Family Legal Services

Family law cases involve emotionally-charged issues about the most intimate and personal aspects of your life. In addition, your divorce order will play a central role in your life for the foreseeable future. The order can result in property distribution, cash disbursements, modification of retirement benefits and spousal support. If you have children, your divorce order will also dicate the terms of child-support, child custody and visitation, and decision-making authority. It is important to work with an attorney you trust to sincerely care about your case and listen to the needs of your family.

In Maine, there are both fault-based divorces and no-fault divorces, requiring only “irreconcilable differences.” Even uncontested divorces in Maine require a 60 day “waiting period” before the divorce can be finalized. In cases involving complex property issues or child custody issues, the divorce process often takes longer.

Family law cases involving children go through a case management system in the courts. In these cases, the court is required by law to make decisions based on the best interests of the child. These decisions are guided by the "parental rights and responsibilities" statutes. It is important to have an attorney to advocate for your wishes, protect the best interests of your children, and effectively navigate the case management system for you.

In a collaborative divorce, the parties agree to make every reasonable effort to settle their case without requiring court intervention. The goal is to settle all issues together. This approach is less acrimonious and can be much more efficient. A collaborative divorce attorney must respect your wish to proceed collaboratively by signing a contract that requires the parties to seek alternative counsel if the matter needs to be litigated. This allows your attorney to work for your best interests, but also incentivizes all parties to reach an agreeable resolution. When everyone respects the process and the final outcome, it results in less stress for the parties, less likelihood that the parties will return to court at a later time, and can help preserve whatever aspect of the relationship remains between the parties. If you are interested in a collaborative divorce we can facilitate the process while making sure your interests are still protected.

We understand and respect the unique challenges and benefits of military life. If you our your spouse is in the military than you need an attorney who understands base pay rates, Tricare health benefits, retirement benefits and a whole set of economic issues which are unique to military familes. Service members are also entitled to protection under the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act. Make sure to choose an attorney familiar with military benefits, or you could face costly consequences in your divorce.

If you have already had a final family court order but there are new circumstances that dramatically change the ability to comply with the order or the other party is not following that order, we can help you file a post-judgment matter. Post-judgment matters involve asking the court to either modify the order or enforce the original order.

A motion to modify generally requires a “substantial change in circumstances.” Motions to enforce ask the court to enforce the original order, while motions for contempt ask the court to reprimand the other party for not following an order. Although your original order is final when entered, if the matter is re-opened all issues can be re-litigated. It is important to have a dedicated attorney working for you to preserve the elements of the order that you agree with, and modify those that need to be changed.

The phrase "Parental Rights and Responsibilities" is used almost interchangeably with "custody" in Maine. Maine law outlines the rights and responsibilites required of all parents that are either unmarried, separated or divorced. If you are not subject to a divorce proceeding, you can still institute a parental rights and responsibilities action to establish an allocation of responsibilities between parents. Our attorneys are familiar with this process and can get you outcome you are looking for.

The Court can decide between allocated, shared, or sole parental rights and responsibilities. Allocated rights means that specific rights such as decisionmaking regarding education or medical decisions are assigned specifically to one parent. While the parent with the allocated rights can certainly communicate with the other parent, the final decision rests with the parent to whom that right was allocated. With shared parental rights, the parents are to make important decisions together. Neither parent's decision can trump the other's. Sometimes a Court will make this easier to navigate by providing for day-to-day or emergency decisions to be made by the parent with the child at the time the decision needs to be made, while requiring both parents to participate in longer term decisions. Finally, the Court can issue sole parental rights and responsibilities to one parent which means that one parent has all of the decisionmaking authority.

The Court will also decide which parent has primary residential care which means which parent has primary physical custody of the child. The Court will determine what parent-child contact or visitation is required as to each parent, and the court will order child support.

The Court determines parental rights and responsbilities based on "the best interests of the child." There is no specific formula for how this decision is made, but the Court is authorized to take a number of factors into consideration. Among the key considerations the Court will weight are the child's age, the relationship with each parent and the preference of the child. Additionally, they will consider the adequacy of the current arrangements, the motivations of each parent, how adjusted the child is to the current situation, and future visitation possibilities

If you are looking to establish parental rights and responsibilites, it is important to have an attorney who will fight for a fair outcome. Although some of the factors cannot be changed, most factors can be expanded or improved upon to give you the best outcome. A knowledgable attorney will review these factors with you long before a trial and develop a plan to make sure you are meeting your child's needs in a way that will be positively received by the Court.