Family Court
Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce is a mutually agreed-upon lawsuit in which you and your partner have no disagreements regarding finances, property, child custody, or other potential issues. Our goal is to ensure your uncontested divorce action goes through smoothly for all parties involved.
Custody and Guardianship
Depending on the specific circumstances, it may be in the best interest of a child’s well-being to live with and be cared for by a particular family member or trusted guardian. In custody and guardianship litigation, guaranteeing the health and safety of the child is our top priority.
Maintaining the Sanctity of Your Family
When you choose the representation of the Law Office of Michael S. Juarez, P.C., you are more than just a client. You are family. And becoming a member of our law firm’s extended family means that we will always keep your family’s best interests at heart.
Who May File a Petition for an Order of Custody?
A parent, grandparent or a person with a substantial connection or relationship with the child may file a petition in Family Court requesting that the court place the child in his or her custody. A copy of the petition and a summons must be served upon (delivered personally to) the person or parties who presently have custody of the child. If the child’s parents are separated and one parent seeks a custody order, that parent must have the papers served upon the other parent. If a non-parent is seeking custody of the child, then both of the child’s parents must be served.
Guardianship
A parent or person can request that the court grant them guardianship of a child when there is concern that one or both parents are unable to care for the child. A judge may decide that a parent is unable to care for their child if the parent:
- dies
- abandons or neglects the child
- is in military service and abroad
- was deported but the child remains in the U.S.
- is too sick to take care of the child and cannot make decisions for the child anymore
Orders of Protection
Filing for an order of protection may be necessary when someone is threatening the physical or mental well-being of you or a loved one. These occurrences are unfortunate; however, they must be dealt with swiftly and accurately to assure your family’s safety.
What is an Order of Protection?
An order of protection is a court order requiring one person to do, or not do, certain things if a crime is committed.
What “types” of orders of protections are there?
- Stay-away or full orders: the parties must “stay away” and have no contact directly or through third parties
- Refrain from or limited orders: the parties can have contact but must refrain from committing family offenses or criminal offenses (like harassing, assault, stalking, etc.)
What does an order of protection do?
Any order of protection can order someone:- To stay away from protected person and children and anywhere they frequent like work or school
- Not to commit acts that would be harmful
- To allow one party to go to residence with law enforcement to get their property
- To return important documents to protected party
- To allow protected person to terminate a lease
- To surrender firearms
In addition to the above, an order of protection from Family Court can:- Give custody of children to the petitioner
- Make provisions for visitation
- Require the payment of child or spousal support
- Require respondent to pay petitioner’s legal costs
- Place respondent under probation supervision
- Require respondent to pay medical costs
- Require respondent to attend abusive partner intervention program
- Order anything else that is required to further the purposes of protecting the petitioner and children
Maintaining the Sanctity of Your Family
When you choose the representation of the Law Office of Michael S. Juarez, P.C., you are more than just a client. You are family. And becoming a member of our law firm’s extended family means that we will always keep your family’s best interests at heart.
