There are three primary continuing impacts of COVID-19 on Family Law in Louisville: child custody and parenting time, the decision to divorce as well as issues of support.
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of COVID-19 has been the impact on existing child custody and parenting time agreements and orders. The demands of closed schools, remote learning or partial schedules wreak havoc upon working co-parents. Which parent will stay home with the child(ren) on which day/week? Child care has been dramatically affected by the pandemic and creative solutions have been required to simply manage the child(ren) while meeting the demands of work. This is only exacerbated when there are genuine communication issues and differences of perspective between the co-parents.
Another of the impacts of COVID-19 on Family Law in Louisville is whether or not to divorce. Isolation has taken a toll on many marriages here in Louisville. While there is genuine hope on the horizon as vaccination programs take hold, it will still be several months before things return to a more normal rhythm. While it is quite normal for former spouses to continue to live in the same residence during a divorce to save money, pre-pandemic life allowed more opportunity for time apart and opportunities to get out and blow off some steam. The continuing pandemic bubble surrounding would-be former spouses and their children and the financial impact of COVID-19 have pushed off the decision to divorce in many cases.
One of the most challenging impacts of COVID-19 on Family Law in Louisville is the impact of the pandemic on the economy and local businesses. Millions are furloughed or have lost their jobs. In other cases, sales are dramatically reduced affecting the incomes of business owners and their employees alike. This has had a substantial impact on the ability to make child support and maintenance payments for some. The financial hardship affects both the payor and the recipient of support.
What should you do? How do you know what is the best course of action based upon your unique family law challenges? This is why it is important to seek the experienced, proven advice and counsel of the divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
