Family law encompasses a broad array of legal topics. Attorneys who practice in this area of law are versatile and can effectively represent clients in a variety of cases. 

When you are dealing with a legal issue that falls in this category in court, you may not want to represent yourself during any proceedings. You can instead hand off your case to an experienced family lawyer.

Getting through a Divorce

Divorces are among some of the most common cases a family lawyer may handle. When you are filing or being sued for divorce, you want to protect your own legal interests. You do not want to risk losing assets like the house or retirement accounts into which you may have put a fair amount of money.

When you hire a family lawyer to represent you, you can make your contentions known to the judge upfront. You can also ask for the shared marital assets to be divided up fairly so you can recover most or all of the money you put into them. You may avoid losing money and forgoing ownership of assets that rightfully belong to you when you have a family lawyer representing you.

Adopting a Child

A family lawyer can also assist you in adopting a child. To formalize the adoption, you typically need to file a petition in court and have a judge sign off on it. The court process can take several months or longer and require you to appear before the judge to make your case.

Your family lawyer can file the paperwork and represent you in the court proceedings. He or she can make sure all of the court's requirements are satisfied and guide you toward a successful adoption. 

Petitioning for Child Support Changes

Finally, a family lawyer can represent you if you need to ask the court to change the child support you pay right now. You might have lost your job and no longer afford the current amount of support. You can ask the court to review your income and make changes accordingly by hiring a family lawyer to represent you in your petition. 

A family lawyer can handle a wide variety of legal cases for clients. They may be able to represent you when you file for divorce and want marital assets divided evenly. This attorney can also represent you when you want to adopt a child or plan on asking the court to change the amount of child support you pay.