Columbus, Ohio, Family Law Blog

One of the biggest issues in many divorce cases in Ohio is child custody. As you prepare for your hearing on the custody of your children, you may wonder what will happen. Many parents and children want to know if the children will have any say in who they live with and the other custody arrangements. According to the Ohio Revised Code, the court has the right to allow or deny children to express their wishes about custody in court.

Judges generally like to hear everyone in a case. It allows the to understand the situation and get to know the children involved. It gives them a better ability to make the right decision. However, judges know that not every child is able to make decisions for themselves of this nature. So, the court will typically assess a child first to determine if he or she has the reasoning capabilities to express his or her wishes concerning custody matters.

For any number of reasons, couples in Ohio and elsewhere may make the difficult decisions to end their marriages. Although the terms divorce and dissolution of marriage are often used interchangeably for terminating a union, they are two different legal actions. Therefore, it may be helpful for those who are planning to split from their spouses to understand the pointed differences between these actions.

According to state law, the court hears the petitioners’ causes for divorce when determining whether to release them from their marital obligations. The causes for which the court may see fit to grant a divorce includes the following: adultery, either spouse having a living husband or wife at the time of the marriage, gross neglect of duty, living separately for at least one-year, habitual alcohol intoxication, extreme cruelty, fraud or incompatibility. Where they cannot reach agreements on their own, state law grants the court jurisdiction over all related domestic relations issues in divorce proceedings.

Many legal hurdles can arise when a couple moves forward with a divorce, from financial issues over alimony or property division to stress and other emotional concerns. If you have kids, divorce can be particularly tough, especially if a dispute centered around the custody of your child comes up. It is critical for you to take many factors into consideration during a custody dispute, not only from your perspective as a parent but from your child’s point of view also. For example, you should prioritize their best interests and focus on what is best for them, with respect to key issues such as their education.

Whether you have a young child or a teen who will be entering college in the near future, there are many ways in which a custody dispute can affect your child’s education. Divorce-related issues and uncertainty over custody can make your child feel stressed out and uncertain about their future, which could affect their grades and their ability to study, so you should try to minimize some of the negative aspects of divorce and do what you can to help them through this time.

Gray divorces are happening more often than the used to in Ohio. Older couples are deciding after decades of marriage that they wish to end their relationships, which leads to issues that younger couples do not really have to deal with. One of the biggest is managing retirement funds. Generally, the law says an equal split of assets and retirement is an asset, so it could mean trouble for you if you end up losing your retirement money at an older age.

This is why you have to find ways to safeguard your retirement funds during the divorce settlement process, according to Money. There are some thing you can do beginning with coming to an agreement with your spouse outside of the courtroom. When you can reach a settlement, it often means you can keep more of your retirement. If you let the court decide, you usually will lose at least half of it.