Hi, I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist and I practice at Jaburg and Wilk.
The way a client can make the most of their first meeting with me is to be organized and to bring me basic general information. So I want a simple statement of their assets and their liabilities. I’d like to see the most recent three years of tax returns. And I recommend the client bring notes. At least bullet points of the topics the client would like to cover in that first meeting.
I don’t ask them to bring a lot of documents to the first meeting. We’re going to follow up and gather a lot of documents during the process. Certainly I would not want the to bring a box of records to the meeting. It would be very inefficient, very expensive for the client for me to be thumbing through a box of records in that first meeting.
We’re looking for broad strokes of information. We want to identify in that first meeting what the assets are and what the liabilities are. To find out about their children. To know about income and expenses. To see if someone is going to be needing spousal maintenance for example. So just broadly identify the topics we’re going to need to address. We’re going to gather a lot of details along the way, but that wouldn’t be a useful way to spend our time the first meeting.
Hi, I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist and I practice at Jaburg and Wilk.
The way a client can make the most of their first meeting with me is to be organized and to bring me basic general information. So I want a simple statement of their assets and their liabilities. I’d like to see the most recent three years of tax returns. And I recommend the client bring notes. At least bullet points of the topics the client would like to cover in that first meeting.
I don’t ask them to bring a lot of documents to the first meeting. We’re going to follow up and gather a lot of documents during the process. Certainly I would not want the to bring a box of records to the meeting. It would be very inefficient, very expensive for the client for me to be thumbing through a box of records in that first meeting.
We’re looking for broad strokes of information. We want to identify in that first meeting what the assets are and what the liabilities are. To find out about their children. To know about income and expenses. To see if someone is going to be needing spousal maintenance for example. So just broadly identify the topics we’re going to need to address. We’re going to gather a lot of details along the way, but that wouldn’t be a useful way to spend our time the first meeting.
If you have a child and you are not married to the other parent, it is important to establish the paternity of the biological father with a court order. Simply being on the birth certificate does not create the legal rights and responsibilities like a court order.
Once paternity is established, the parties can agree on, or have the court determine, three issues: legal decision-making, parenting time and child support. The process is to file a complaint in paternity with the court and serve the other party. If the alleged father denies paternity, the court can order a DNA test. If the DNA test shows a 95% or higher probability of paternity, the alleged father is presumed to be the biological father. The court can then proceed to enter orders for legal decision-making, parenting time and child support. If you would like more information, refer to my FAQs under child custody and child support, or contact me directly.
If you have a child and you are not married to the other parent, it is important to establish the paternity of the biological father with a court order. Simply being on the birth certificate does not create the legal rights and responsibilities like a court order.
Once paternity is established, the parties can agree on, or have the court determine, three issues: legal decision-making, parenting time and child support. The process is to file a complaint in paternity with the court and serve the other party. If the alleged father denies paternity, the court can order a DNA test. If the DNA test shows a 95% or higher probability of paternity, the alleged father is presumed to be the biological father. The court can then proceed to enter orders for legal decision-making, parenting time and child support. If you would like more information, refer to my FAQs under child custody and child support, or contact me directly.
A father’s name can be added to the birth certificate after paternity is established as long as the court enters that order in it’s first minute entry. Early on in most paternity cases, attorneys will ask the court to make a declaration that a father is indeed the father and the court’s order will often include provisions directing the department of vital records to amend the birth certificate to include the father’s name if it’s not already on there. Each case is different, but if you’d like to discuss your situation with me, please give me a call at (480) 305-8300.
A father’s name can be added to the birth certificate after paternity is established as long as the court enters that order in it’s first minute entry. Early on in most paternity cases, attorneys will ask the court to make a declaration that a father is indeed the father and the court’s order will often include provisions directing the department of vital records to amend the birth certificate to include the father’s name if it’s not already on there. Each case is different, but if you’d like to discuss your situation with me, please give me a call at (480) 305-8300.
Genetic testing generally comes up in the context of a paternity petition. A paternity petition can be filed during a pregnancy or after the child is born. Once the child is born, the court is going to order genetic testing. The court will order the mother, the child and the potential father to undergo testing. The court has complete discretion as to assigning the cost of that genetic testing. It can assign the cost to the mother, the father, or split the cost somehow. Another context where genetic testing may come up is when the department of economic security is looking to establish paternity. In that case, DES will shoulder the cost of the genetic testing. If you have any other questions concerning this matter or any other family law matter, please contact me at Hildebrand Law. The phone number is (480) 305-8300. Thank you.
Genetic testing generally comes up in the context of a paternity petition. A paternity petition can be filed during a pregnancy or after the child is born. Once the child is born, the court is going to order genetic testing. The court will order the mother, the child and the potential father to undergo testing. The court has complete discretion as to assigning the cost of that genetic testing. It can assign the cost to the mother, the father, or split the cost somehow. Another context where genetic testing may come up is when the department of economic security is looking to establish paternity. In that case, DES will shoulder the cost of the genetic testing. If you have any other questions concerning this matter or any other family law matter, please contact me at Hildebrand Law. The phone number is (480) 305-8300. Thank you.
Learn about the difference between sole legal decision making from joint legal decision making and joint physical custody of children in Arizona. There are very large differences between sole custody of a child and joint custody. With sole custody, one parent will be able to unilaterally make all major decisions for the children. The other parent is still entitled to obtain his or her children’s medical records, educational records, and counseling records. That other parent just does not have the legal right to decide what medical care his or her child receives, the school the child attends, or the extracurricular activities of the child may participate.
Parents with joint legal custody, on the other hand, have to agree before there are any changes to the children’s school, doctor, and other major decisions affecting the children. Most judges in Arizona award joint legal custody unless the judge determines there has been significant domestic violence, substance abuse, or child abuse.
Call the child custody attorneys at Hildebrand Law, PC at (480)305-8300 to speak to one of our child custody lawyers.
Author: Chris Hildebrand
Learn about the difference between sole legal decision making from joint legal decision making and joint physical custody of children in Arizona. There are very large differences between sole custody of a child and joint custody. With sole custody, one parent will be able to unilaterally make all major decisions for the children. The other parent is still entitled to obtain his or her children’s medical records, educational records, and counseling records. That other parent just does not have the legal right to decide what medical care his or her child receives, the school the child attends, or the extracurricular activities of the child may participate.
Parents with joint legal custody, on the other hand, have to agree before there are any changes to the children’s school, doctor, and other major decisions affecting the children. Most judges in Arizona award joint legal custody unless the judge determines there has been significant domestic violence, substance abuse, or child abuse.
Call the child custody attorneys at Hildebrand Law, PC at (480)305-8300 to speak to one of our child custody lawyers.
Author: Chris Hildebrand
A Judge Can Order a Parent to Attend Counseling in Arizona
A Judge Orders a Parent to Attend Domestic Violence Counseling in Arizona Can a judge order a parent in a child custody…
Read MoreArizona Dissolution of Marriage
In divorce, many issues require a resolution. Those issues can be resolved either by you or by the court before you can…
Read More
