Family Court in West Virginia

August 17, 2012

In West Virginia, if you want a divorce, need a paternity determination, are having problems with a child custody or support issue, or are dealing with domestic violence, a family court is where you need to go. The judges also hear cases involving grandparent visitation and can even perform weddings.

Family Court and Mediation

In an effort to reduce some of the ill effects of divorce cases, the family courts now often send parents involved in a divorce proceeding to an individual pre-mediation screening to determine if mediation would help produce a viable parenting plan. The screening sessions are conducted by a family case coordinator. Eighty-percent of cases involving parenting plans go to mediation.

If parents cannot develop a parenting plan on their own, they will often be ordered to mediation by the court. The mediator assists each side in working together and coming to a consensus, but the mediator is not a judge and decides no legal issues.

Reducing the Adversarial Nature of the Process

The process is informal and relies on the cooperation of both parties. Your lawyer can assist with the case. If your attorney attends mediation with you, he or she can ensure relevant points are presented to the opposing party and the mediator.

However, you and your spouse, working with the mediator, must come to agreement over all the aspects of the plan. Mediation is designed to reduce the adversarial nature of traditional litigation and the stress that goes with it.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has also expanded other programs to help parents involved with a divorce to better understand conflict management and ways to lessen the damaging effects of a divorce.

The Court instituted a parent education class that is mandatory for all divorcing parents. There, parents are taught about how a divorce will affect their family, the parenting plan and how it will function after the divorce, what mediation is, and the danger of domestic violence on children.

They created a program for "high conflict" cases to work with parents who continue to have disputes after the initial class.

In addition to divorce cases, family courts also handle related issues that involve modification of child support and child custody matters, questions of grandparent visitation, and determinations of paternity of children.

Domestic Violence Protective Orders

The family courts also hear the second stage of a domestic violence case. The initial filing must be done in the magistrate court. That court can order an emergency protective order in the case and then sets a hearing in family court for a domestic violence protective order.

The family court decides whether to grant a domestic violence protective order. The order is enforceable for 90 days or more, and may be extended by the party returning to the court and requesting an extension before the first protective order expires.

Family court provides many important services and has become more user-friendly, with enhancements to the court's website now providing forms and other helpful information, but the process is far from simple, especially given the emotionally-charged issues on its docket.

There are few courts that deal with more personal or sensitive issues and the advice and counsel of an experienced family law attorney can greatly help with your interaction with the court.

Article provided by Pritt & Pritt, PLLC
Visit us at www.prittlaw.com