The Law Office Of Jennifer Barnett, P.C.
913 18^th Street
Plano, Texas 75074
and
129 South Tennessee Street, Suite 105
McKinney, Texas 75069

Communication Center

Phone:  214-500-5275

E-mail:  jbarnett@jenniferbarnett.com; thebarnettfirm@hotmail.com

Fax:      972-423-1795

Web:     http://www.jenniferbarnett.com 

Family law disputes are some of the most emotional, intensely personal types of cases that people encounter. That should be no surprise, as the foundation of a person's peace and familiarity with their home life are completely altered in such proceedings. Divorces and custody litigation can affect where you will live, how often you are allowed to see your children, how you will spend your paycheck, and may even dictate who can spend the night at your house. Accusations of domestic violence, criminal mischief, and interference with a "911" call may be crossover cases that develop out of unpleasant interactions during the divorce process. It has been jokingly said that people display temporary insanity and act in crazy ways when going through a divorce and/or custody battle. But undercurrents of truth remain in such jokes. People act in unusual and unpredictable ways when their security and home life are abruptly disrupted.

An effective lawyer is one that can step into the middle of the confusion and distress and impose order on the chaos. You need an attorney who can help you sort out the things you have control over from those you don't, and save you the time and worry over the uncontrollable factors. In addition, professional advice is crucial at a time when you may not appreciate how arguments or angry actions may truly affect the outcome of your case. The Law Office of Jennifer Barnett, P.C., can help address the disorder in your life caused by disputes over:

• Alimony, maintenance or spousal support
• Annulments
• Child custody, visitation and placement
• Child Protective Services (both defense against CPS and intervention in suit)
• Child support
• Contempt and enforcement proceedings
• Divorce
• Domestic violence
• Marital property division
• Mediation
• Paternity
• Post-judgment modification
• Postnuptial agreements
• Premarital and prenuptial agreements
• Restraining orders
• Termination of parental rights

Jennifer Barnett actively encourages clients to participate in the collaborative law process since it offers her clients the chance to have a direct voice in the handling of their divorce through the mediation process.

Adoption And Termination Of Parental Rights: As a result of the abundance of divorces and remarriages, there has been an increase in the number of actions brought by stepparents to adopt children from their present spouse's former marriages. In some cases, these proceedings are challenged, but in others, they are not. Whether or not your spouse's children from previous marriages are viewed as your children can determine whether or not they can participate in your work-sponsored benefit programs and whether or not they can legally inherit your property without a will. In addition, cases involving Child Protective Services and the involuntary termination of parental rights may present a situation where it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted by a family member, such as a grandparent or aunt or uncle.

Divorce: Divorce is the legal process by which a marriage is terminated. In a divorce proceeding, the parties' marriage is legally ended and the related issues, such as spousal and child support, child custody and visitation, and property and debt division, are resolved, either by the parties' voluntary agreement, through the assistance of a mediator, or after a court trial.

Alimony, Spousal Support & Property Divisions: Every divorce must include at least a statement concerning the division of property that has been accumulated during the marriage. While the concept of alimony sounds outdated, the fact is that there are still many marriage relationships where one spouse provides for the support of the other. In those arrangements, it is only proper that the courts, if not the couple themselves, find some way to provide for a continuation of that financial relationship for some time after the dissolution of the marriage. Whether or not this is imposed depends on a number of factors including:

• The length of the marriage
• The age of each spouse
• The health of each spouse
• The ability of each spouse to be self-supporting
• The income of the primary breadwinner
• The standard of living the parties enjoyed during the marriage.

Whether or not one spouse receives maintenance payments from the other is not always as important as what happens to the property that has been accumulated during the course of the marriage. Many couples have started businesses together. Other couples have based the professional progress of one spouse on the other spouse's willingness to put their career on hold. These financial trade-offs all get sorted out over the course of a marriage, but when the marriage is over, one spouse finds themselves without pension benefits, without savings, and without business assets from which they can earn money to provide for themselves. Effective accounting principles and strategies are necessary to ensure that a proper and fair division of the estate is made.

Domestic Violence: The most common form of domestic violence occurs when one family member threatens another with physical injury or other violence in an effort to exert control over them. No one should be forced to suffer this type of abuse. This includes conduct such as:

• Malicious mischief
• Unlawful imprisonment
• Violation of a Restraining Order, No Contact Order, or Protection Order
• Stalking
• Interference with a "911" call
• Physical Assault
• Kidnapping

If, on the other hand, you find yourself accused of domestic violence merely as a tool to obtain a better property settlement or in an effort to cut off your rights to visit your children, you need a lawyer who will fight to protect your rights as a parent and have the court view the accusations for what they are.

Child Custody, Placement, and Visitation: When parents divorce, it is no longer the accepted presumption that custody of the children is given to the mother. In general, courts grant custody based on what serves the "best interests of the child". Along with the physical custody of a child is the right and duty to care for a child on a day-to-day basis and to make major decisions about the child. Sometimes, the physical custody of a child will be granted to one parent but the legal custody, or the ability to make decisions for the child, will be shared by both. In still other situations, both parents may share both physical and legal custody of the children. In cases where one parent does not have physical custody of his or her children on a regular basis, the court will provide for scheduled visitation in an effort to ensure that a child maintains a healthy relationship with his or her mother and father.

Child Support: Child support will generally be ordered in marriage dissolution where there are minor children. This will be the case regardless of the financial ability of the custodial parent, unless some unusual circumstances are present which affect a non-custodial parent's ability to contribute to the children's support. This may include such things as permanent or temporary disability or inability to obtain steady employment. Child support is not meant to be a penalty against either parent for their conduct during the marriage. It is an attempt to ensure that income spent for support of the child had the couple not divorced still goes to support the child. Obviously, in special circumstances, the amounts can be modified to take into consideration restrictions on the non-custodial parent or the special needs of the children.

If you find yourself needing an attorney to navigate through one of these family law situations or a combination of the above, contact The Law Office of Jennifer Barnett, P.C., to begin representation. This Law Office serves clients all over Collin County.