We recently posted a blog on the new expungement law and a few things you needed to know about it going forward. You’re probably wondering why, as a Family Law Boutique Firm, we’d care about helping you with expunging your record. Well, we’d like to remind everyone that we are a Family Law Boutique firm, meaning that we handle anything your family may need. Whether you’re going through a rocky divorce, criminal misstep along the way, or even planning for your future with some simple estate planning, we’re on your side. If you need someone to represent you for a quick municipal court matter or to battle it out for you in a custody issue, we’re here for you. That being said, we know that there are many ways our family law clients could benefit from this new expungement law. Here are a few:
- You want custody. Whether you want joint or primary custody of your child, if the opposing counsel finds that you committed a crime they will use it against you in a court of law. It may seem petty to bring up a charge for an illegal substance from years ago or for a brief past of a few illegal acts during a rebellious period, but lawyers do it. You see, we don’t know you. We don’t try to get to know you to see if you’ve changed. We are here to represent our clients. If our client believes you still go out stealing laffy taffy for fun, and we find a history of it, then we’ll need to use it in court against you. If you want custody, and you have a history, you’ll want to erase it.
- Your ex is trying to use your past against you in a divorce. Say you met someone during a rough patch in your life. You used to drink watermelon vodka by the liter, and then spend your evenings throwing it up by your buddy’s mailbox. You had a few public intox charges referencing your love for watermelon wooziness. You even ended up with a DUI. Since that short period of bad choices, you’ve cleaned yourself up, and stopped drinking altogether. You don’t drink, and the only problem in your marriage is that you’ve lost that loving feeling. However, she thinks since you don’t want her, you are with someone else. She’s mad. She’s so mad that she’s begun calling you a drunk in her divorce papers. She wants you put into a rehab facility for alcohol abuse. She is so angry, she even falsifies some documents alleging abuse. The last thing you want right now is a past that corroborates her allegations. If you get that expunged, she’s lost her ammunition. She may try to make it up, but that’s perjury.
- You want to apply for a job. Nearly every job requires some sort of background check these days. Some of the ones that don’t even pay very well require a background check. Do you want to live in fear every time you apply for a job that someone will find out about your college streaking phase or your brief acquaintance with heroin? Wouldn’t it be better to have peace of mind knowing that you took the easy steps required to get your bad past erased? Would it be nice if you could afford to pay your child support instead of having to ask your mom for money every time you turn around? Your best bet would be to clear out that record and make a way to provide yourself with a golden road to your future.