Is your marriage heading towards a nasty divorce or maybe you need some legal guidance on spousal support? If you’re confused between consulting a divorce or family lawyers Sydney, this article is going to throw some light on the difference between the two.

In India, the matrimonial laws are governed by the personal laws of the parties depending on their religion. The Acts which are followed are:

• Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
• Muslim Marriage is a contract under Muslim law
• Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Divorce Act, 1869
• Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936
• Special Marriage Act, 1954 (this applies to people of all religions and is civil legislation)

In simple words, though the words ‘family lawyer’ or ‘divorce lawyer’ are used interchangeably, divorce law is essentially a subset of family law. The scope of family law is far-reaching and wider than divorce law.

Let’s have a look at the basic differences between the two:

• A divorce lawyer deals mainly with divorce, spousal support in terms of alimony and maintenance, child custody, arbitration between the opposite parties. The context of the subjects a family lawyer deals is wider. Asset and debt division, alimony disputes, domestic violence cases, child visitation rights, juvenile court matters, adoptions and more.

• In India, a family lawyer deals with all cases arising from rules of formation of a family, rights, and obligations arising out of familial relationships – marriage, adoption, guardianship, divorce, maintenance, the partition of a family, succession, inheritance and more. A divorce lawyer looks after the dissolution of a marriage governed by the personal laws of different religions.

• A family lawyer deals with the law relating to children including adoption, guardianship, state child protection, and domestic violence. In contrary, a divorce lawyer can counsel the opposite parties regarding child custody, child visitation rights, child support – the rights of the children in the event of parents getting a divorce.