Did You Know?

A little less than half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce

Family Law Help Center

Welcome to FamilyLawHelpCenter.ORG. Family law encompasses such issues as child support, child custody arrangements, including joint custody agreements, alimony, legal separation and child visitation, among others.

We have developed this website as a resource for to help the public to understand their legal rights. who need to find answers on what to do when they need Family Law advice. Our FREE Lawyer Referral Service will get you in touch with an experienced Family Law lawyer in your area who can help you get the compensation you deserve from the responsible parties.

FAMILY LAW FACTS

• Domestic Violence - One in five women victimized by their spouses or ex-spouses report they had been victimized over and over again by the same person. (The Basics of Batterer Treatment, Common Purpose, Inc., Jamaica Plain, MA)
• Divorce - About 38% of all couples divorce within four years of marriage.
• Child Adoption - Children who are adopted spent an average of 22 months in state care .
• Domestic Violence - Women of all cultures, races, occupations, income levels, and ages are battered - by husbands, boyfriends, lovers and partners. (Surgeon General Antonia Novello, as quoted in Domestic Violence: Battered Women, publication of the Reference Department of the Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA)
• Bankruptcy - There were 1,659,562 bankruptcies filed in 2003 according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
• Domestic Violence - A woman is beaten every 15 seconds. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Report to the nation on Crime and Justice. The Data. Washington DC Office of Justice Program, US Dept. of Justice.)
• Divorce - Children from divorced families have a high risk of becoming divorced.
• Domestic Violence - Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women between ages 15 and 44 in the United States - more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. (Uniform Crime Reports, Federal Bureau of Investigation)
• Domestic Violence - Battered women are more likely to suffer miscarriages and to give birth to babies with low birth weights. (Surgeon General, United States)

•  Child Abuse - There are 30 abuse and neglect cases for every 1000 people

•  Average age of a child victim is 7 years of age

•  Child Abuse - Experts estimate that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 8 boys under the age of 18 will be involved in some form of forced sexual experience with an adult

•  Child Abuse - 80% of prison inmates have been abused as children

•  More than 80% of all prostitutes and hustlers were sexually abused as children.

•  Divorce - Divorce in America is a $28 billion-a-year industry.

• Child Abuse - Nationally, an estimated 903,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2001. (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), 2001)
• Foster Care - Also, in 2001, 3 million children were subjects of a Child Protective Services investigation or assessment and more than 275,000 are estimated to have been placed in foster care. 
• Child Abuse - Prevent Child Abuse-America, one of the nation's leading child abuse prevention organizations, estimates the total direct and indirect cost of child abuse and neglect is approximately $94,076,882,227 per year.
• Child Abuse - Maltreatment deaths were more often associated only with neglect (35.6%) than with any other type of abuse.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Child Abuse - Women comprised 59.3 percent of all perpetrators, while men comprised 40.7 percent.  Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Child Abuse - About one fifth of the victims (19.0%) were removed from their homes as a result of investigations or assessments.  In addition, 4.7 percent of non-victims were placed in foster care.  Nationally, it is estimated that more than 275,000 children were placed in foster care as a result of child abuse investigations or assessments.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Child Abuse - Youngest children are the most vulnerable to the tragic consequences of abuse and neglect.  Children under the age of one accounted for 41% of child fatalities due to neglect, while 85% of fatalities were younger than 6 years of age(NCANDS , 2001).
• Child Abuse - Childhood abuse and neglect increases the odds of arrest as a juvenile by 59%, arrest as an adult by 28% and arrest for a violent crime by 30%. (Update, The Cycle of Violence, National Institute of Justice, 2001) 
• Child Abuse - Sixty-three percent of the young men between the ages of 11 and 20 who are serving time for homicide have killed their mother's abuser. (March of Dimes)
• Spousal Abuse - Women who leave their batterers are at a 75% greater risk of being killed by the batterer than those who stay. (Barbara Hart, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
• Domestic Violence - Nationally, 50 percent of all homeless women and children are on the streets because of violence in the home. (Senator Joseph Biden, U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Violence Against Women: Victims of the System)
• Parental Kidnapping - The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 150,000 kidnappings by a parent of his or her child occur in the United States each year. Many aren't reported, though, and some studies have said the figure may be over 500,000.
• Child Abuse - Nationally, an estimated 903,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in 2001. (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), 2001)
• Child Abuse - Prevent Child Abuse-America, one of the nation's leading child abuse prevention organizations, estimates the total direct and indirect cost of child abuse and neglect is approximately $94,076,882,227 per year.
• Adoption - 140,000,000 Americans (50% of the U.S. population) have an adoption in their immediate family.
• Child Abuse - Women comprised 59.3 percent of all perpetrators, while men comprised 40.7 percent.  Female perpetrators were typically younger than male perpetrators.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Child Abuse - Children under the age of one accounted for 41 percent of child fatalities during 2001.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Foster care - About a fifth of vicitms (19.0%) were removed from their homes as a result of investigations or assessments.  In addition, 4.7 percent of nonvictims were placed in foster care.  Nationally, it is estimated that more than 275,000 children were placed in foster care as a result of of child abuse investigations or assessments.  (NCANDS, 2001)
• Child Abuse - Youngest children are the most vulnerable to the tragic consequences of abuse and neglect.  Children under the age of one accounted for 41% of child fatalities due to neglect, while 85% of fatalities were younger than 6 years of age.(NCANDS , 2001)
• Child Abuse - Because of its anonymity, rapid transmissions and unsupervised nature, the Internet has become the venue of choice for predators who transmit and receive child pornography.  ( Child Abuse Prevention Handbook , Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center)
• Child Abuse - Childhood abuse and neglect increases the odds of arrest as a juvenile by 59%, arrest as an adult by 28% and arrest for a violent crime by 30%. (Update, The Cycle of Violence, National Institute of Justice, 2001) 
• Child Abuse - Because of its anonymity, rapid transmissions and unsupervised nature, the Internet has become the venue of choice for predators who transmit and receive child pornography.  ( Child Abuse Prevention Handbook , Attorney General's Crime and Violence Prevention Center)
• Child Abuse - The 2001 reports showed that the victimization rate is inversely related to the child's age. In other words, the younger and more helpless the child, the higher the rate of abuse. Looking at the types of abuse: 59.2% were neglect, 18.6% physical abuse, 9.6% sexual abuse, 6.8% emotional or psychological abuse, and 19.5 were typed "other." The children were 50% white, 25% African American and 14.5% Hispanic. 48% were male. 
• Child Abuse - Note that victims of sexual abuse were LESS likely than victims of other types of maltreatment to receive services from Child Protective Services, and if a medical professional reported abuse the child was 18% more likely to receive services. If the child was under 4 or was with a single mother it was more likely to receive services. 
• Child Abuse - The majority of perpetrators of child abuse were parents--80.9%. Non-parents accounted for 15.9% of abuse.

When Should You Consult with An Attorney?

You should consider finding an attorney if the damages are severe or you have lost over $2,000 in lost income, treatments for pain and suffering. A victim's right to compensation may expire after a few years depending on your state's laws. Your amount of time to file a case varies from state to state. You should try to contact an attorney as soon as possible after an accident. The lawyers that participate in our FREE Lawyer Referral Service will work on a contingent basis.

This means that there is NO COST to you unless there is a settlement. This allows the car accident victim to get top-quality legal help and it provides an incentive for the attorney to get the best possible settlement. Always consult an attorney before signing an agreement that pertains to your family law case.

YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO MONETARY COMPENSATION

If you are in need of legal advice or services, or simply wish to speak to an attorney who has successfully handled a Family Law case in your state, you may use this Free Online Consultation Form.

There is NO COST or obligation for this service