Montana Family Legal Questions

Sounds like you have a serious concern for your 7-year-old. Is there a court order currently pending or is there a custody order established by the courts? If there is or isn't a court order for custody, you can submit a petition for custody/visitation modification. If he agrees, you will save time and money, if not hire a lawyer and get this done right and fast before it escalates. Feel free to ask further questions. Above answer and comments to questions are for general purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or establishes an attorney-client relationship without a signed retainer. Please reach out to an attorney you are comfortable with working and discussing your case in more details. If you can not afford a private attorney, you may be eligible for a Pro Bono lawyer provided by some courts and if not, feel free to ask about our affordable payment plans.... Read More

Your claim on the partnership assets depends on too many factors to guess, however, your husband was the partner so if he brought it all to the marriage he will probably receive it. Maintenance (alimony) is not favored. Vocational retraining is more likely depending on your situation. Our office never handles family law so you should listen to your current lawyer.... Read More

The value of the land, equipment, grain, and his interest in the partnership and all of its assets, all less debts are, at the start, generally are 1/2 yours. Spousal support depends on a number of circumstances. The case should have been long over, 5 yrs is much too long for a divorce case to remain unsettled. You need a divorce attorney with an understanding of business/farming or at least a second opinion of the present status. We have that experience.... Read More

My advice is to listen to your attorney, or get a new one. But the new attorney may tell you the same thing. This divorce has been going on for five years and now you want to get a new lawyer? It can be done, but the new lawyer is going to have to spend many hours catching up on what has been going on these five years, and then he/she is more likely to miss some of the details. You should understand, on this site, we don't know what state you are in, and I only practice in NY, so I don't know what equitable distribution rules apply in your state. Generally speaking, you should be entitle to half of the value of the marital assetts. So, if your husband owns half of the partnership and acquired that ownership interest during the course of the marriage, then you should be entitled to half of the value of his half of the partnership. It's the partnership that is the asset, not the land etc that it owns. Similarly, you (should be) entitled to half of the value of the land etc that you and your husband own together. Perhaps not the assets themselves, but the value of the assets. As for education costs, if you are talking about future expenses, that's on you. If you are talking about student loans already incurred, then it's possible he might have to contribute, but again your lawyer is in a much better position to answer that than I. Regarding spousal support, usually the key factor there is "disparity of income" so if he is making a significant amount more than you, that's when it comes in to play. Otherwise, if you are each capable of supporting yourselves, then it's a wash.... Read More

You will need to go to a city near a local farming community and speak to various divorce attorneys to see who you like. This site can not recommend attorneys [anyway, I do not know any divorce attorneys]. You can drop by the courthouse to see if any divorce attorneys are trying cases to see if you like their style [often their can be an inverse relationship between aggressiveness and competencyif you don't have any facts to argue, blow smoke]. You can prepare a short passage on what you are looking for and why and e-mail it to the web sites of divorce attorneys. In a divorce, almost any terms can be entered into, as long as not against public policy or the law, that the parties agree to. So your husband could give up his interest in the land he owns with his brother, but do you want to have to deal with the brother? Partnerships can be dissolved or interests transferred. Do not yet give up on spousal support [unless you earn a lot more than he does] as you may want to use it as a bargaining chip to get more of what you want. Remember, California is a no-fault state, so technically it does not matter that he cheated on you.... Read More

It's not our practice to recommend particular lawyers on this site. You might consider calling the Wisconsin State Bar Referral and Information Service. You could also look online (try Avvo.com) or the yellow pages for your locality. There's nothing wrong with calling some lawyers and asking if they are familiar with the relationship of divorce to farm property issues. In rural counties there are likely a number of lawyers who have expertise in both areas. Good Luck... Read More

A common-law marriage, once contracted, is the same as any other marriage; that means that your spouse cannot validly contract a second marriage unless your marriage is terminated by divorce, annulment or death, and any such second marriage is bigamous and void. To be clear, common-law marriages are the same in every respect as ceremonial marriages when it comes to bigamy and divorce. You need to consult a matrimonial attorney in Montana. He can assist you in commencing a divorce action and obtaining your share of the property of the marriage, including, to the extent appropriate, spousal support and counsel fees. Good luck.... Read More