Jennifer Reba Thomaidis, Attorney at Law

Family Law

Many areas of family law are emotionally challenging, I understand the stress and pain that individuals often endure in family law proceedings. I am dedicated to providing my clients support and guidance throughout their case, while also keeping a careful eye to aggressively pursuing their objectives.

When you hire Thomaidis Law, LLC, I will provide you with a strategy custom-tailored to your specific family law needs. I will listen to your concerns and work determinedly on your behalf. The family law matters I work on include:

1. Divorce:
There are many issues related to a divorce proceeding, including spousal maintenance, child support, property and debt division, and child custody. The law of Thomaidis Law, LLC will assist you in every aspect of your divorce proceeding.

Divorce may be the most traumatic event an individual will go through in their lives. The process often has a profound emotional effect on the parties involved, and this effect is often amplified when there are children involved. It is my objective to make the divorce process as painless as possible on the parties and on their children. I handle all types of divorces, from simple uncontested marital dissolutions to divorces involving extensive and complex litigation.

In the State of Colorado, at least one of the individuals seeking a divorce must have resided in the state for at least ninety days before the court will hear their petition for divorce. If the other spouse does not reside in Colorado, the divorce is still valid in all fifty states. It is important to note that child custody and support orders, property settlements, and alimony may not be enforced in other states unless the nonresident spouse consented to the jurisdiction of the Colorado court over their divorce.

Colorado recognizes “no-fault” divorce, which means that neither party has to be at fault for the dissolution of the marriage to occur. They must only state a reason recognized by the court for the marriage to end, usually something as simple as irreconcilable differences, incompatibility, or Colorado’s terminology an “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage”. I will advise you on the specifics of the process and the proper language to be used when you file for divorce.

I can also assist my clients in connection with the determination of the existence of common law marriages, and the dissolution of these marriages, if necessary. While a common law marriage can be established without a formal ceremony, it is important to note that a formal dissolution proceeding is required to end such a marriage.

2. Legal Separation:
In legal separation situations, there are also many issues to be dealt with including spousal maintenance, child support, property and debt division, and child custody. In some cases, a legal separation may provide options with respect to continued health insurance coverage not available after divorce. The law firm of Thomaidis Law, LLC can assist in all aspects of a legal separation case, including converting a legal separation to a divorce.

A decree in a legal separation will determine custody of children, support for the children and/or spouse, and virtually every other issue that may arise in a divorce action. A legal separation will not end your marriage. A legal separation recognizes the possibility that the couple may reunite and, therefore, individuals who are legally separated may not remarry until they are formally divorced. The terms of the separation agreement can be modified in the event of an actual divorce if necessary.

Thomaidis Law, LLC understands that many people have moral objections to divorce and that there are often married couples who find that they need a break from each other that is not necessarily permanent for a variety of reasons. In these situations, legal separation may be the solution to your problems. A legal separation may have advantages aside from simply living separately for a period of time, because it permits the parties to structure support, child custody and property issues. It also allows one of the parties to obtain a court order if the other is not complying with support or custody arrangements.

3. Marital Debt Allocation:
Thomaidis Law, LLC is equipped to deal with the challenges associated with marital debt allocation. These issues arise in the event of either a divorce or a legal separation action. In such a case, the married parties’ debt will be divided between the parties

4. Spousal Maintenance (Alimony):
Often in the case of divorce or legal separation a spouse will receive an award of spousal maintenance. This type of maintenance or spousal support was traditionally referred to as “alimony.” Awards of spousal maintenance may be made in divorce or legal separation proceedings, and may be the subject of later modification or enforcement proceedings.

5. Annulment:
In the case of some marriages, there may be a situation where there is a recognized legal impediment to the creation of a valid marriage. In such a case, the relationship may be terminated via a declaration of invalidity, more commonly referred to as an annulment. Depending on the type of case involved, financial and child related issues may also be a factor.

Annulment is a court procedure that dissolves a marriage, in much the same way as a divorce. However, in an annulment, the event treats the marriage as though it never occurred. Often people feel that a divorce carries a stigma, and they would rather their marriage be annulled. Others prefer having a marriage annulled because it may make it easier to remarry within their church. Annulments generally occur when the marriage has lasted only for a short period of time, and there are no children or significant shared assets.

6. Child Support, Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (Custody) and Relocation:
The evaluation and allocation of parental responsibilities has traditionally been referred to as issues related to “custody.” These include the determination of who makes major decisions relating to the parties’ minor children and the allocation of time that minor children will spend with each parent. The court may elect to make these determinations in situations involving a divorce, legal separation, paternity or third party custody proceeding.

Thomaidis Law, LLC can assist with a broad variety of child support issues including child support determinations in divorce or paternity cases, modification of previous child support orders, collection of past due support, defense of county Child Support Enforcement actions, and other arrearage issues.

In Colorado, when a court decides which parent will get primary custody of a child in a divorce proceeding, they look at many factors to determine the best interests of the child. These factors include evaluation of the financial and mental stability and the health and habits of the parents, as well as the preferences of the child and the stability of the home environment.

In many cases, one parent is awarded custody of a child with an order from the court to allow for "reasonable" visitation by the other parent. In many cases, divorced couples manage this stipulation well and allow the child to have enough time with each parent. Unfortunately, in some cases these visitation rights are not respected. Often courts require a detailed plan, which outlines the time the child will spend with each parent.

It is important that custody and visitation cases are not treated as a “boilerplate” matter by an attorney. I am committed to creating a unique legal plan specifically tailored to the unique needs of the family and of the child. Most cases require a detailed evaluation of parents and children before any decisions can be made. Thomaidis Law, LLC can offer counsel in these situations, as well as in situations where a child needs a legal representative or special advocate in legal procedures.

Many times in a divorce, the custodial parent wishes to relocate outside of the State of Colorado, taking their child or children with them. Before this is permitted to occur, the court requires an analysis of the situation and frequently court approval is required. Thomaidis Law, LLC can assist in requesting relocation and also assist in representing the non-custodial parent in opposing such a move.

7. Paternity:
There are a broad variety of paternity cases, which can range from the determination of child support and parenting time to DNA testing to prove paternity. Thomaidis Law, LCC can help with this as well.

Individuals seek to establish the identity of the biological father of their children through court proceedings for many reasons. The father is usually obligated to provide some sort of child support to the mother or custodial parent. Determining paternity can also fix the right of the child to inherit. Once the biological father has been established, that individual usually has some rights to visitation of the child.

8. Grandparent and Third Party Visitation:
Thomaidis Law, LLC is able to represent grandparents and other third parties in custody and visitation matters. I am also able to represent parents in proceedings where a grandparent or third party seeks such rights.

9. Cohabitation Agreements:
There are cases where domestic partners or couples who live together without being married may want to formalize an agreement to insure that there are no ambiguities that may give rise to disputes about their financial obligations to each other, the treatment of jointly acquired assets and similar issues at a later time. These agreements are also critical when there are same sex unions or civil unions involved. I can prepare these agreements for people who desire to provide predictability for themselves, their partners and their financial futures.

10. Prenuptial Agreements:
Thomaidis Law, LLC is qualified to both prepare and review prenuptial agreements. This process is particularly important in situations where one or both partners have substantial assets, wish to allocate assets for prior children, or anticipate a sizable inheritance at some point in the future. These agreements may also overlap into critical estate planning decisions, to aid in providing continuity in the event of the death of either spouse.

A prenuptial agreement, which is also referred to as a premarital or ante-nuptial agreement, is a contract a couple enters into before they marry. The contract usually describes what each party's rights will be in the event that they divorce or if one spouse predeceases the other. Prenuptial agreements usually describe the property and support, if any, to which each party will be entitled.

11. Marital Agreements:
Often parties want to formalize agreements regarding assets and liabilities during an existing, on-going marriage. This often occurs even if there are no marital problems and if no prenuptial agreement was prepared prior to the marriage. Thomaidis Law, LLC can prepare new agreements or review existing agreements for individuals who would like to provide additional financial predictability for themselves and their spouses.

12. Legal Name Changes:
In the case of some parties, they may elect to seek a name change in an effort to begin a new chapter in their lives. Often this occurs incident to a divorce, but may occur at any time in a separate proceeding. In some cases parents may seek to change a child’s name. The law firm of Thomaidis Law, LLC can assist our clients in navigating all aspects of these proceedings.

13. Post-Decree Modification Proceedings:
Many of the court orders occurring as part of a divorce, legal separation or paternity proceeding may be subject to later modifications.
Thomaidis Law, LLC can assist clients in proceedings for modification of spousal maintenance, child support, custody, visitation, parenting time and parental responsibilities. If you are seeking legal representation for matters concerning family law in Denver and the surrounding areas and seek and an attorney who will work with you to set and achieve the goals that are truly important to achieve the highest quality solutions, please contact me to schedule a confidential consultation. I look forward to helping you.

14. Mediation:
Often courts will rule that parties attempt mediation in their family law matters. Jennifer Reba Thomaidis has been trained over forty hours in mediation skills and has experience doing mediations either solely as a mediator or as an attorney representing a client in the mediation process. If you are seeking legal representation for matters concerning family law in Denver and the surrounding areas and seek and an attorney who will work with you to set and achieve the goals that are truly important to achieve the highest quality solutions, please contact me to schedule a confidential consultation. I look forward to helping you.

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advice regarding your own situation.

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