Family court handles divorces, the division of assets, restraining orders and custody of children.
In most cases, divorcing parents go through the process outside of the courtroom, through mediation. In most cases, divorcing parents go through the process outside of the courtroom, through mediation. In most cases, divorcing parents go through the process outside of the courtroom, through mediation.
In most cases, divorcing parents go through the process outside of the courtroom, through mediation.
But high-conflict divorces, when the parties can’t agree, can end up on trial.
Someone with a basic knowledge of the judicial system may walk into family court expecting to have the right to an attorney, access to trial transcripts, an investigative arm of the system tracking evidence to prove a claim, even a jury of their peers. But, family court is a civil court, so despite how serious the allegations that may be involved in a divorce, petitioners and respondents don’t always have those resources.
The kinds of protections that exist in criminal court make sense due to the high-stakes nature of criminal law, they are part of our constitutional rights. But in family court custody cases, although the stakes could be higher than losing their freedom, the same rights are not guaranteed. Many of the parents interviewed in this investigation say they would rather spend years in prison than lose contact with their children. Some of them have lost anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars in the process of fighting custody.
Final custody orders in family court can be changed when there are significant changes in circumstances for the family, but what constitutes those changes is primarily up to a judge. It is also up to a judge to determine who is more credible when there are conflicting accounts of behavior that impact custody decisions. Because parties are not guaranteed an attorney if they can’t afford one, money can tip the scale of justice.
