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Personal Injury Law Is More Complex Than You Think

I always assumed that personal injury cases where pretty straight forward. After being in an accident, any financial losses that you suffered would be reimbursed by the liable party's insurance company. Unfortunately, things only work this way in a perfect world. In the real world, personal injury cases are extremely complex and getting the insurance company to pay a fair settlement requires the expertise of an experienced injury lawyer. Unfortunately, it took me several months to finally seek out the legal assistance I needed. As a result, I waited much longer than necessary to get the compensation I so desperately needed. During this time, I learned more about personal injury law than I ever thought I would. It is my hope that this blog will allow me to share that knowledge with you so that you can avoid making some of the same mistakes that I did.

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Personal Injury Law Is More Complex Than You Think

Two Types Of Parents You May Not Know About

by Christine Wagner

In family law, it is not just enough to say that you are the parent of a child; you have to specify which type of parent you are. For example, you probably know of adoptive parents and biological parents, but these two aren't the only forms of recognized parenthood. Here are two

Psychological Parent

A psychological parent is one who has such a strong emotional bond with a child that severing the tie would be detrimental to the child's psychological wellbeing. This is despite the fact that the psychological parent doesn't have a legal obligation to care for, have custody of, or support the child. For this relationship to exist:

  • The psychological parent must have the consent of the legal (biological, adoptive, or custodial) parent
  • It must have been going on for a substantial time (each jurisdiction determines what "substantial" here means)
  • The psychological parent is generally required to be living in the same home as the child

Such a parent can apply to, and be granted, custody of the child if he or she wishes. However, this is only possible if there is no contest from the biological child, or if the biological parent presents a substantial threat to the child, such as sex abuse.

Equitable Parent

This is a spouse of a legal parent who has a close relationship with a child, or whose relationship with a child is encouraged by the child's legal parents. Such a relationship is only legally binding if it is recognized by the court, in which case he or she may gain visitation rights. This gives the equitable parent the same rights as a legal parent, which means he or she may be required to pay child support if the situation demands it.

 The court is likely to recognize the position of the equitable parent if:

  • Both the parent and the child recognize the relationship as a parent-child relationship
  • He or she wishes to be recognized as the child's parent
  • He or she is willing to pay child support

Note that only a few states recognize the position of the equitable parent.

These are some of the parenting options you have if you have a unique relationship with a child and want it to continue. As you can see, your chances of being labeled either a psychological or equitable parent increase if the legal (biological or adoptive) parent is also on board with the idea. For more information about this, talk to a business like Stephen J Weisbrod Esq Law.

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