SAPCR
Family Law Attorneys
In cases that affect children and parental rights, Bradicich & Uszynski LLP
know the importance of fighting to protect your family. With child custody
and shared parental agreements, our attorneys will work with you to make sure that everyone is taken care of regardless of the current relationship of the parents.
Adoption
Adoption is the legal process of establishing a legal parent-child relationship when the adopting parent is not the child's biological or birth parent. That means that once the adoption is final, the adoptive parents have all the legal right and responsibilities of a parent-child relationship. That new parent-child relationship is permanent and is exactly the same as that of a birth family. An adoptive parent can be a step-parent, a relative of a child or someone not related to the child by blood.
In addition to traditional adoption where the birth parent cannot care or does not want to raise their child, our attorneys are very familiar with step-parent adoptions and grandparent adoptions. These cases can be step-parent adoptions from divorced families or when there might be a tragic loss in a divorced family. These adoptions create new legal families with two legal parents who each have the same rights and responsibilities. These rights and responsibilities range from the duty to support and care for your child, to reasonable discipline of that child, health insurance eligibility and allow for a child to be eligible for survivorship benefits (social security/military) if the second parent dies. Additionally, after the adoption, the adoptive child will have the emotional and financial support from both parents, which creates balance and stability when both parents are legally recognized.
Should a child have two living biological parents, we have to determine parental rights if one of the biological parents wants to adopt that child. For instance, this can happen when a child is abandoned, one parent is an un-recoverable drug user or alcoholic, or that child has been subjected to physical or emotional abuse. When these events occur, often a petition is filed to terminate the rights of the offending parent.
For any questions about adoption, please give us a call at 361-573-4344.
In addition to traditional adoption where the birth parent cannot care or does not want to raise their child, our attorneys are very familiar with step-parent adoptions and grandparent adoptions. These cases can be step-parent adoptions from divorced families or when there might be a tragic loss in a divorced family. These adoptions create new legal families with two legal parents who each have the same rights and responsibilities. These rights and responsibilities range from the duty to support and care for your child, to reasonable discipline of that child, health insurance eligibility and allow for a child to be eligible for survivorship benefits (social security/military) if the second parent dies. Additionally, after the adoption, the adoptive child will have the emotional and financial support from both parents, which creates balance and stability when both parents are legally recognized.
Should a child have two living biological parents, we have to determine parental rights if one of the biological parents wants to adopt that child. For instance, this can happen when a child is abandoned, one parent is an un-recoverable drug user or alcoholic, or that child has been subjected to physical or emotional abuse. When these events occur, often a petition is filed to terminate the rights of the offending parent.
For any questions about adoption, please give us a call at 361-573-4344.
Child Custody and Visitation
Given the many factors that surround families, child custody is rarely ever a simple matter. Our family law practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of parents and is focused on the best interests of children. Our first focus is to help you resolve your child custody issues through negotiation and mediation. In child custody cases, it can be especially challenging for parents to come to an agreement on key issues concerning their children. When negotiation and mediation do not yield the necessary results and a trial is in your best interest, be certain we are fully prepared to litigate your case in the courtroom.
Our child custody practice is well versed in handling the most complex child custody issues including with special needs children, family violence, parental relocation, substance abuse and parents in the military issues. We are accustomed to working with child psychologists and physicians as experts in custody litigation. And remember, with that said, a child's best interests are always the most important consideration in a child custody dispute.
Child Support
Child support calculations are a large part of divorce and paternity cases in Texas. Largely, child support obligations are determined through the Texas Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines are presumed to be in the child’s best interest, and if they are not, it’s your burden to rebut that presumption. This could be a dispute in the calculation of net resources or anticipated expenses related to medical conditions or special needs of the child to be supported. In mediation and the courtroom, there are times when negotiating these obligations is a sticking point in your case. It is times like these that require a skilled attorney to recognize the fine nuances in the child support law and have the ability to navigate your case to ensure the correct child support calculations.
We often see issues that arise, and often slip away, when cases are not prepared and handled with an eye toward litigation. These situations can be when one party is self-employed and does not receive a W-2 and the calculation of net resources available is a mirage, or when a party works an excessive amount of overtime but then stops that schedule abruptly prior to a hearing, or maybe when a person simply intentionally quits a gainfully employed position to avoid that child support obligation. These events simply require a skill Texas family law attorney to avoid the pitfalls.
Paternity
Paternity Law in Texas has many traps and time limits that, depending on which side of the issue you are on, can right a wrong or can wrongfully cost a person tens of thousands of dollars. Time is of the essence with paternity. Now, with the advancement in DNA testing and recent changes in the law, Texas has a more level playing field in avoiding child support fraud. Nevertheless, many legal issues regarding paternity can still arise in a divorce or child custody dispute. These issues can range from back child support if the child is yours or child support reimbursement if the child is not yours. Interest on these amounts that can be awarded by the court can take a bad problem to something much worse. We believe the right Family Attorney can make a significant difference in the results of your case.
Parental Relocation
Given our increasingly mobile society, parental relocation is becoming a contentious issue both during and after a divorce or paternity suit. In most relocation cases, each party believes they will win big or lose big. Usually, there is very little room to compromise with the other parent when a parent with primary residential custody wishes to relocate with the child. For this reason, most often relocation issues are decided by a judge in family law court rather than by negotiation. We have experience in representing both custodial and noncustodial parents in relocation disputes. A relocation case requires advanced planning and should never be taken lightly.
Typically, Texas child custody orders have a geographic restriction in place that prevents a parent with primary custody from moving out of the area with the child. If you are a parent with primary custody who wants to move, you must file a motion to modify the existing court order to lift that geographic restriction. Then is by the grace of negotiations and mediation that you can reach a mutual agreement or a Texas judge will decide the parental relocation issue.
Many factors are at issue in a relocation case such as: is it voluntary or involuntary, was it for a better job or is it simply to alienate a child from the noncustodial parent? If relocation is an issue, it is best to seek the advice of the best attorney that you can confer with to make your game plan. And, if you are served with papers to modify an existing court order for your child to relocate, you likely need to move quickly. These cases are all different and preparation is key.