce is different. Whether your marriage lasted 20 years or 2, you have high-value assets or a mountain of shared debt, you need an experienced divorce lawyer to help you navigate the divorce process.
How complicated is your divorce? Do you need a divorce, or can you agree on a Dissolution of Marriage? Do you know the difference? Take a look at the wide range of legal services our divorce and family law attorneys can offer you:
Dissolution
Similar in some ways to a divorce, a dissolution ends a marriage, but no fault is assigned. Both parties must agree to all terms of the settlement; if any terms are contested, you must seek a divorce instead of a dissolution. This is the least complicated process since both parties are already in agreement.
Divorce
This is the legal proceeding that ends a marriage. It may or may not incorporate many of the topics that follow.
Property Division
Money is easy to divide by two, but what about a house or a car? Are those considered marital property? All of your assets need to be accurately appraised to determine if it is a marital asset, or if one party may claim it as separate property Any debt also needs to be considered. Like marital assets, the debt must be determined to be marital or separate. If debt is marital, is it divisible between the parties; if it is separate, the person who owes the debt will remain responsible. It is unusual for debt to be considered separate unless it can be shown that it was owed prior to the marriage and the balance was never paid. Student loans are usually the exception to this rule.
Child Custody
The court is tasked with determining what is in the best interest of the child. The parents should submit a plan for custody if they can agree, otherwise it will be left to the court’s discretion.
Child Support
When a divorcing couple has minor children, one party may need to pay the other one to assist with the financial support of the children. Ohio law – and the court – govern how much support must be paid.
Shared Parenting
This is the generally accepted preferred custody arrangement, especially in Lebanon. This has nothing to do with how much time each parent gets to spend with the children; rather, it’s about sharing the responsibility for raising the children. Many people refer to it as “joint custody”.
Military Divorce
Is one of you a current or former service member? There are additional issues you will need to consider, so it’s important you choose a divorce attorney who is experienced with military divorce.
Adoption
This can be a complex process, although the most common type of adoption in Ohio is a step-parent adopting the spouse’s children. You will definitely want an experienced family law attorney to help you navigate this process!
Unmarried Custody of Juveniles
This can be a complex process, although the most common type of adoption in Ohio is a step-parent adopting the spouse’s children. You will definitely want an experienced family law attorney to help you navigate this process!
Spousal Support
This will be determined by several factors, including the length of the marriage, the net difference in incomes, your standard of living during the marriage, and the court’s assessment of the situation.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider and decisions that must be made when couples are going through the divorce process. The first step is finding an experienced divorce attorney and retaining legal representation. We offer free consultations so that we can get to know you, and you can get to know us. We’ll meet with you face-to-face, or over the phone if you prefer, to discuss your situation and see how we can help. You’ll discover first-hand why the attorneys at Kirkland & Sommers are considered the experts in divorce and family law in the Lebanon, Ohio area. We have more than 100 years of combined experience at our law firm, so let us put that experience to work for you. Call us or click the link below to start the conversation. Get the information you need and feel confident knowing that our experienced divorce lawyers will fight to represent you and make sure you receive a fair settlement in your divorce.
Our Approach as Lebanon Divorce Lawyers
Knowledge is power. That’s why our approach revolves around providing you with accurate and precise information. You will have many choices to make during a divorce proceeding, so it’s important that you have as much information as possible. You need to know what your options are. What are all of the potential outcomes? What’s the best-case scenario for you, and the worst-case? When should you settle, and when should you fight? You can’t make these decisions in a vacuum. You need to be informed.
The family law attorneys at Kirkland & Sommers will make sure you’re prepared with all of the information you need. We won’t tell you what you want to hear…. we will tell you the facts, even if sometimes it’s not what you were hoping for. There are no magic answers to “how long will this take?” or “how much support will I get/pay?”, but we will tell you all of the factors that go into those answers.
Are you already divorced but unhappy with your agreement? Let us see if it might be time to request a divorce modification. Divorce modifications aren’t just for changes, they’re also for enforcing the current terms of your divorce. We can tell you what factors the Lebanon courts find important when considering whether to allow a divorce modification request to proceed.
Our Lebanon family law firm understands that your time is valuable, and it may be in short supply. That’s why our attorneys offer flexible appointment times, so we can accommodate your schedule and make the process as easy as possible for you. We have experience serving clients in Lebanon and throughout Warren County, and we stand ready to serve you, too.
We know this can be a difficult time, but it’s important that you start gathering information and getting prepared as early as possible in the process. Call or email us today to discuss your concerns and schedule a free consultation.