Family Law

At Carla Rogers Nadzam, P.A., we know your family is the most important thing in your life. Divorce is a difficult, emotional time in anyone's life. This is particularly true when you have minor children. In any divorce involving minor children, custody and visitation are the most important and contentious issues at stake. Typically, both parties want to spend as much time as possible with his/her children. We are committed to working with our clients to maximize the amount of time you have with your children. Furthermore, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality legal representation to protect our clients financially whether it is through child support, spousal support, or division of marital property.

Family Law Issues

Paternity

It is becoming more common for children to be born outside of a marriage relationship. Many people assume a man who is listed as the father of a child on the child's birth certificate has all the parental rights and responsibilities he would have if he were married. That is simply not true, and has created some very difficult and divisive problems. At Carla Rogers Nadzam, P.A., we are experienced in establishing paternity for children born outside of marriage and obtaining child support for the minor child. Once paternity has been established, a father is entitled to visitation except in the most extreme situations. We have even been successful in obtaining custody of a very young child for a father when that was in the child's best interest.

Guardianship

Most of us know children should be raised by their parents. Unfortunately, that is not possible when parents are involved in illegal drugs, abusing alcohol, have mental health problems, and engaged in criminal activity or in jail/prison. There are also situations in which children have had the very best parents imaginable who have been killed in an accident or have died of an illness. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends of the family, have all sought help at Carla Rogers Nadzam, P.A., to obtain a guardianship for children who depend on these loving and caring individuals to raise them. We are committed to helping families in difficult situations do the very best they can to protect and raise the children who need them.

Wills

People frequently ask me whether they need a will. The answer is simple. You need a will as soon as you begin to acquire any real assets, or get married, and certainly when your first child is born. If you die without a will the laws of the state you live in determine who receives your property and more importantly who is appointed as a guardian for your minor children. If you have a will, you determine what will happen to your property and, more importantly, who will raise your minor children. No one knows the needs of your family better than you do. Please call today and schedule an appointment to have your will drafted.

Probate

Probate is the process where the court oversees the distribution of the deceased person's property, such as land, homes, cars, bank accounts, and other personal property, pursuant to the terms of the deceased person's will. In the event someone dies without a will, the court oversees the distribution of the deceased person's assets, such as land, homes, cars, bank accounts, and other personal property, pursuant to the laws of the state in which he/she resided. There is absolutely no reason to fear "probate." It is the means by which ownership of property, both real and personal, is transferred from the deceased individual to his/her beneficiary/beneficiaries. At Carla Rogers Nadzam, P.A., we are sensitive to the fact that this is a process which is unknown to you and can be confusing and overwhelming. We are experienced and can guide you through the entire probate process.

Appeals

One of the unfortunate truths about trials is that there is a "winner" and a "loser." If you lose at trial, you and your trial attorney need to discuss whether you should file an appeal. Unfortunately, an appeal is not an opportunity to present additional evidence or to have an appellate court decide the same case all over again. It is about whether the trial judge made any mistakes that should be reversed. Good trial attorneys do not automatically make good appellate attorneys. We have experience handling appeals at Carla Rogers Nadzam, P.A. Mrs. Nadzam clerked for two years with Justice Darrell Hickman, the Senior Judge at the Arkansas Supreme Court.