Juvenile Law is a special area of law that can mix family law and criminal law. It is typically broken down into three separate areas: delinquency, abuse/neglect/dependency cases and private custody/support/visitation cases. Delinquency is essentially criminal or traffic law involving minors. The abuse, neglect and dependency cases are those cases where Children’s Services has become involved and are attempting to impose conditions on you to keep your kids or where they have removed your children. The private cases can be establishing or modifying custody, establishing or modifying child support, and establishing or modifying visitation. Additionally, paternity actions are generally filed in juvenile court as well.
The practice of juvenile law is different, however, than adult criminal or domestic relations court. Proceedings are different, the rules are different, and the people involved are different. Anytime your children’s well-being is at stake you should make sure that you have competent representation with experience. Our attorneys at Deal & Hooks have significant experience throughout Southwest Ohio. Both Mr. Hooks and Mr. Deal act as a court appointed Guardian ad Litem and appear regularly in front of judges and magistrates to give their recommendations of how cases should be resolved. We have successfully tried contentious custody battles, and been involved in high profile cases involving allegations of abuse, neglect and dependency.
There are few things that bring as much fear and apprehension as contested, child custody proceedings. This is the case whether the parents are married and the proceedings are happening in Domestic Relations Court or if they are unmarried and the proceedings are taking place in the Juvenile Court. The trial court determining which parent gets custody of the child or children looks at a number of factors. These proceedings can take a significant amount of time. In the meantime, there are short-term considerations that need to be worked out, including where the child will live until the case is decided and what the other parent’s visitation schedule will be. Inresolving the case the client needs to decide whether they wish to have legal custody of the child, seek to enter into a shared parenting arrangement with the other parent, and what type of visitation schedule is desired. These are just a few of the many considerations that need to be made.
Child support determinations can have a tremendous impact on a parent’s life and a child’s life. In Ohio there are guidelines that establish the support order based on the parents’ collective income, the custodial situation, daycare expense, healthcare expenses, and other miscellaneous expenses. An effective attorney will be able to obtain a favorable outcome in either modifying or establishing support based on actual income.
A child accused of committing a crime generally finds him or herself in juvenile court as a result of a filing for delinquency. Typically these cases are similar to the charge in adult court. There are some differences in procedure and how to defend these cases, however, and you should be sure to hire someone who is familiar with them.