- DivorceBy practicing exclusively in divorce and family law, the Law Offices of Marci R. Carroll more effectively represents our clients and their children.
- Child SupportEven though the vast majority of divorces are indeed granted on the "no fault" ground of irreconcilable differences, complex and important issues remain. These may involve jurisdiction and venue; identification, valuation, and division of marital assets and debts; custody of and visitation with minor children; proper calculation and retroactive period of child support; and evaluation and prosecution or defense of an alimony/spousal support claim remain.
- Child Custody and Visitation(Not available for grandparent visitation, adoption, minor guardianship, prenuptial agreements, appeals, name change, child support arrearage, or child support modification where you plan to file cases).
- Adoption
- Paternity
- Premarital Agreement
- GuardianshipCourt procedures vary somewhat from county to county and in individual cases based upon the issues and particular circumstances. However, it is possible to give a generalized overview of the processing of most types of cases. Except for domestic violence, expedited child support modification cases, modifications, contempts, minor guardianships, name changes, and adoptions, once a case is filed with the courts and service of process is obtained upon the respondent, it may take around two or more months for an initial temporary hearing, which is usually only one-half hour long, before the court. The initial hearing may be used as a final hearing if all issues are resolved or if contested matters may be heard in that short length of time, but normally this hearing is used as a temporary hearing where the court will decide some preliminary issues (such as possession of and payment for certain major property items like the home and vehicles, child support and medical support, alimony/spousal support, and parenting plans) on a temporary basis until a more in-depth final hearing can be held. Sometimes there are status conferences, scheduling conferences, motion hearings, and other interim hearings before a final hearing can be held. In contested divorce, paternity, and child custody/visitation cases, it is not at all unusual for a case to take a year or more to complete properly. While it is true that a divorce can take as little as a couple of months from start to finish if the parties agree on all issues early on, such a foolhardy rush to finish the case involves an exceedingly high risk of shoddy and incomplete factual development and mistakes and oversights that may well result in expensive and lengthier subsequent litigation to fix things - if the problem can even be fixed. Your case is worth doing right from the outset.
- Spousal SupportOne of the growing trends in courts, both circuit court in civil cases and family court, is for judges to order the parties to participate in mediation. In fact, it is a standard practice for West Virginia family courts to require parents to mediate non-financial custody/visitation/ parenting plan issues in new cases and to require them in many cases to attend mediation even before filing modification motions on those issues. Although family courts rarely order mediation on other issues, domestic relations litigants can choose to mediate such issues as equitable division, alimony/spousal support, and enforcement of property settlement provisions. Local federal and state courts also routinely require litigants in civil cases to mediate their disputes before trial. Settlement may not necessarily happen during mediation, but roughly 95% of civil cases settle before going to trial, and settlement of all or part of the issues is not at all uncommon in family court cases.
- Legal Separation
- Annulment
- Child AbuseWe also have a limited practice in the area of child abuse and neglect and restrict representation to intervenors (such as relatives or other interested parties requesting the children be placed in their home) and parties who are not accused of harming the children involved. We are also pleased to offer mediation services for general civil and domestic relations cases.
- Restraining Order
- Medical Malpractice
- Social Security Disability