Firm Profile
Cortez Family Law consists of Michelle Cortez, William Hoskovec, an associate attorney with the firm, and legal assistants Wendie ReQua, Sarah Loeppke and Johanna Loeppke.
Michelle Cortez has practiced in the area of family law since the inception of her firm in 1996. She has handled literally thousands of cases, obtaining custody for hundreds of mothers and fathers, obtaining or terminating alimony for both male and female clients, writing briefs to the New Mexico Court of Appeals, and all-around defending the rights of citizens across the country.
William Hoskovec, as a father of four children, takes special pride in representing the rights of fathers. In addition to family and divorce law, Mr. Hoskovec prepares deeds and trusts and represents those involved in all types of accidents.
Cortez Family Law includes all areas of Family Law and Divorce law including:
Parentage cases. A parentage case is one initiated when the parties were never married to each other, yet have children together. In a parentage case, the court will decide custody, visitation or time-sharing, child support and parentage (is he the baby’s Daddy?).
Child support. Child support is calculated according to guidelines established by the legislature. You can log onto www.nmcourts.com to actually calculate your own child support if you know each party’s income figures. Child support is calculated in all divorce and custody cases.
Custody. There are two types of custody in New Mexico, joint custody and sole custody. Joint custody means that the parents will jointly make any major change to the child’s life. For instance, parents with joint custody must agree whether the child can change from his current school to private school. It also means the parents must agree if one parent wishes to relocate to a new state with that child. Sole custody means that one parent can make those changes without the approval of the other parent. While sole custody may seem favorable to joint custody, it is the presumption in New Mexico that joint custody is in the child’s best interests and a parent will only be awarded sole custody if the other parent is proven unfit.
Spousal support/Alimony. Spousal support, also known as alimony, is awarded in very few cases. It is awarded in cases where the parties have been married for more than 20 years and the incomes are substantially unequal. It is also awarded in cases where the incomes are unequal and one party has plans to obtain an education for the purpose of obtaining a better income. This is called transitional or rehabilitative alimony. Sometimes alimony will be awarded on a monthly basis for a pre-determined period of time. In other cases, it may be awarded as a lump sum in the form of cash or property.
Collaborative Law/Mediation/Uncontested divorces.
Collaborative Law or Collaborative Divorce is a conflict resolution process whereby the parties agree to avoid conflict and litigation in the divorce or custody process. Cortez Family Law shares the belief that Collaborative Law is in the best interests of parties and their families. Collaborative Law involves the commitment of all parties to give open and honest disclosure and maintains a high standard of dignity. Retainers start at $3,000.00.
Mediation. In mediation, the parties can sit with the attorney and resolve the case through one attorney in one to two meetings. Most parties report this to be a highly positive experience. Because only attorney is used, the costs are minimal and generally the parties completely avoid the litigation process. The entire divorce is resolved in a very short period of time. Retainers start at $1,500.00.
Uncontested divorce. This process is similar to to mediation, however, the parties have generally worked out the divorce stipulations between themselves and simply do not know what to do from there. Cortez Family Law can draft all your documents as well as review them to ensure your interests are fully protected. Uncontested divorces start at $800.00.
Adoption. Cortez Family Law represents a variety of families who wish to adopt include same sex couples, surrogacy situations step-parent adoptions and stranger adoptions. Prior to belief, New Mexico is very friendly to same sex adoptions and guardianships and surrogacys.
Kinship Guardianship. Kinship guardianship cases are when rights are obtained for an individual other than a parent, generally a grandparent. Most of cases involve a grandparent who has cared for the child for a long period and the biological parent now wants the child back. A kinship guardians rights are well protected by New Mexico law. if the child has resided with that guardian for at least 90 days it can be difficult for a parent to re-obtain custody. However, a case must be filed in order for protections to attach.
Since 1996, our firm has provided divorce and custody advice, mediation, collaboration, and legal representation for hundreds of families. We offer potential clients the service of large firms without the exorbitant costs charged by the large family law firms. More importantly, our firm offers personalized service for all types of individuals, in all types of income brackets, with all types of cases, whether for a one-time hearing or prolonged litigation.