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How We Help
A father's right to spend time with his children is such a basic desire. We help fathers with child custody, child visitation, and/or child support issues. We understand that
mothers also experience similar types of child custody, child visitation, and child support family law issues - we specialize in helping parents get family law issues resolved.
About
the Children (ATC) does not take sides. We help both
mothers and fathers. ATC cares about what is in the best
interest of the children - just like your Family Court Judge. Hence,
we are not a father's advocate group, or a mother's
advocate group - we are a Parental Advocate Group, that truly is
about the children. If what you're trying to accomplish
in family law court, is in the best interest of the child - we can, and
are dedicated in helping you!
The only way to start, change, or enforce any child
custody, visitation, or child support
issue, is to get a court order signed by a judge.
As
a Parental Advocate Group, ATC's goal is to help parents resolve
their legal issues, without having to come up with a retainer fee, or have
to worry about paying an attorney by the hour. About the Children
wants to help you get your story in the hands of a judge - as stated
above, that's the only way to start, change, or enforce anything in
regard to your family's current situation. We have over a decade of
collective parental advocate
experience.
Some of the issues we help with:
Child
Custody ~ Child Visitation ~ Child Support ~ Out of State Issues ~ Stop
Move
Temporary Orders
~ Restraining
Orders ~ Divorce ~ Drivers License Suspension
Father's Rights ~ Mother's Rights ~ Grandparent's Rights
~ Paternity
Issues
Self Help Solutions ~ Contempt of Court
~ Emergency
Protective Custody Orders
Cost
Call us today - there is no charge for a consultation. As a
Parental Advocate Group, our goal is to help you
resolve your family law issue, without having to pay an attorney by the
hour. The first step is for you to fill out the form above, or call us
directly to confirm that you qualify for our program.
Let's
discuss the options you have to resolve your current legal issue, and begin
working towards a better tomorrow for you and your children!
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Child
Support
Collecting Child Support ~ Starting Child
Support ~ Stopping Child Support
If you need to have child support started, child support adjusted, or
child support stopped - you need a well-defined court order signed by a
judge. Although oftentimes child support appears to be tied to child
custody or visitation - they are actually two separate issues.
Is
your child support order too high? Are you unemployed? Are you disabled?
Have you been served or harassed by Child Support Enforcement? Are your
wages being garnished? Has your license been suspended? In order to
start, change, or enforce any child support (and related) issues - you
need to get a well-defined court order signed by a judge.
What is Child Support?
Child Support
is the obligation paid to the custodial parent of child by the non
custodial parent for rearing the child. It is in the best interest of a
child for both parents to be obligated to pay for the support of their
child. An order for child support transfers the income/wealth from one
parent to the other so that the combined incomes/wealth of both parents is
available to use for the support of the child.
A Child
Support order
includes when and how much a parent has to pay for child support. A
Child Support Order is generally part of a divorce decree or paternity
judgment. Most states now follow a guideline or formula devised for estimating child support amount. This ensures uniformity in child
support payment from court to court.
If you do not have a child visitation or child custody order
in place, and are paying high child support, obtaining such an order may
lower the amount of child support you pay.
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Child Custody
Child
Custody is an issue that affects everybody involved - mom, dad, children, as
well as other family members. Nothing is as precious to a parent as their
own child. Regardless of any bad situations, or choices you may have made
in the past, you still have rights. The only way to protect your rights,
so that visitation, custody, or support of a child will be official and
enforceable through the court, is to get a court order (signed by a judge)
in place.
Types
of Custody
·
Joint custody:
parents share physical and legal custody.
·
Sole physical custody:
the child lives with and is under the supervision of one parent. The other
parent may often have visitation.
·
Joint physical custody:
each parent has significant periods of physical custody.
·
Sole legal custody:
one parent has the right and the responsibility to make the decisions
relating to the health, education and welfare of a child.
·
Joint legal custody:
both parents share the rights and responsibilities to make decisions
concerning the health, education and welfare of the child
More
on Child Custody
Child Custody and Guardianship
are the legal terms used to describe the legal and practical relationship
between a parent and child, including e.g. the right of the parent to make
decisions for the child and the duty to care for the child. As previously
stated - child custody is determined by assuring that what is being
proposed/decided is the best interest of the child.
Legal
Custody
"Legal
Custody"
gives a parent the right to make long-term decisions about the raising of
a child, and key aspects of the child's welfare -- including the child's
education, medical care, dental care, and religious instruction. In many
child custody cases, legal custody is awarded to both parents (called
"joint legal custody"), unless it is shown that one parent is
somehow unfit, or is incapable of making decisions about the child's
upbringing. Legal custody is different from "physical custody,"
which involves issues such as where the child will live.
Joint
Custody
In
Child Custody
situations, "joint custody" usually refers to one of two
possible scenarios: joint legal and physical custody, or joint legal
custody.
In true "Joint
Custody" arrangements, parents share equal "legal
custody" and "physical custody" rights.
This means that parents participate equally in making decisions about the
child's upbringing and welfare, and split time evenly in having day-to-day
care and responsibility for the child -- including the parent's right to
have the child live with them. True joint custody arrangements are rare,
because of their potential to cause both personal difficulties (stress,
disruption of child's routine) and practical problems (scheduling, costs
of maintaining two permanent living spaces for the child).
Much more common than true joint custody arrangements (where both
physical and legal custody are shared) is "joint legal custody," in which both parents share the right to
make long-term decisions about the raising of a child and key aspects of
the child's welfare, with physical custody awarded to one parent.
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Child Visitation
Regardless of any bad
situations, or choices you may have made in the past, every parent has
rights to visit their children. Child
Visitation is the most important
legal step to staying in touch with your child's life. You can
remain a non custodial parent, but visit your child on a regular
visitation schedule. To make visits with your child enforceable, you need
to get a well-defined court order in place.
Visitation
schedules are determined, like all other domestic issues involving
children, in accordance with the best interests of the child. In most
situations, it is important that visits with a child be frequent and
continuing. Contact us today and tell us whether you want child custody,
or visitation. Getting a well-defined court order will protect you, so
that the other party is not in control of the situation. Contact us today
to review what others have done in similar situations as you are having.
Be sure to review Child Custody section on this site, and then call us to
discuss resolution.
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Divorce
Nobody
gets married to get divorced - Divorces aren't planned, and are at best,
a mentally difficult process. If you have been served divorce papers, you
need to respond within the indicated timeframe, or you will lose by
default.
Since
our goal is in uniting families, if there's a chance of reconciliation,
we would like to work towards that resolution. However, if there is no
chance of reconciliation, we still want to assist you.
About
the Children's goal is to help parents address their legal issues,
without having to come up with a retainer fee, or have to worry about
paying an attorney by the hour. Contact
us today so that we can determine if you qualify for our ATC Family
Advocate Program - there is no charge for the consultation.
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Other Family Law Issues
Addressing
any legal issue can get confusing, and outright unaffordable. If you have
a family law issue that's not mentioned on this site, contact us -
chances are we can help you.
COST
Call us today - there is no charge for a consultation. As a Parental
Advocate Group, our goal is to help you resolve your family law issue,
without you having to pay an attorney by the hour. The first step is for
you to fill out the form above, or call us directly to confirm that you qualify
for our program. Then let's discuss the options you have to resolve your
current legal issue.
Call Us Now (800) 787-4981
"We're
AboutTheChildren
- It's About Time"
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