Are you thinking about divorcing your spouse? Divorce is emotionally hard enough without the added stress of trying to handle your legal case alone. Instead of representing yourself throughout the process, contact a West Hartford Center divorce lawyer.
At Happy Even After, our attorneys have 60 years of combined experience. We’ve been helping people in your position since 2007. As your West Hartford family lawyer, we will take a holistic, child-focused approach while remaining accessible and communicative at all times.
Understanding Connecticut Divorce Law
According to Connecticut law about divorce, a marriage can be dissolved for several reasons, although irretrievable breakdown is one of the grounds specifically recognized by statute. Other grounds include the following:
- Adultery
- Intolerable cruelty
- Habitual intemperance
- Willful desertion
- Certain periods of unexplained absence
- Other circumstances identified in Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-40
For someone considering divorce, that distinction can matter. You do not necessarily need to build your case around proving that your spouse caused the marriage to fail. Instead, your West Hartford Center divorce attorney can help determine these matters on your behalf:
- Which legal grounds fit your circumstances
- How the issues involving property, finances, children, and support should be addressed
Connecticut also has procedures for certain nonadversarial divorces. Those procedures have specific requirements involving the length of the marriage, children, real estate, the value of property, retirement plans, bankruptcy, and other circumstances.
A lawyer can review your situation and explain which process applies to your case rather than assuming that every divorce follows the same path. The legal process can also involve agreements between spouses.
The court still has a role in reviewing the agreement before incorporating it into the divorce judgment if you and your spouse reach an agreement concerning these details:
- Property
- Alimony
- Custody
- Visitation
- Child support
That means you do not have to figure out the legal significance of every decision on your own. Your attorney can explain what Connecticut law requires, identify issues that need to be addressed, and help you understand the consequences of accepting proposed terms.
For a legal consultation with a divorce lawyer serving West Hartford Center, call 203-288-7800
Property Division Can Affect Your Financial Future
Connecticut follows an equitable distribution system. Under Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-81, the Superior Court has authority to assign property between spouses when entering a divorce judgment. The statute directs the court to consider numerous factors:
- The length of the marriage
- Each person’s age
- Health
- Occupation
- Income
- Earning capacity
- Education
- Employability
- Assets
- Liabilities
- Needs
- Contributions to the acquisition, preservation, or appreciation of property
That does not mean every asset automatically gets divided down the middle. A house, for example, involves more than determining whose name appears on the deed. There can be questions about these matters as well:
- Equity
- Mortgage debt
- Refinancing
- Affordability
- Contributions made during the marriage
- Whether one spouse wants to remain in the home
Retirement accounts can raise another set of concerns, particularly when one spouse has accumulated substantially more retirement savings than the other. Other assets that can require careful review include:
- Bank and investment accounts
- Retirement and pension benefits
- Business interests
- Real estate
- Stock options and other employment-related compensation
- Vehicles and valuable personal property
- Debts and other financial obligations
- Inherited or gifted property
- Property acquired before or during the marriage
A divorce lawyer can help identify the property that needs to be addressed, organize financial information, investigate questions surrounding ownership and value, and negotiate a division that reflects the legal and financial circumstances of the marriage.
That work becomes particularly important when one spouse has historically handled the household finances. If you are unfamiliar with the family’s accounts, investments, retirement plans, business interests, or debts, you shouldn’t be expected to understand everything.
Your lawyer can help identify the financial information needed to evaluate the marital estate and determine which questions require further investigation.
West Hartford Center Divorce Lawyer Near Me 203-288-7800
Financial Support Is A Separate Consideration
Connecticut law allows a court to award alimony to one spouse from the other. When deciding whether alimony is appropriate, as well as its amount and duration, Connecticut General Statutes § 46b–82 identifies these factors:
- The length of the marriage
- The causes of the breakdown
- The parties’ ages
- Health
- Occupations
- Income
- Earning capacity
- Education
- Employability
- Assets
- Needs
- The property distribution
The court also considers the circumstances of a parent who has custody of minor children and that parent’s ability to obtain employment. For a spouse who has been financially dependent on the other, this can be an important part of divorce planning.
The same is true for a higher-earning spouse who is trying to understand potential support obligations. An attorney can examine income from employment and other sources, review the household’s financial picture, and help determine how alimony fits with the overall settlement.
The goal is not simply to argue for a number in isolation. A sound divorce strategy considers support alongside these factors:
- Property division
- Housing
- Retirement assets
- The financial needs of both spouses
If your financial circumstances change after a divorce judgment, the question of modifying support can also become relevant. Connecticut law contains specific rules governing modification of alimony and support orders.
From there, your attorney can review the language of the judgment and the circumstances surrounding the requested change before advising you about your options.
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Parents Have Different Concerns During Divorce
When children are involved, divorce becomes about more than two spouses separating. Parents have to create a structure for these matters:
- Raising their children in two households
- Making decisions about school and medical care
- Dividing parenting time
- Communicating after the marriage has ended
Connecticut courts determine custody and parenting arrangements based on the welfare of the child. Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-56 directs the court to consider the rights and responsibilities of both parents.
It also has to consider these factors:
- The child’s physical and emotional safety
- Developmental needs
- Relationships with each parent
- Home and school environment
- Residential stability
- Each parent’s ability to remain involved
- The effect of domestic violence or abuse when relevant
Connecticut law also recognizes joint custody and parental responsibility arrangements. A parenting plan can address where a child lives, how parents share time, how major decisions are made, and how parents communicate about these important details:
- Education
- Health
- Religious upbringing
A lawyer can help you work through questions involving school schedules, holidays, vacations, transportation, extracurricular activities, medical appointments, communication between households, and other recurring parts of family life.
Furthermore, a parenting plan for a family whose children attend Conard High School in West Hartford could involve different transportation, school-event, extracurricular, and scheduling considerations than a family whose children attend school elsewhere.
Those everyday realities are worth discussing with your attorney when creating a parenting arrangement. When parents disagree, your attorney can also advocate for your position in negotiations or before the court.
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Child Support Follows Connecticut Guidelines
Child support is another area where Connecticut law provides a framework for determining financial obligations. Under Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-215b, the state’s child support guidelines are considered when determining child support amounts.
The guideline amount carries a rebuttable presumption, although a court can deviate from the guidelines when the legal requirements for doing so are established. Connecticut law also places an obligation on parents to support their minor children.
This is according to their respective abilities when a child is in need of maintenance. The statute addresses circumstances involving health insurance as well. For parents, child support is not simply about a monthly payment. The larger financial picture includes these matters:
- Health insurance
- Childcare costs
- Educational expenses
- Medical needs
- Other costs associated with raising a child
A divorce attorney can help you understand how income, parenting arrangements, and eligible expenses affect the support calculation.
If the guideline amount does not reflect the circumstances of the case, your lawyer can also evaluate whether a deviation is legally supportable and help present the relevant financial information to the court.
Local Representation Can Make The Process Feel More Accessible
For people living and working in the local area, a West Hartford Center family attorney who understands the community can make all the difference in the legal process. West Hartford Center sits around the intersection of Farmington Avenue and South Main Street.
These are nearby destinations you might be familiar with:
- Blue Back Square
- The town’s civic buildings
- West Hartford Town Hall
The latter is located at 50 South Main Street, and it serves as a central municipal building in the area. These landmarks are part of the community many local families know well. That local connection can be useful when a divorce affects ordinary routines.
School schedules, commuting, housing, children’s activities, and access to appointments all become part of the practical side of separating a household. West Hartford divorce law firms can consider those realities alongside the legal issues.
- If one parent works near West Hartford Center: Let’s say their children attend school elsewhere in town. If that’s true, then transportation and parenting-time schedules can become important parts of the conversation.
- If the family home is close to the Center: Decisions about housing and school continuity could also affect the structure of a parenting plan.
State laws still control the legal issues, but your divorce lawyer in West Hartford should understand that those issues exist within the context of an actual family and an actual community.
Call Happy Even After for Help From West Hartford Center Divorce Lawyers
Divorce is a legal process, but it is also a major transition. The decisions that you make throughout your case can affect your life for years to come. You deserve representation that looks at the entire picture rather than treating each legal issue as an isolated dispute.
At Happy Even After, our West Hartford Center divorce attorneys take a holistic approach to family law. With an emphasis on accessibility, communication, practicality, and resolution, we focus on keeping children at the center of parenting matters.
Our divorce law firm in West Hartford Center represents both men and women, and we work with middle-class families as well as clients facing higher-asset financial issues. After all, Your Peace is Our Purpose™. We’re here to resolve family law matters as thoughtfully as we can.
Call or text 203-288-7800 or complete a Legal Consultation form
