Reference Material and Informational Links
Family Law
Family Law
In general, once a Judgment has been entered in a divorce or other family law matter, it is usually possible only to modify terms of custody and parenting time, child support, and spousal support.
In addition, in general, such matters can only be modified if there have been substantial, unanticipated, and material changes in circumstances. Child support can also be reviewed and modified if appropriate once every three years, even if a substantial and material change is not demonstrable prior to the review.
A divorce is NOT the fault of the children. Sometimes, however, children feel that they are in some way to blame, or that the divorce is in some way their fault.
This can be true for very young children, as well as for children who are well past the age of adulthood. It can be important for parents of children of all ages to remember this, although, of course, the way in which the following is articulated, and the way one interacts with children of different ages, will differ.
Oregon does not recognize common law marriage, in general. Common law marriages may be recognized if entered in a state or country that does recognize them, but in most cases you have to actually have been married in order to be divorced.
Many people live together without marriage, of course, and what some people call domestic partnership dissolutions are not uncommon.
If a couple lived together for a time, and acquired assets during that time, and then got married, matters may be somewhat more complicated.
Divorce and family law includes a wide range of topics. In addition to divorces, family law includes matters such as grandparent visitation, modifications of custody, modifications of parenting time (visitation), modifications of child support, modifications of spousal support, and other matters.
Other issues handled by family law attorneys include filiation (proceedings to determine legal parenthood), child support and back child support in filiation situations, and the like.
It is not uncommon for people who have married late in life, or who are living with a significant other to whom they are not married, to want to protect that other person, and make sure that the other person has a place to live as long as they need it, while also ensuring that their own child
It is not uncommon in a divorce for a couple to agree to a settlement where one former spouse gets the lifetime use of a certain home or investment property, with the understanding that the other former spouse’s children will ultimately receive the real estate.
A question sometimes comes up in estate planning situations where a parent wants to be sure that a child gets a home or some other certain piece of real estate, but does not want to transfer the property immediately.
A life estate is created when someone gives the current rights to real estate to a third party (or retains these rights themselves), while giving the rights to that same piece of property to someone else after the holder of the current rights passes on.
In order to get divorced in Oregon, one or both spouses must have lived in Oregon for at least six months.