There are a lot of different areas of the law, and some areas have different courts, structures and legal concepts that litigants must follow. Let’s take family law, for instance. The family law court has its own judges who specialize in making family law decisions according to Pennsylvania family law.

Family law cases tend to involve the complicated relationships among spouses, lovers, children, siblings and people who live in the same residence together. Ultimately, it’s the family court’s job to sort these relationships out, put limits on them, prevent family members from hurting one another and help couples divorce.

Common matters decided by family law courts in Pennsylvania

Here are a few common matters that family law courts in Pennsylvania tend to decide:

Marital property concerns: The messy process of dividing assets during a divorce is not always easy. However, there are laws and guidelines that help couples, their lawyers and the courts sort through even the most tangled financial disputes.

Emancipation: Sometimes, a minor child wants to be self-supportive. In these instances, the child can emancipate him- or herself from the parents given the right circumstances.

Alimony: When two spouses have different economic situations and they divorce, the “moneyed” spouse may need to pay permanent or temporary spousal support to the less economically privileged spouse. Deciding whether alimony is necessary — and how much and for how long — is up to the family law court.

Paternity: The eternal question of “Who’s the father?” is one that’s left to our nation’s family law courts to decide.

Prenuptial agreements: The smartest spouses enter into prenuptial agreements before they say “I do.” Although not every marriage will end in divorce, those that have prenuptial agreements will navigate their divorces a lot easier. A family law court will ultimately decide if a prenup is valid or not.

Are you facing a family law issue?

Of course, there are numerous other matters that family law courts cover. Anything that has to do with divorces, child custody, adoption, domestic violence and other matters may fall under the jurisdiction of your local family law court. If you have an issue that needs to be addressed by a family law court, be sure to learn about the law that applies to your specific circumstance before you move forward with your legal action.