Family Court Litigation & Trial
When your family’s future is in dispute and the other side won’t be reasonable, you need a lawyer who can resolve the case if it can be settled and take it to trial if settlement is impossible. Most family court cases never reach a trial. The ones that are decided by a Family Court judge demand real preparation.
Prepared to try, but built to settle
The best settlements don’t come from being eager to settle. They come from being genuinely ready to try the case. When the other side and their lawyer know we’ve done the work — the discovery, the financial analysis, the witness preparation — the calculus on the other side of the table changes. Reasonable offers tend to appear when the alternative is a well-prepared opponent in a courtroom.
We prepare every contested case as if it’s going to trial, even though most won’t. That isn’t posturing. It’s what gives you leverage to reach a fair agreement, and it’s what protects you if the case does go the distance. We’ll always tell you candidly whether settling or trying your case serves you better and explain why.
When a case has to be tried
Some cases can’t settle, and shouldn’t.
There are three good reasons for a case to go to trial: a legitimate dispute over facts, legitimate disputes over application of the law to the facts of the case, or when one or both parties has taken an unreasonable position regarding settlement.
If your case is one of those, you want someone who actually tries cases, not a lawyer who settles everything because trial makes them uncomfortable. Megan Hunt Dell has tried contested family law cases across more than fifteen years of practice. When your case needs to be tried, it will be tried by someone who has been there.
What we litigate
Contested family law covers a lot of ground, and we handle the full range of it:
- Divorce and equitable distribution — dividing marital property and debt, including businesses, retirement accounts, real estate, and harder-to-trace assets.
- Custody and visitation — contested custody matters and disputes over parenting time, including high-conflict situations and cases involving a parent’s gatekeeping of the children.
- Alimony and child support — contested spousal support and child support, including cases that turn on income that isn’t straightforward to pin down.
- Third-party custody and contempt — custody and support sought by grandparents or other third parties, and actions to enforce an existing order when the other side won’t follow it.
What a family court trial actually involves
A family court trial is not what television shows you. There is no jury. Instead, a Family Court judge hears the evidence and decides the outcome. That one fact shapes everything about how a case is tried, because persuading a single experienced judge is a different craft than persuading twelve strangers.
Before a trial ever happens, a contested case moves through stages: gathering and exchanging information through discovery, sometimes a temporary hearing early on to set interim arrangements, and always mediation, where many cases resolve. If yours doesn’t resolve, trial is where the evidence is presented and the judge rules.
We’ll prepare you for your part in all of it by letting you know what to expect, what the judge will want to understand, how to testify truthfully and well, and how the pieces fit together. You won’t walk into a courtroom guessing at what comes next.
We’ll be straight with you, and you won’t be alone
A contested case is stressful, and a trial more so. Part of our job is to carry the weight that can be carried — the strategy, the deadlines, the paperwork, the preparation — so that what’s left on you is manageable. You’ll know what’s happening in your case and why, and you’ll have someone steady in your corner.
Being in your corner also means telling you the truth. Litigation costs money and takes time, and no lawyer can promise an outcome. We’ll give you a clear-eyed read on your case — its strengths, its risks, and whether fighting it out is worth what it will take. You make the decisions. We make sure they’re informed ones.
Talk to us about your case
If you’re facing a contested divorce, a custody dispute, or any family court matter that may not settle easily, the sooner we understand your situation, the better we can protect your position. Schedule a consultation, and we’ll help you figure out the right path.