Family law has constantly had to change with the times. As the years go by, new legislation comes into force. However, lawyers specializing in family law have had to evolve to keep up with not only legislative amendments but also emerging issues and client demands.
Your typical Atlanta family law firm deals with a very different set of challenges than it did even thirty years ago. So, let’s see what the future of family law holds.
What Issues Does Family Law Cover?
As you can expect, family law specializes in family disputes. These can be matrimonial matters, including marriage agreements, financial settlements, and divorce. Family law also encompasses child custody, visitation rights, support payments, and even adoption. The issue of domestic abuse also comes under this area of law.
Noticing Trends in Family Law
Like any area of law, family law is not immune to change. Family law practitioners are noticing certain trends that have affected the cases they take on and their ways of working.
Influence of technology
One major trend that is affecting most of our ways of working, no matter the industry, is technology. The ability to attend meetings remotely or even to appear virtually in a courtroom has simplified and sped up proceedings. A virtual meeting can take the strain off a family lawyer’s busy workload and save the client the cost of traveling to the appointment.
Changing shape of the family structure
The nuclear family was once the most common and socially accepted family structure. Thankfully, nowadays, there is a diverse range of family set-ups in our more open-minded communities. Family lawyers have therefore had to take these changing structures into account when dealing with child custody cases.
Alternative solutions to disputes
Not every case has to enter the courtroom. Family lawyers are encouraging their clients, wherever possible, to seek out-of-court resolutions. This is typically achieved through structured mediation sessions, which can involve financial advisors and family therapists in order to reach a more amicable answer.
Rising popularity of prenups
Only the rich and famous get prenups, right? Well, prenups are becoming an increasingly common practice across the board. As well as protecting each partner’s assets should the marriage dissolve, a prenup can also avoid burdening one partner with the other’s debts. Prenups can also be used to safeguard inheritance, especially when children from a previous partnership are involved.
Children’s best interest vs. traditional custody arrangements
Traditionally, sole custody was the most expected outcome, allowing the child to live with one parent, while the other may receive visitation rights. Today, there is a distinct move toward more fluid custody arrangements that have the child’s best interest at heart.
Flexible arrangements such as co-parenting or even birds’ nest parenting, where the parents take it in turn to live in the family home with the child, are becoming more commonplace.
Family Law: The Challenges
Innovation and change don’t just bring new solutions, but also challenges. Then there are recent events and economic factors that have also affected the practice of family law.
Court backlogs
COVID-19 put the whole world on pause. Appointments and in-person meetings were canceled. These cancellations and postponements have caused major delays. Family law practitioners have had to prioritize certain cases and find new ways of working. By seeing clients remotely, they have largely managed to overcome this unprecedented challenge.
Complex family structures
Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly likely that a family law practitioner will have to tactfully navigate complicated family structures. This can take the form of blended families, where there are children from previous marriages on both sides.
Also, legal guardians needn’t be the traditional mother and father figures, but they may be grandparents or other relatives. Then there are non-biological parents who have no genetic ties to the children. Here, it can be more difficult to ascertain who gets custody or who is entitled to inheritance.
Can we rely on new technologies
As much as new technologies can make life easier, they also bring their own set of problems. AI used to generate deep fakes or fabricate evidence can hold up proceedings and complicate matters. Family law practitioners need to be able to accurately verify and spot any suspicious material. Keeping up with technological news and updates is one way they can stay informed.
Affordability of family law services
Family law is a service that is needed by people from all types of economic backgrounds. With recent pressures such as the rising cost of living, many families feel stuck, unable to resolve disputes because they cannot afford legal advice. Therefore, family law services should offer packages accessible to a variety of budgetary constraints.
What the Future Holds for Family Law
Family law practitioners will continue to adopt a flexible approach as their clients’ situations and needs change. In the future, AI technology will likely be relied on even more to speed up processes, reduce court backlogs, and increase the affordability of family law services for all.
