Mobile, AL Divorce Attorney

Going through a divorce can be an extremely distressing experience. Even under the best of circumstances, divorce can emotionally impact all the parties involved. If you are a resident of Mobile who is planning to end your marriage, you are not alone. Data shows that Mobile has one of the highest divorce rates in Alabama. More than 13% of the city’s residents have been divorced at least once.

Regardless of the reason why you decided to end your marriage, it is important to have an experienced attorney on your side during the divorce proceedings. Attorney Brent T. Day is a highly-rated Mobile divorce attorney with extensive experience handling contested as well as uncontested divorce cases. He can protect your rights, guide you through this difficult time, and work with you and your spouse to achieve a positive resolution.

Divorce Laws in Alabama – What You Need to Know

Under Alabama law, you have the right to file for a fault-based divorce or a no-fault divorce – depending on the circumstances. In a fault-based divorce, one spouse needs to prove that the other spouse is at fault and their actions caused the marriage to fail.

In some cases, both spouses might have contributed to the failure of the marriage. In cases along these lines, both spouses need to prove that the other’s actions caused the marriage to fail. In a no-fault divorce, there is no need for the spouses involved to prove each other’s fault.

The grounds for no-fault divorce in Alabama include:

• Complete incompatibility of temperament between the spouses
• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage

The grounds for fault-based divorce in Alabama include:

• If one spouse was physically and incurably impotent at the time of marriage and the other did not know about it
• If one spouse cheated on the other by having an extramarital affair with someone
• If one spouse committed a crime against nature (with mankind or beast) before the marriage or during the course of the marriage
• If one spouse is addicted to alcohol or recreational drugs
• If one spouse has been committed to an asylum for a minimum of five years and has been declared insane by qualified medical professionals
• If one spouse has been imprisoned in a state penitentiary for a period of two years (while serving a sentence of seven years or longer)
• If one spouse was pregnant with another person’s child at the time of marriage and the other spouse did not know about it
• If one spouse committed an act of violence against the other or behaved in such a way that the other spouse was afraid of being subjected to violence
• If the spouses have lived apart from each other for a period of two years – during which the husband did not provide any financial assistance to the wife

Uncontested Divorce in Mobile, AL

If you and your spouse are willing to work out the issues between yourselves and reach an agreement on key issues like property division, alimony, child custody, visitation, and child support, you can get an uncontested divorce – which is cheaper and less complicated than a contested divorce.

Your Mobile divorce attorney can take care of the paperwork involved and prepare a marital settlement agreement – which specifies how the marital property is to be divided, the amount of alimony to be paid, physical and legal custody of the child, visitation schedule, the amount of child support to be paid, and other relevant details.

The amount of alimony and child support should be calculated based on the government’s guidelines. If the amount differs from the guidelines, you need to specify the reason for the difference. If it’s a legitimate reason and if the amount is fair, the judge will approve it.

Contested Divorce in Mobile, AL

A contested divorce could involve litigation, which can be time-consuming and expensive. You need to file a complaint, your spouse needs to respond to it, your attorney and your spouse’s attorney need to exchange information during the discovery process, and they negotiate with each other.

If the negotiations fail, mediation may be ordered. If mediation does not produce any resolution, then your divorce case may proceed to trial. With a litigated divorce, the court decides the final terms and conditions, and the results can be unpredictable.

Uncontested divorce cases in Mobile typically take about a couple of months. Contested divorce cases, on the other hand, can take much longer – up to a year or more in some instances.

How Does Alimony Work in Mobile, AL?

In Alabama, alimony or spousal support is determined based on a number of factors including:

• Length of the marriage
• Age, health condition, and financial situation of the spouses
• Future prospects of the spouses (based on their qualifications, skills, and work experience)
• Amount of property owned by the spouses
• Standard of living that the spouses enjoyed during the course of the marriage
• The fault of the defendant

In some cases, the judge might award what is called temporary alimony to a spouse during the course of the divorce proceedings – if there is a legitimate reason for doing so.

If the spouse that receives alimony starts cohabitating with another person or marries again, alimony payments will be stopped immediately.

Get Strong Legal Representation from Seasoned Mobile, AL Divorce Attorneys Today

At Brent Day Law, we know that divorce cases are extremely complex in nature. Any decision you make can have lasting consequences. It’s why you need a capable divorce attorney to carefully guide you through the process.

We can review your case, create achievable goals keeping your long-term interests in mind and do everything in our capacity to achieve an amicable resolution that benefits all the parties involved. If needed, we can also take your case to trial and work to protect your rights as a spouse and a parent in court. 

Our firm has the extensive experience and the in-depth knowledge needed to provide you with effective legal representation and achieve the best possible outcome – regardless of how complicated your case might be.

Call us today at 251-441-1925 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation and case assessment.