Divorce, Custody and Support are by far the most searched legal issues in this area. The reason why is simple. It is a relatively limited cross section of the community that are arrested or cited for a criminal violation. Fewer still are injured by another person, be it negligently, recklessly or intentionally. The other varieties of law beyond those two examples are frequented more often by businesses. However, roughly half of Americans will experience a divorce at some point in their life. Arkansas is certainly no exception to this, having the second highest divorce rate in the country. No other type of law can lay claim to such a dubious honor.
Family law is also one of the most difficult areas of law in which to practice. This may come as a surprise to many, but it is undoubtedly true. That is not to say that it is any more complicated in terms of the law to be applied than any other type of law. Instead, the difficulty lies in the fact-intensive and emotional nature of the cases.
The reason Family Law is so fact intensive can be described in two ways. The first, excessively simple manner of explaining why is that the Arkansas Supreme Court has said as much repeatedly. It is relatively rare that the Appellate or Supreme Courts will disrupt the ruling of a Circuit Judge on Family Law matters. Indeed, one of the few times that a Circuit ruling will be reversed is when the Judge explicitly did not consider the facts of the case when they were provided. That last bit is why presenting the facts in a case in a coherent and complete matter is so vital to the Family Law practitioner. If a fact was not presented, then a ruling cannot be made on it. For example, one cannot expect a favorable ruling on child custody when no facts are presented relating to the best interests of the child. Similarly, a retirement account that was never presented to the Court cannot be divided equally. It is not, after all, the Judge’s job to independently investigate every Family Law case outside of the confines of what is presented to him or her.
With that preface out of the way, I would like to take a moment to explain the legal and factual issues involved in the major fields of Family Law practice, and how my firm can help you navigate the system and get the best outcome possible in a given situation.
