Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law, Real Estate & Property Law
How do I get my husband off the deed to our marital home after the divorce is over? We hear that question almost every week, and it usually comes after the hard part is supposedly finished. The couple has already been through the fight over who keeps the house. The decree has been signed. One …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
Most Alabama parenting plans handle the holidays the same basic way: the big holidays alternate between the parents by even-numbered and odd-numbered years, and the holiday schedule overrides the regular weekly schedule whenever the two conflict. That is the standard model, it works, and if you and your co-parent cannot agree on anything better, it …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
When one spouse has an open or recently settled workers’ compensation claim, it changes the math of an Alabama divorce in ways most people don’t see coming. The injury already disrupted the household’s income. Now the money tied to that injury — weekly checks, a lump-sum settlement, future medical coverage — has to be sorted …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
Most people going through a divorce in Alabama never get sanctioned by the court, and they never come close. Sanctions are not a routine part of a case. They are what happens when someone crosses a line the court has drawn, and keeps crossing it. But the line is real, and the people who end …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
Most people who call our office about divorce ask the money question early, and they are right to. One of the first things they want to know is who pays for the lawyers. The short answer in Alabama is that each spouse usually pays their own attorney. The longer answer is that a judge has …
Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce
When a child is in danger, a parent cannot afford to wait for the ordinary pace of a divorce or custody case. That is what an emergency custody petition is for. It asks an Alabama court to step in quickly, sometimes within a day, and place a child with a safe parent or guardian before …
Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
Somewhere in the middle of a hard divorce, almost everyone has the same thought: I need proof. Proof of the affair, proof of the drinking, proof of where the money went. And right behind that thought comes the question of whether to hire a private investigator. Sometimes that is a smart, case-changing move. Sometimes it …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Adoption, Family Law
People ask us this question all the time, usually with a little worry in their voice: “Do I have to be married to adopt a child in Alabama?” The short answer is no. A single adult can adopt in this state, and thousands have. Marriage is not a legal gate you have to pass through …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce, Family Law
People ask me all the time what has to go into a prenuptial agreement for it to actually hold up. The honest answer is that there is no magic sentence you can drop in that makes a prenup bulletproof. What makes an Alabama prenuptial agreement strong is not clever wording. It is the process behind …
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Posted by Steven A. Harris | Divorce
What happens if I take the kids to another state and file for divorce there? Will the case stay in that new state, or can an Alabama judge order me and the children back home? This is one of the most common questions we hear from parents who are unhappy in their marriage and thinking …
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