Curran & Sisk

When Experience Matters Most…

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:20:32 +0000

Jim Curran has been practicing law since 1993. He focuses his practice on real estate (residential and commercial), family law, business transactions, and estate planning and administration. Jim is a real estate title agent and handles the buying, selling and refinancing of properties as a regular part of his practice.

Mark Sisk has been practicing law since 1979. His practice focuses on criminal representation, with a subspecialty representing students, family law, real estate (including land use, zoning and planning), civil litigation, and wills and estates.

Voted #2 Law firm by Newark Post “Best of Newark” 2011

Protection from Abuse

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:01:48 +0000

The law on Protection from Abuse allows the judge or commissioner a great deal of discretion to grant or deny a petition. Under some circumstances, an emergency petition is granted and a hearing is scheduled quickly. Frequently, there are also criminal charges filed when a PFA is requested. At Curran & Sisk, we can help you with this complicated area of the law.

Child Support

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:00:17 +0000

At Curran & Sisk, we strive to ensure that your Child Support order is fair. It is important to have experienced representation as your child support order will remain in effect for 2 ½ years before it can be changed. If you have an existing Child Support order, and your financial circumstances have changed, we can help you to modify your existing order to reflect your new situation.

In Delaware, child support is calculated based on a formula that includes many factors, some of which are:

Income of each parent,
Deductions for health insurance premiums,
Contributions to retirement plans,
Other child support, and
The number of overnight visits by the children.

We will help you to achieve a child support solution that reflects the current law.

Guardianship

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:58:11 +0000

We can assist you with filing a petition for guardianship for minor children, or opposing a petition filed against you. A guardian may be appointed for numerous reasons, typically associated with the mother and father being unable or unwilling to care for the children. Sometimes their inability will be temporary and sometimes permanent. If the Delaware Department of Family Services believes the parents cannot care for their child, DFS will petition the court to appoint a guardian and the parent has the right to oppose the state at a hearing.

We can advise you of your rights and represent you at the hearing.

Custody

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:51:03 +0000

One of the most difficult decisions in the divorce process is child custody. You need an experienced attorney to properly represent your parental rights while taking into account the best interest of your children. The court may award Sole Custody, where the parent with sole custody makes all of the decisions for the child, or Joint Custody, where major decisions regarding the welfare of the children are agreed to jointly by both parents. One parent will have primary residence with visitation by the other parent. This visitation can vary from every other weekend to every other week.

We will help you to work out a solution where your parental rights will be respected.

Divorce

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:50:29 +0000

It is important to note that divorce in Delaware is “no fault.” That means that a married person is not required to provide a reason to file for divorce. The courts in Delaware will grant a divorce after the previously married couple has been separated for 9 months. It is equally important to note that a married couple can be “separated” while still living in the same home.

At Curran & Sisk, we work through the divorce process with our clients. We strive to keep the stress related to filings and procedures to a minimum.

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We have obtained hundreds of expungements for students and others throughout our careers. We will take care of all of the paper work and processing required to obtain your expungement as quickly as possible.

To be eligible for an expungement , you must have no record of conviction. If you plead guilty or were found guilty of a charge, it cannot be expunged. Probation Before Judgment (PBJ) is not a conviction (unless you violated it). We can also assist you in getting a conviction pardoned, if that is your situation.

However, if you were convicted of underage entry into a liquor store or tavern, OR underage possession or consumption of alcohol, the law now provides that you may have that record expunged when you reach the age of 21 AND if you have no other record.

To determine if you are eligible for an expungement, you will need a certified copy of your criminal record. We will guide you through the process of obtaining this certified copy. This copy will provide information as to whether you are eligible for a mandatory or a discretionary expungement.

If your expungement is classified as mandatory, we will file your request and it should be final in a few weeks or even a few days.

If your expungement is classified as discretionary, we will prepare and present your petition to the Court. This process is more lengthy and can take several months for a ruling.

Disputes

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In the event that one business owner reaches an impasse with the other owner (s) of the business, we can represent that individual with regard to resolving the impasse, exiting the business, or encouraging one or more of the other business owners to exit the business. We can also represent one business that is in a dispute with another business.

Buying or Selling a Company

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:12:20 +0000

We can help an individual or group of individuals buy or sell a company. We have extensive experience in preparing Stock Purchase Agreements for the purchase of ownership in the business or Asset Purchase Agreements for the purchase of, typically, substantially all of the assets in a business. We can work with you to understand the liability and tax consequences of each of these two approaches to acquiring a business. We can also prepare all of the ancillary documents that accompany the purchase of stock or assets, which typically govern the business relationship with employees, suppliers, customers, as well as any other important relationships to which the business entity is a party.

Relationship Among Owners of the Business

admin — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 02:11:44 +0000

It is important that a business entity with two or more owners have a written understanding of the relationship between and among the owners. This will prevent, among many other serious problems, a deadlock in the event that the owners of the business cannot agree with regard to a critically important business decision. In this capacity, we will draft a Shareholders’ Agreement (for corporations), a Partnership Agreement (for Partnerships), or an Operating Agreement (for LLCs) to ensure that the business owners have properly documented the relationship among themselves that they desire.