Paternity and Legitimation

If parents are not married, issues regarding custody, child support, and parenting time arise that are really very similar to custody issues for married couples, but the court actions to bring are a bit varied from a divorce.  We help with it all and help as we do for all co-parents, we try and find the path to a positive post separation co-parenting relationship.  We can help file for paternity, legitimatoion, custody and modification,  

 

Adoptions

If you have a child you love and would like to adopt him or her - HFFL can help.  We assist with grandparent adoptions, step-parent adoptions, great aunt adoptions of a great niece adoption, etc.  Again, if you have a little one in your care and would lke to be a forever family, we can assist.  

 

We also do adult adoptions.  An adult adoption is just what it sounds like, an adult is being adopted.  This comes up for a million reasons, but one of the most common reasons is that an adult has long been raised by a step-parent and would like to make the emotional relationship legal.  The same is common with children raised in same sex households.  Our courts were not always so open to a variety of families, and many young people were never adopted by their "second parent," so we get that squared away in adult life.  An adult adoption is truly a special thing because you have a chosen family becoming legal.  

 

Pre-nuptial or Post-nuptial Agreements.

Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreement is intended to eliminate the mystery of what a judge or jury would do with division of property and in awarding alimony in the event of a divorce. Pre-nuptial agreements are effective in protecting certain property or businesses acquired before a marriage, in protecting inheritances or gifts from others, and in protecting against any unintended marital interest in what normally would be considered “separate” property.  These agreements can also be effective in limiting, specifying, or eliminating alimony.

 

Post-nuptial agreements are effective after the marriage in defining what property goes to which party, how current and future assets would be dealt with in the event of a divorce, and to reclassify income or assets to alleviate or eliminate a long and contested divorce. So long as they meet certain requirements, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements are generally enforced in Georgia. Our attorneys have extensive experience in drafting enforceable documents and litigating their enforceability or, in certain circumstances, their non-enforceability.