FAMILY
LAW
The attorneys
at Oppenheim Pilelsky are very sensitive to the personal needs
of their clients particularly when it comes to highly emotional
situations concerning marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody,
and child support.
In each of
these areas, the firm has substantial experience concerning the
sensitivities involved in these highly charged situations and
provides substantial counseling on how an individual should proceed
in these kinds of matters.
The firm takes
great pride in its representation of children in divorce and custody
matters. In fact, the firm has in the past been appointed as guardian
in connection with such matters. In these particular cases, the
firm recognizes its tremendous responsibility to truly do what
is in the best interest of the children involved.
The firm is
regularly involved in divorce of couples who have substantial
business assets and use its vast array of outside resources such
as forensic accountants and investigators typically required to
litigate or mediate these kinds of divorces. In addition, the
firm works very closely with the business valuation experts necessary
to value our clients or their spouses business interests as well
as their retirement assets such as 401K's, IRA's or Traditional
Pension Plans that will become a part of Qualified Domestic Relations
Order (QUADRO). Such an Order allows for such retirement assets
to be divided at the time of the divorce.
Mediation
With the divorce
rate in the United States continuing to increase, many divorcing
couples, particularly when children are involved, decide early
that they want their divorce to remain friendly and amicable.
Sometimes
the litigation process can breed animosity and contempt for your
spouse and leave lasting emotional scars on your children. Since
the litigation process by its very nature is contentious and is
today the civil equivalent of going to war, many individuals have
chosen a less antagonistic approach to divorce and thereby have
chosen mediation.
Over the course
of the past few years, the lawyers at Oppenheim Pilelsky
have been involved with a number of divorce mediations whereby
either (a) each spouse actually obtains counsel or (b) in the
alternative, neither spouse obtains counsel and the law firm ends
up representing neither party, but rather acts as the Mediator.
The sole role of the Mediator is not to determine what is fair,
but to help the parties with an outcome that both sides can effectively
live with.
Over the course
of the next several years, we anticipate that, with the court
dockets continuing to be clogged and parties deciding that they
do not want to expend marital resources on attorneys, mediation
will continue to become a more desirable option. To that extent,
the lawyers at Oppenheim Pilelsky will continue to encourage out
of court settlement and mediation in family disputes where the
parties feel comfortable in participating in such a process. If
either party decides to walk away from the mediation process,
the courts are still available to either party to proceed with
their respective case.
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