Want to Hear a Lawyer Joke?
What do Boise Divorce Attorneys, Boise Bankruptcy Lawyers and Boise Criminal Lawyers all have in common? Well, sounds like a joke doesn't it?
Contrary to what you might think, divorce lawyers, bankruptcy attorneys and criminal attorneys actually offer overlapping legal representation. Who would ever think that divorce, bankruptcy and criminal law were related? Welcome to the wonderful world of the law. Let me give you a few examples of where each area of law overlaps with the other.
Divorce and Criminal Law
Let's start with divorce. Elements of a divorce can enter the criminal world in a couple of ways. When there is domestic violence, crime enters family law. The unique thing about domestic violence is it can be handled in the divorce court, rather than the criminal court. This doesn't mean that it necessarily stays there, because it can move to criminal court if there is a violation or if violence is perpetrated upon an individual, but the initial charge starts there and stays there unless further violence occurs.
Another issue where divorce and criminal law are brought together are destruction of community property. In Idaho it is a crime to destroy property of the community. It falls under the crime of malicious injury to property. This crime doesn't necessarily always occur during a divorce and if you intentionally damage your property you can be charged with a crime whether you are in the middle of a divorce or not. A related crime is the failure to preserve community funds. If you are getting a divorce and you run out and spend a ton of money on something wholly unnecessary or gamble away your savings, you have just squandered community funds and can be charged with a crime for it.
Another area that divorce and criminal law come into contact is in child support and paternity. If a mother, knowingly pretends that a man is the father of her child and collects child support for that child from that man, she can be charged and required to pay back the support taken from the man.
Divorce and Bankruptcy
The relationship between bankruptcy and divorce is a slightly different relationship than connection between divorce and criminal law. Bankruptcy plays apart in divorce in two situations. The first situation is when you file for bankruptcy and then you file for divorce. Part of Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a means tests. Income is based upon the family income. If your income goes down you may qualify for a Chapter 7 when before you did not. The community property also becomes an issue when the property has been divided pursuant to a divorce decree. When one party files bankruptcy and there is a piece of property with an outstanding balance on it, if it was acquired by the community, it is possible that the creditor can come after the other party for the outstanding balance.
Bankruptcy and Criminal Law
The relationship between criminal law and bankruptcy is one of fraud. Fraud can rear it's ugly head anywhere and this is not exception. If you fraudulently file for bankruptcy or provide false information on your bankruptcy petition or any of the schedules, you can be charged with a crime.
If you need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney, a Boise Criminal Lawyer or a Boise Bankruptcy Lawyer, give us a call and see what we can do for you. Call today, (208) 472-2383. You will be glad you did.