If you are in the middle of a bitter divorce, your most valuable and trustworthy supporter will probably end up being a qualified family law attorney. Whether you are fighting over child custody, splitting assets, child support or alimony payments, it is imperative that you have skilled legal counsel on your side. This can be a highly stressful and emotionally charged period of your life, making you unable to see all sides of the situation logically and calmly. Without a mediator, you may end up making some very rash decisions that can have a great impact on your future. A family law attorney can help you make important decisions and fight for your rights.

Child custody is often a very heated debate that can get extremely sour between two former spouses overnight. The court can order several different types of custody, usually when two spouses are on fairly good terms, joint custody is granted and the child or children spend an equal amount of time with each parent. These are generally straightforward cases that require little to no legal intervention. If you or your former partner, however, have a dispute over how custody should be shared, it is best to hire a family law attorney. However unfair or biased it may be, courts more often than not rule in favor of the female party. Any father fighting for rights for visitation or joint custody should not go to court unprepared or without proper representation. Custody terms can evolve over time as well. If you want to increase your visitation rights, a lawyer can help you return to court to review conditions.

Dividing assets and finances is often the most difficult part of any partnership dissolution. What starts off fairly amicably can turn ugly once grey areas start to arise or emotions come into play. After all, you can't always put a price on a person's sentimental value for something. A family law attorney can help you secure important assets and finances that rightfully belong to you, as well as help you negotiate when necessary. You'll have to make some compromises, but your attorney can help organize your priorities and help you achieve your goals.

A lawyer is extremely helpful when it comes to negotiating and setting the terms for payments following a dissolution including alimony and child support. It is not uncommon for a slighted former partner to seek greater payments than necessary out of spite or simply out of greed. Often times, one partner may be saddled with a great financial burden that would be unnecessary if they had just had a skilled lawyer to help them fight their case. Alimony and child support is also generally not fixed. It can evolve or be eliminated as individual situations change over time, which makes it important to revisit the issue periodically with a family law attorney to ensure that the terms of payment are adjusted accordingly.