The decision to end a marriage is never an easy one. We understand this is a stressful time, and sometimes it’s sprung on you and you feel blind-sided. There are decisions which must be made about your and your family's future that will have both immediate effects and long-term consequences. We can help you through this difficult time by negotiating the court system for you, negotiation on your behalf, and building your legal arguments, evidence, and testimony that will help you make the best possible argument of your case to the judge.
When going through a contested divorce, it can often be difficult to separate your emotions from the process. That is normal. Afterall, this situation is happening to you, specifically, and it effects the most important people and things in your life. Our job as your legal counsel is to be the source of objectivity. We will keep our emotions out of it so you don’t have to. With Parks Legal representing you, you can depend on receiving legal advice and representation that considers your goals, the facts of the case, the application of Ohio laws to those facts, and our experience practicing in front of your judge to predict how they might rule in your case. This means you will always know your options and will be able to make the most informed decisions possible on settlement negotiations, trial strategy, and what to expect when the case is over.
WE WILL WORK WITH YOU TO DEVELOP A LEGAL STRATEGY SPECIFIC TO YOUR SITUATION INCLUDING:
- Child Custody
- Child Support
- Distribution of Assets
- Division of Debts
- Parenting Time / Grandparenting Time
- Sale of the Marital Home
- Spousal Support
What is a divorce?
In order to get an order terminating a marriage, the parties must file with their local county domestic relations court to open a case. When the two spouses cannot reach an agreement on all the issues that must be resolved in a termination of marriage order, the only way to open the court case is to file a Complaint for Divorce.
A divorce case can accurately be described as a lawsuit. The person filing the complaint is saying "I want to terminate my marriage, but we have things tying us together and we can't agree on how to split them". Often, when the other spouse is notified of the lawsuit, they will respond by filing their own countersuit - they also want the marriage to end, and agree that they cannot agree, so they are also asking the court to weigh in. What follows is a long legal process involving hearings, temporary orders, exchange of information and documents, and, hopefully, settlement negotiations.
Ultimately, if settlement talks fail and the parties still cannot agree on terms, the court will hold a divorce trial - where both sides have the chance to submit evidence and testimony on why the court should decide the issues a certain way - and then the judge will issue a written court order deciding all the issues for the parties. Trials rarely make either side happy; it is far more effective to negotiate a settlement.
What is a dissolution?
Just like in a divorce, a dissolution is a court order terminating a marriage, issued by a domestic relations judge in the county court.
The key difference is that in a dissolution, the parties have reached a complete agreement on all the issues covered in a termination of marriage order. All asset and debt divisions have been determined, spousal support and tax issues have been resolved, and if there are minor children all aspects of parental rights, parenting time, and child support have been written down in an agreed parenting order.
Instead of a complaint, a dissolution is started by a joint filing called a Petition for Dissolution. Everything has been signed by both parties. The court reviews the agreement (and other documents), and if they are accepted one hearing will be scheduled for the parties to give testimony proving they agree. At the end of that one and only hearing, the court grants the petition, and the marriage is terminated. Certainly easier, faster, and cheaper than a full-blown divorce.
Divorce Law in Ohio
Divorce cases in Ohio are governed by an often-confusing combination of rules. The Ohio legislature has passed a series of laws (statutes) that govern the basic rules of how divorce issues are decided. But just like in other areas of the law, court decisions in similar cases can create interpretations of those statutes that govern how future cases with similar facts are decided. On top of that, the Ohio Supreme Court has issued additional sets of rules that govern how cases are handled in the courtroom, such as the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, the Ohio Rules of Evidence, and the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio. Finally, individual courts are entitled to issue Local Rules governing practice in their specific courtroom. It is important to understand how all of these different sets of rules interact with one another to influence the outcome of your case.
- Chapter 3105 of the Ohio Revised Code spells out the basic foundational rules that decide how divorce issues are handled.
- Case Law is the term used to describe the ever-growing list of case decisions that interpret the rules in the Revised Code. Each new decision creates “precedent” that controls how that issue is handled in that court’s jurisdiction and every lower court in the same jurisdiction. For example, an Ohio Supreme Court decision will have precedence over every single appeals court and county court in Ohio. The 10th District Court of Appeals issues decisions that have precedence over divorce cases in Franklin County.
- The Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure spell out standard practice in civil lawsuits (which includes divorce cases), such as time limits for filing answers to complaints and motions, how to object to court decisions, how to handle exchanging information with the other party, etc.
- The Ohio Rules of Evidence tell us what we can put in front of the judge for consideration in support of your arguments in court. They spell out what kinds of evidence and testimony are allowed, what forms they need to take, and what kinds of objections can be made to the evidence presented by the other side.
- The Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio are special rules issued by the Supreme Court that provide additional rules for various aspects of how courts handle cases throughout Ohio.
- Local Rules often follow a similar design and format, but absolutely vary from court to court. It’s important to hire an attorney familiar with the local rules of the court your case is in to avoid unnecessary delays.
If you are facing a divorce, it is vital that you hire an attorney who not only knows and understands all these rules but has actually put them to use in the courtroom. At Parks Legal we can provide you with representation that not only has experience with divorce law in the courtroom but will also be able to speak on your behalf in settlement negotiations and advise you on whether an offer is good or bad when viewed against how the court would likely rule in a case with your facts.
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