FAMILY LAW IN BOISE, ID

The attorneys at Cosho Humphrey LLP understand that the decision to end a marriage can be very emotional. Divorce also can raise a variety of legal questions, even in the case of uncontested divorces. Our experienced lawyers help clients walk through the divorce process in a manner that helps provide closure to the parties involved.

The judge may require one spouse to pay alimony or spousal maintenance to the other spouse. In Idaho, spousal maintenance is only ordered where the party seeking alimony is unable to support himself or herself through employment and lacks sufficient property to provide for his or her reasonable needs. Generally, the duration of the alimony will be for the length of time reasonably necessary for the spouse to become self-supporting. Alimony is not awarded for the purpose of punishing an offending spouse.

Once a final decree is entered, the court does have continuing jurisdiction to modify custody and child support and may have jurisdiction to modify alimony, depending on how the alimony was structured. In order to modify a decree with regard to child support or custody, the court must find that there has been a substantial, permanent and material change of circumstances since entry of the last decree. With regard to custody, the court would also have to determine that the modification was in the best interest of a child.

If your spouse is being physically abusive to you or the children, refuses to provide reasonable support, refuses to give you information concerning property or refuses to permit reasonable visitation, the judge will determine if you will obtain this relief while the case is pending. In cases of abuse or threats of abuse, you may obtain a Domestic Violence Protection Order.

Pre-nuptial, or pre-marital, agreements are created prior to marriage to establish division of assets in the event of a later divorce or death of one of the partners. While it can be difficult – and unromantic – to discuss such divisions prior to getting married, doing so can save a couple money and difficulty down the road, especially in a community property state like Idaho. Prenuptials also provide the opportunity to have important conversations about financial responsibilities prior to saying “I do.”

Often circumstances change after a marriage, and these situations may create the need for a postnuptial agreement covering issues such as asset protection, debt division, and spousal support. Potential scenarios that might raise the need for an agreement might include one spouse wanting to borrow a significant amount of money to start up a business or a spouse who has significant health issues. It can also be used to clearly delineate receipt of an inheritance. Money inherited during a marriage is not money of the community but is the sole property of the spouse who receives the inheritance. How this in managed could have a significant impact if not properly segregated from community assets.

Adoption and Guardianship are different ways of caring for a child. Adoption is a permanent action that terminates one or both of the biological / legal parents rights and makes the adoptive parents the legal parents of the child and gives the child inheritance rights from the adoptive parents and their relatives. Guardianship is a temporary action that keeps the parents’ legal rights intact. Guardianship of a child and allows the Guardian to preform all parental duties and generally ends when the child reaches the age of majority.