Contested Divorce Attorney:
Portland and Beaverton, OR.

CONTESTED DIVORCE

If the parties are unable to agree as to custody of children, amounts of support, and who gets what and who pays what, Mr. Walker has extensive experience in negotiation and litigating cases.

CUSTODY

Generally, a Judge is going to award custody of the children to the parent determined to be the "primary parent". This is true because, with a divorce, there is much disruption in the family’s life and it is better to keep the children with the one who has been primarily responsible for their care (unless there develops some compelling reason not to).

JOINT CUSTODY

The parties may agree to joint custody of the children and a Court will order such if they so agree and will not order such without their agreement.

Another option is to agree to Joint Legal Custody with primarily physical custody with one parent and parenting time to the other. This has some elements of both "sole custody" and "joint custody" and is often a good compromise between parents as they consider the best interests of the children.

PARENTAL EDUCATION

In all cases with minor children, courts require a parental education course which may be a single evening of instruction or as many as 4 evenings, depending on the county.

MEDIATION

When parents are unable to agree as to custody or specific parenting times, the court requires that the parents meet with a Court Mediator to attempt an agreement.

CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

When parents still are unable to agree as to custody, they may wish to obtain a custody evaluation. Such can be obtained through the County or from a Social Worker who specializes in such, or from a psychologist who specializes in family studies. The costs for such may range from $500 through the County to as much as several thousands of dollars through a psychologist.

In custody evaluations, each parent will meet with the evaluator, the parent and the children will meet with the evaluator, and the evaluator may speak to others who have observed the parenting ability of the parents. A psychological evaluation may also be conducted.

The evaluator will then write a report detailing the investigation and recommending who should be custodial parent.

CHILD SUPPORT

Child support is determined by the Child Support Guidelines. It is important to know each parent’s gross monthly income, the monthly cost of day care, and the monthly cost of medical insurance for the children. These figures are entered into the Child Support Guidelines computer software and a child support amount is generated.

PARENTING TIME

The other parent is awarded "parenting time" with the children. Each divorce must have a Parenting Plan which can be what the party’s agree to or the Judge can decide specific periods of Parenting Time. The typical, or standard, parenting time is alternating weekends, alternating holidays, one-half of Christmas, alternating spring breaks, and 2 to 4 weeks during the summer.