Family Law

It is important that you speak with someone knowledgeable in the area of family law. This website is not meant to be a substitute for speaking with an attorney. Please contact Corbridge & Short Law Group if you feel your rights have been or may be impacted.

It is important that you speak with someone knowledgeable in the area of family law. This website includes brief discussions of certain family law topics but is not meant to be a substitute for speaking with an attorney. Please contact Corbridge and Short if you feel your rights have been or may be impacted.



Adoption

Adoption is one of those rare moments in family law where a family is created rather than separated. Adoption is a legal procedure where one parent or parents are legally substituted for another parent or parents. The adoptive parents assume all rights and responsibilities for the adopted child. The former parents give up all legal rights to the child, though that does not necessarily mean their contact will be eliminated. In an "open" adoption the parties (the two sets of parents) remain in varying degrees of contact with each other. This may range from exchanging photos of the child up to providing visits with the child. If you are considering adoption you should be prepared for a lengthy procedure; there are numerous requirements that go into obtaining a judgment of adoption.

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Child Custody

Custody issues can be some of the most emotionally charged cases in all of law. It is important that you understand certain fundamental custody concepts. The important concepts are sole legal custody, joint legal custody and primary physical custody (or primary residential parent). Sole legal custody refers to the right to make all major decisions on behalf of the child or children. Joint legal custody refers to the right to share in those major decisions. The decisions lawyers frequently discuss include, but are not limited to, residence, education, health care and religious training. Joint legal status has no impact on the amount of parenting time each parent has. The parents could have joint legal custody and have a 50/50 parenting plan. Or, one parent may have sole custody by the parties still have a 50/50 parenting plan. On the other hand, the parents could have joint legal custody and the non-residential parent may only have parenting time every other weekend. The child lives at the home of the primary residential parent. The parent with whom the child is spending time is responsible for the day-to-day decisions regarding the child (what the child eats, when the child goes to bed, what the child watches). This provides the basic framework, but really only scratches the surface of custody law.

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Child Support

In Oregon child support is based on the Oregon Child Support Guidelines. This is essentially a calculation based on the income of the parties, the time each spends with the child, and certain other financial factors such as childcare and medical insurance. It is possible to have higher or lower child support based on the unusual circumstances of the parties or the children, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Child support proceedings can be initiated through privately retained attorneys or through the Division of Child Support (DCS). Frequently child support is established through divorce or custody proceedings. Child support can be modified upon a showing of a substantial and unanticipated change of circumstances. Child support can also be reviewed through DCS every three years, even if there is not a substantial change in circumstances. Support will be modified through one of these reviews if the support award is not in substantial compliance with the Oregon Child Support Guidelines.

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Contempt

Contempt is one tool that is available for enforcing family law judgments. In order to find someone in contempt, a party has to show that there is a judgment (or order) in place, that the other party is aware of the judgment, and that the person has willfully disobeyed the judgment. The contempt statute provides for a number of different remedies to force compliance. Inability to comply is a valid defense to a contempt action. Other tools available to enforce compliance include Motions to Enforce Parenting Time and actions for Breach of Contract.

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Divorce

Divorce (or dissolution) is the legal termination of the marital relationship. This area of the law is more complex than you might think due to the wide variety of issues that are encountered. A divorce may include issues of custody, parenting time, child support, bankruptcy, taxation, domestic violence, property division, debt division, retirement division, health care issues and spousal support. Each of these topics is an in depth area of the law. Oregon is a no-fault state, which means that a judge generally cannot consider spousal misbehavior (unless the behavior has an impact on the children). You can be remarried the day after your divorce judgment is signed by a judge, but not before that.

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Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is often an unfortunate reality in family law situations. The Family Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) is the legal remedy for incidents of domestic abuse. A FAPA order is also known as a restraining order. A person can obtain a restraining order by alleging an incident of abuse (or threat of abuse) has occurred within the past six months, that the victim is in imminent danger of future harm, and that the threat of harm is credible. Among other things, restraining orders can provide for temporary custody, temporary parenting time and temporary use of the home. You cannot get a restraining order against just anyone; there is a requirement the parties either: be currently or formerly married; be current or former domestic partners; be blood related; have a child together; have cohabitated; have engaged in a sexually intimate relationship in the past two years; or one party is a minor engaged in a sexually intimate relationship with an adult.

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Domestic Partnerships

Effective January 1, 2008 Oregon recognizes domestic partnership status for same-sex couples. A Declaration of Domestic Partnership must be filed with the county clerk of the county in which one partner resides. Domestic partners enjoy the same privileges, immunities, rights and benefits granted to married couples by the State of Oregon, and they are also subject to the same responsibilities as those imposed on married couples. If federal law conflicts with Oregon domestic partnership law, federal law prevails. To be eligible, partners must be over 18, same-sex, otherwise capable, and at least one partner must be a resident of the state of Oregon. This status is not available to heterosexual couples. A domestic partnership can be terminated by a judgment of dissolution, a judgment of annulment, or the death of one of the partners. A person cannot marry or enter a new domestic partnership if they are currently in a domestic partnership.

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Mediation

Mediation is a process where a neutral third party facilitates negotiation between the parties. Mediation is mandatory in most counties in Oregon (including Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas) when children are involved. Corbridge and Short can represent you in mediation, provide mediation services, or review mediated agreements.

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Modification

Life is unpredictable and circumstances often change. If your situation has changed significantly it may be possible to modify your family law judgment. Custody, parenting plans, child support and spousal support are all subject to modification. Property issues cannot be modified. Contact Corbridge and Short to get an opinion on whether your judgment may be subject to modification. It is important to immediately contact a family law attorney if a motion for modification has been filed against you.

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Parenting Time

In Oregon visitation is referred to as parenting time. Parenting time is set forth in a parenting plan. Parenting plans can be as general or specific as the parties agree. Parties who have a difficult time co-parenting typically require a more specific parenting plan. These plans can be based on the agreement of the parties or the order of a judge. Sometimes a custody and parenting time evaluation will occur. The evaluation will make a recommendation about which parent should have custody and what the parenting time should be for the non-custodial parent. Evaluations are highly persuasive to courts, but they are not authoritative unless adopted by the parties or the court. Parenting plans are subject to modification. A parenting plan can be modified upon a showing that such modification is in the best interest of the child or children.

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Paternity

A paternity case, properly referred to as a filiations proceeding, is the legal process to establish parentage of a child when the question is at issue. Paternity can be established by independently filing a lawsuit or through an action brought by an agency of the State of Oregon. The paternity statute was recently revised by the 2007 legislature to contain a number of new procedures and presumptions. It is possible to disestablish paternity as well. Paternity issues involve complex law and procedure so it is important you speak with counsel knowledgeable on the issue.

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Pre- and Post-Marital Agreements

Prenuptial agreements are contracts that become legally binding upon the marriage of the parties. Prenups are used to prospectively determine property and support rights in the event of divorce, separation or death of one of the parties. Parties often use these agreements to protect assets that either brings into the marriage, or to protect an inheritance that one party anticipates receiving during the marriage. Child support cannot be adversely impacted by a prenuptial agreement. Parties will sometimes choose to enter into marital settlement agreements. A marital settlement agreement is an agreement that occurs during the marriage that determines property and support rights in the event of divorce, separation or death of one of the parties.

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Separation

Legal separation is similar to divorce, though there are some key differences. A separation judgment can provide for custody, parenting time, support and property issues. The main difference between separation and divorce is that you cannot remarry if you are only legally separated. The two most frequent reasons people file separations instead of divorce are: 1) some people have religious objections to divorce, and 2) there is a six month residency requirement before someone can file for divorce. There is no residency requirement to file for a separation. Often people will move to Oregon, file a separation, and then convert the separation petition to a divorce petition once the person has met the residency requirement.

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Spousal Support

Spousal support comes up in the context of divorce, separation and modification. There are three different types of spousal support, and any spousal support case is highly fact dependent. The three types are maintenance, transitional and compensatory. Maintenance support is the one people think of when they think of spousal support. The purpose of maintenance support is to maintain the payee spouse in a lifestyle similar to the one he or she previously enjoyed. The purpose of transitional support is to give someone the opportunity to take courses or otherwise retrain him or herself in order to transition into the workforce or to obtain a better or higher paying job. Compensatory support is the least common of the three. This type of support exists to compensate a spouse for contributions to the career of the other (which may include opportunities that the spouse passed on in order to benefit the other spouse). Spousal support can be modified by either party upon a showing of a substantial and unanticipated change in circumstances. The change can be based on the need of the payee spouse or the ability to pay of the paying spouse.

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