Helping people get over a tough relationship, get more time with their kids, and get to a better place in life.
Planning to get a divorce but having lots of things in mind ? Let us help ease your troubles.
Boise Divorce Lawyer
When marriage is going rock-bottom, it is often the most unhappy time for both individuals. As relationships fail, it comes with a lot of painful concerns and consequences that ranges from psychological, emotional, and even financial issues that doesn’t involve both parties but also their family, most especially – the children.
Though sad as it may seem, it needs to happen for both parties to move forward and pursue better things in life.
Ranked as 4th among the states in the US with the highest divorce rate, Idaho scored 13.1% based on statistics with 3.9 to divorcees out of 1000 population.
Fault or No Fault Divorce
Being both fault and no fault state, you don’t have to prove that either one of the parties is accountable for the divorce or that there is not a rational possibility that the marriage can be preserved, hence the marriage is unrepairable.
The main difference between a fault versus a no-fault divorce is that the one alleging fault has to prove that those family law issues exist.
Fault
Idaho recognizes the following grounds for divorce:
- Adultery.
- Extreme cruelty.
- Wilful desertion.
- Wilful neglect.
- Habitual intemperance.
- Conviction of felony.
- When either the husband or wife has become permanently insane
When one spouse alleges fault, they have to prove it. And in some instances, the burden is rather high even for the best lawyers when there is not solid, documented evidence.
Adultery
This is one of the most common ground that a filing spouse brings to divorce lawyers.
Clear and Convincing Evidence
One spouse must prove this with clear and convincing evidence. This means there must be a clear admission from the cheating spouse or some pretty convincing evidence.
Is it worth pursuing?
Adultery can also affect other issues in family law cases. When a court is hearing a divorce, they also must decide if spousal maintenance should be awarded to one spouse or the other.
One factor that the court determines how much and for how long the person receiving spousal support should get is the fault of the other spouse.
However, as you may have heard, spousal support is not that easy. If you are wanting to pursue alimony, you are going to want to have an initial consultation with an experienced divorce attorney
Adultery is a Felony . . . . But
Yes, in Idaho, adultery is still a felony. However, we have not been able to find any recorded case where someone has been charged with that crime let alone had to find a criminal defense attorney and fight it in court.
Uncontested Divorce
If both spouse agree on all the terms of the divorce, including child custody, property division, whether the divorce will be a no-fault divorce based on irreconcilable differences, then the parties can go through an uncontested divorce.
This process is usually much faster and less expensive, but you still want to get legal guidance from a Boise divorce attorney before finalizing the judgment and decree of divorce.
Filing for Divorce in Boise, Idaho?
Whether you can or should file for divorce in Ada County, Idaho depends on a number of factors such as residence, the length of your residence, where your spouse lives if they don’t live in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Kuna or elsewhere in Ada County, if there are marital properties here, if the kids live with both parents, and several other considerations. The decision where to file is not as easy as one would think.
Consulting with your Boise divorce lawyer prior to deciding how to file will ensure that you understand the options available to you when you decide to file for divorce and make the right choice for your individual situation.
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Boise Divorce Attorney
Divorce is never something to go alone. Even if there aren’t children involved, there are countless issues that must be determined such as 1) where do I file the divorce petition, 2) what documents do I actually have to file, 3) how do I actually file the documents with the court, 4) what information do I have to gather to show the judge, 5) how do I actually get the information and documents in front of the Court, 6) what property am I entitled to and how do we legally divide the assets. . . you get the point.
If you are facing a divorce, contact us today to set up an initial consultation so that we can answer questions you may have.
Asset Division
Dividing the marital property is one of the biggest issues that individuals must work through. Idaho divides the assets based on community property laws. Generally, the court will divide the property in a 50/50 fashion.
Unequal Division of the Assets
However, there are ways that you can get more than 50%. Your Boise divorce lawyer will be able to analyze whether an unequal distribution is right for you.
The law allows for a spouse to challenge the division of assets and seek out additional consideration if he or she feels like they have not been treated fairly. If you and your spouse cannot agree on how to divide the marital assets then it can become a contentious issue and best handled by legal counsel who specializes in divorce.
If necessary, your Boise Divorce Lawyer may look into different methods of utilizing experts such as appraisers or accountants to make sure that the division is fair and equitable for both parties.
Personal Injury Proceeds
When one of the spouses has been involved in a personal injury case and has received a settlement, there may be a fight over that money.
Who gets the money
Personal injury proceeds are the separate property of the injured spouse. However, the funds must be kept separate for that to apply. If the money is deposited into a community/shared, it will more than likely still be divided equally among the spouses because it has been “transmuted” into community property.
Your Boise divorce lawyer will be able to explain the Idaho law and make sure you are aware of your rights when it comes to asset division. They can also provide guidance and advice on the best way to proceed in any given situation, ensuring that you get a fair outcome from the process.
Boise Child Custody Lawyer
When there are minor children involved in the divorce process, several decisions have to be made regarding child custody.
Now, who makes those decisions will either be made by the parents if they can come to an agreement with the help of their divorce lawyers, or if they can’t come to an agreement, the family law judge will make a decision after he or she is presented with the evidence that the parents present.
The issues that have to be determined are 1) who is the going to get the kids and when 2) who is going to make the major decisions regarding the kids such as decisions relating to medical, education, and religion, 3) if and how much one of the parents is going to pay in child support, and countless other issues.
Best Interest of The Child
Whether the court is looking at legal custody or physical custody, the court will look at the decision through the lends of what is in the best interest of the child.
Idaho Child Custody Law
Idaho has a specific statute that lists the factors that the court should look at which include:
- The wishes of the child’s parent or parents as to his or her custody;
- The wishes of the child as to his or her custodian;
- The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his or her parent or parents, and his or her siblings;
- The child’s adjustment to his or her home, school, and community;
- The character and circumstances of all individuals involved;
- The need to promote continuity and stability in the life of the child; and
- Domestic violence
The list above is not exclusive. If there are other relevant issues, your Boise divorce attorney will assist you in determining if it would be beneficial to present it to the court.
Legal Custody
Legal Custody refers to the parents power to make major life decisions regarding the child’s life. Generally, it is in the best interest of the child for both parents to have joint legal custody, however this may not always be possible.
Medical Decision Making
In some situations, the spouses cannot agree on who should be primarily responsible for making decisions regarding health issues that the children may have.
Other times, the one of the spouses is not willing or able to care for the issues either.
Religious decisions
This another issues that must be determined in the child custody case if there is a dispute.
Physical Custody
Physical Custody refers to where the children will live and under what circumstances.
Child Support
Regardless of which parent has physical custody, if one parent makes more money than the other then generally he or she will owe child support. The amount that is ordered by a judge can vary greatly depending on several factors such as how much time each parent has with the kids, their income levels, and any other current financial obligations.
Your Boise Child Custody Lawyer will be able to explain the law and tell you whether or not you are entitled to receive or obligated to pay child support.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Divorce law
In contrast to other states which have gone exclusive to no fault divorces, the laws of Idaho state covers allow both fault and no fault divorce.
Filing for a fault divorce is possible in the state provided with valid reasons. Among of these are:
- Habitual drunkenness for more than a year
- Adultery
- Physical and Psychological Violence
- Convicted with Felony
- Desertion (living apart for a year with intention to leave the marriage)
- Willful neglect (failure of husband to provide for the family due to refusal of work or laziness; can only be claimed by a woman)
As most states require at least 6 months residency for a spouse to file the initial paperwork for divorce (aka plaintiff), Idaho state only requires a minimum of six (6) weeks of being a resident for one to file for a divorce.
Claims for spousal support in Idaho comes with a lot of factors to consider. Factors such as:
- Financial resources of both spouses
- Time for the spouse seeking support to acquire education and training to find employment
- Physical & Psychological health condition of both spouses
- Age
- How long they were married.
20 days from the time you initiated divorce proceedings and paperwork is served to the defendant.
Being a community property state, the couple’s marital assets will be divided equally, with an exception of having a compelling reason to do otherwise.
Such reasons can either:
- length of marriage
- job skills
- income
- liabilities
- health and age of each spouse
- retirement benefits
- current and future earning capacity of each spouse
- employability
Custody heavily relies on the best interests of the children. If the parents cannot agree to a mutual custody arrangement, the courts of Idaho will take over and make a decision for them.
It also comes with a lot of factors such as:
- gross monthly income of each parent
- expenses of each parent
The parent with primary physical custody is usually the parent who receives child support, but not always the case.
Child Custody Law
While physical custody only decides where the child should live, legal custody is being awarded by the court to the parent giving him or her the full rights to make decisions and gain full responsibility of the child.
This includes education, religion, and etc.
The state of Idaho Child Custody laws has NO age limit requirement for a child to decide which parent he or she wants to live with. Provided that the child is mature enough to make sound reasoning and independent preferences in parenting schedule, the court of Idaho grants this right to the child.
Both parties maybe ordered to undergo mediation to settle and arrive on a certain agreement. If both parties still oppose, the court will summon a custody order through a hearing that requires both sides to deliver their testimonies and present concrete evidence.
In most cases, NO. Although, if the child is in the right maturity to speak his or her mind and make sound reasoning, either parents may request for the judge to speak with the child in private.
Child support and visitation are considered 2 seperate legal issues. If cases like this occur, a parent may NOT refuse the other parent’s right for visitation regardless he or she wasn’t able to comply his financial duties for child support.
With sole custody, only one parent has the authority and responsibility to make decisions for the child’s welfare. Joint custody on the other hand, is having the right for each parent to have their child live with him or her for a significant period of time, which may not be necerssarily equal for both parents.
