Kerrville Family Law Lawyer

Speaking to a family law lawyer is a sensible first step if you are facing a family-related dispute. A family law lawyer can provide valuable legal advice to help you navigate a difficult situation and has the skills and knowledge to carry out a wide variety of tasks on your behalf.

Learn what a family law attorney does and why working with one is the safest path to take when faced with a difficult family situation.

Services Provided by a Family Lawyer

Divorce Proceedings
- Handling all aspects of divorce, including filing petitions, negotiating settlements, and representing clients in court.
Child Custody and Visitation Case
- Assisting in establishing, modifying, and enforcing child custody and visitation arrangements.
Child Support
- Calculating appropriate child support amounts, negotiating agreements, and representing clients in child support hearings.
Spousal Support (Alimony)
- Determining eligibility and amount of spousal support, negotiating agreements, and handling modifications or terminations.
Property Division
- Helping clients identify, value, and divide marital property fairly during divorce proceedings.
Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
- Drafting, reviewing, and enforcing prenuptial and postnuptial agreements to protect individual assets and clarify financial arrangements.
Adoption
- Guiding clients through the adoption process, including agency adoptions, stepparent adoptions, and international adoptions.
Paternity
- Establishing paternity for child support, custody, and visitation purposes through legal proceedings and DNA testing.
Domestic Violence and Protective Orders
- Assisting victims of domestic violence in obtaining protective orders and representing them in related legal matters.
Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Facilitating mediation sessions to help clients resolve family disputes outside of court in a less adversarial manner.
Guardianship
- Establishing legal guardianship for minors or incapacitated adults, ensuring their care and well-being.
Foster Care Issues
- Representing foster parents or children in legal matters related to foster care placement and adoption.
Legal Separation
- Helping clients obtain a legal separation, outlining the terms for living apart while remaining legally married.
Relocation
- Assisting clients with legal issues related to relocating with children, including modifying custody and visitation arrangements.
Name Changes
- Facilitating the legal process for changing a name after marriage, divorce, or other personal reasons.
Grandparents’ Rights
- Advocating for grandparents seeking visitation rights or custody of their grandchildren.
Emancipation
- Assisting minors seeking legal independence from their parents through the emancipation process.
Parental Rights Termination
- Handling cases involving the termination of parental rights, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.
Surrogacy Agreements
- Drafting and reviewing agreements for surrogacy arrangements, ensuring all legal requirements are met.
Appeals
- Representing clients in appealing family court decisions when necessary.

Do Family Law Attorneys Only Handle Divorce Cases?

It is pretty common to think that a family law attorney spends most of their time handling divorce cases, and that may be true for some law firms. However, many family law attorneys are equipped to handle a variety of matters related to family relationships.

You may seek the guidance of a family law attorney when you are planning for the future and wish to draft a prenuptial agreement. Some attorneys can also assist with the process of adopting a child into your family.

Kerrville family lawyers can also represent you in cases involving child custody and support, alimony or spousal support, father’s rights, grandparents’ rights, and modification requests for child custody or child support. These are usually emotionally stressful situations.

A family law attorney can play a crucial role in helping you keep a clear mind to make important decisions rather than letting your emotions take over and cause you to make a costly mistake.

What Can a Family Law Lawyer Do for Me?

Family law is one of the most personal areas of law because it usually means dealing with disputes and making decisions that affect your family dynamics, such as the time you spend with your children and whether you are required to pay child support or what rights you have as an unmarried parent.

Besides providing valuable legal advice, Kerrville family law attorneys can take over many aspects of your case on your behalf. That may include drafting documents and knowing what papers must be filed with the court and when, as specific legal procedures have firm deadlines that parties in a case are expected to follow.

If necessary, your family law lawyer can aid in the process of gathering evidence and reaching out to witnesses, contacting expert witnesses, and building a solid argument on your behalf. Generally speaking, a family law lawyer’s primary goal is to protect your interests and take steps to help you reach your goal.

Family law lawyers will apply their knowledge of Texas laws and experience handling previous family law cases to help you fight for a positive outcome for your case.

What Should I Expect at My First Consultation With a Kerrville Family Law Lawyer?

Many clients feel uncomfortable and nervous when thinking about speaking to a family lawyer for the first time. Sometimes, they are not ready to move forward with a divorce action but have been thinking about it for a while and have built up the courage to come to the office and ask some questions.

Other times, they may be too afraid to share certain pieces of information, afraid that their partner may find out or that it may somehow be used against them.

For starters, when you decide to come in to talk to a Kerrville family law attorney, it is vital to understand you are protected by the attorney-client privilege. That means anything you choose to share with your attorney may not be shared with other parties or used against you at trial.

Being honest and upfront with your attorney is very important to help your attorney fully understand your situation and be better equipped to handle your family law case.

During your first consultation, your family lawyer will listen to your case, ask questions about it and discuss your legal options based on the information you shared. You may bring documents and evidence you may find relevant to your case.

Ultimately, the initial consultation is both an opportunity for the client to decide if they want to retain that particular attorney for their case as well as for the family lawyer to decide whether they want to take on that client’s case or not.

If both are in agreement and wish to work together, your family lawyer will then explain their payment options and provide a retainer agreement. Work will only begin after you sign the necessary papers.

Do I Need a Family Law Lawyer Even if My Case Does Not Go to Trial?

Many people think that they should only hire a family law lawyer if their case is going to require litigation and a court trial. While clients with cases requiring litigation should definitely consider working with an attorney rather than self-representing, other clients whose cases may not end up in the courtroom can also greatly benefit from the legal knowledge and negotiation skills of a family law lawyer.

Litigated cases are notoriously time-consuming and can get expensive, so in many instances, clients may choose to settle their differences through mediation or negotiation.

Having a family law lawyer on your side during these steps is very important to make sure your rights and interests are protected and can ultimately help your case be resolved without the expense and headaches of a court trial.

Attorney S. Dylan Pearcy and the legal team at the Kerrville, TX office are ready to assist clients with a wide variety of family law issues. Reach out to our law firm and request an initial consultation by calling (830) 222-8629.