Blended families make divorce more complicated in regard to child custody, visitation and support. divorce lawyers in Kendallville IN help clients in various related matters, such as whether stepparents have the right to visitation or even shared physical custody. Stepparents and stepchildren can become very emotionally attached, and a judge may at the very least grant visitation rights if the natural parent battles this request.
Collaborative and mediation processes can help spouses come to a mutual agreement about how to handle visitation or even shared custody without taking the problem before a judge. Even when a spouse feels animosity toward the other, he or she may understand that keeping children away from someone they view as a dad or mom can be emotionally unhealthy. The kids may resent the natural parent if they realize what is going on.
A person getting divorced may want to know whether a stepparent can be compelled to pay child support for children he or she has been supporting for years. This may be a concern for either spouse because the natural parent may not be able to support the children as effectively as two parents were doing. If the other natural parent is absent and not paying support, the stepparent may be ordered by a judge to provide financial payments. This can happen even though state law does not require that type of support. In contrast, the stepparent may protest having to pay child support payments for youngsters whom he or she never adopted. Divorce lawyers in Kendallville, IN represent people on both sides of these issues.
Situations become even more complex in regard to extended family members. If a stepparent no longer wants contact with the children, that doesn’t mean the step-grandparents choose to be out of the picture. However, the natural parent may want to end contact with that entire family and not have the children continue to be involved. A law firm such as Yoder & Kraus offers skilled legal representation for natural parents, as well as for stepparents and extended family members who have been a significant part of the children’s lives. Information on this particular firm is available at the website Website.
