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This would be up to the parents involved. We at Legal Action Workshop only handle the adoption of children when the parents are related or friends. We do not handle Agency adoption.

When you are served with Legal Separation papers, you should get legal advice as to what to do. Normally, you would file a response because there are issues that need to be addressed. In the instance that you are served with Legal Separation papers, but you want to Divorce instead, then that would be stated in the Response. In this case, you would now be dealing with Divorce and not Legal Separation. Your attorney can advise you as to your best options.

You do not have to go to court if you and your spouse will agree on your issues. Once agreements are made, the Attorney can prepare a Legal Separation Agreement which outlines in detail the terms of the Legal Separation. Once this document is signed and notarized it is filed with all other necessary documents and finalizes the Legal Separation without a court appearance.

No, you can remain legally separated as long as you do not wish to remarry. You will need to Divorce if you wish to remarry. The advantage of the Legal Separation is that any debt acquired once you are separated would not be considered community debt. In effect, assets and debts will be separate and orders for children will be set in place. If you do decide to Divorce, then the issues will have been settled.

Generally speaking this is not a good idea. People file for Legal Separation for the following reasons: a) when they want to continue being married but separate assets and debts b) some people cannot divorce for religious reasons c) some people feel that it’s difficult to separate the emotional ties so they wish to do a 2-step approach i.e. continue reading...

Generally, where you are served with a Paternity Action, it is advisable to do a response. A consultation with the attorney will determine your best option. If you do wish to respond, you may also want temporary orders to be in effect until the Paternity hearing is scheduled. This would mean that you would also file an Order to Show Cause. Your attorney can advise you as to your best options.

If the parents cannot come to an agreement on issues such as custody, visitation and support, then one parent will file a Paternity Action and serve the other parent. If the other parent does not respond, then a ‘default’ hearing will be set with the courts and only the petitioner will appear. The court date will take about 2 months to schedule. If the other parent does respond, then a court appearance will ensue and the judge will make a decision based on the evidence. It could take 4 to 6 months for a contested paternity hearing to take place. continue reading...

If you can get agreements on issues such as custody, visitation and support of children, then you do not have to go to court for these orders. This can be handled by a ‘stipulated judgment’ in which custody, visitation and support are detailed and agreed upon. This document is signed and notarized by both parents and then filed with the court. With a ‘stipulated judgment’ there would not be a need to go to court.

This would still be a ‘Publication Divorce’ and as such would be done in the same way as any publication divorce. In this case children issues such as custody would be awarded based on the fact that the parent cannot be found. A court appearance would be needed to determine child custody and other appropriate issues.

A Publication Divorce usually takes longer than a typical divorce. A typical divorce can be finalized in a minimum of 6 months & one day from the date of service. A Publication Divorce would usually take longer because of the need to search and publicize. It might take as long as 9 months to finalize.