Depression and high blood pressure are not unusual. A few attorneys have scaled back their businesses and at least one refuses to accept any domestic cases because of frustration of the unwillingness of fellow lawyers to settle cases. I suffer an emotional toll for being a family law attorney, but it is the most rewarding job because I can make sure a kid is living in a good home. I can save a kid's life. The inherent frustration and stress expressed by so many also can be blamed on the laws governing the dissolution of families.
Statutes are weak, creating opportunities for abuse and unfairness.
However, attorneys say joint custody sometimes is awarded over parental objections based on the thought that frequent access to both parents is significantly related to good outcome in the child. But a cumulative body of social service research does not support that thought and children are being thrust into the center of polarized and volatile environments. A formula used to calculate child support payments handicaps single families who struggle daily with poverty. Alimony is left entirely to the discretion of the judge who can bequeath a litigant with custody and cash in one courtroom but deny it in another. The discrepancies in awards have been resolved in part by the use of one unofficial formula used by some judges in the state.