# Family Law Practice Management Software

Family law case management with a matter template and custom fields built for divorce, custody, and support — plus intake, retainer tracking, deadlines, and billing in one platform. Maintained by The Hammer Lex.

URL: https://hammerlex.com/practice-areas/family-law.html

## TL;DR
- Selecting the **Family Law vertical** seeds a family law matter template and case custom fields relevant to this practice.
- Fields cover the details these matters turn on: **case type, filing county, children involved, opposing party, and opposing counsel** — all editable.
- **Retainers replenish themselves**: HammerLex bills against the retainer and drafts a top-up request for approval when the balance drops below your threshold.
- **Deadlines are calculated** from a single trigger date, court-day and holiday aware.
- Switching to Family Law later is **idempotent** — only missing starter content is added.

## Starter content included
| Item | What you get |
|---|---|
| Matter template | Dissolution / custody / support / modification structure, ready to open |
| Case custom fields | Case type, filing county, children involved, custody arrangement, opposing party, opposing counsel |
| Platform features | Intake & conflicts, retainer tracking, deadline engine, merge-field drafting, client portal, billing |

## A matter template built for family cases
Selecting the Family Law vertical seeds a ready-made matter template so your team stops rebuilding the same setup for every case. It captures case type and posture, filing county and jurisdiction, and the opposing party and counsel — which also feed the conflict-check engine at intake.

## Custom fields tailored to family law
Family matters hinge on details generic software doesn't ask for. The vertical adds case custom fields for whether minor children are involved and the custody arrangement, plus support and retainer context beside the case. Every field is yours to rename, extend, or remove.

## Retainers that replenish themselves
HammerLex captures the retainer on the matter ledger, bills time and costs against it as work is logged, and drafts a replenishment request for approval when the balance drops below your floor. The billing engine resolves the right rate by precedence (timekeeper → matter → client → firm), and a rule-based audit sweep catches block-billing and cap breaches before an invoice leaves the firm.

## Deadlines and documents
Enter one trigger date and the rules engine populates downstream statutory deadlines for the jurisdiction, counting court days and rolling off weekends and holidays. Tokenized templates inject the client name, matter number, and county into retainers and pleadings, and the matter-scoped client portal shares invoices, receipts, documents, and messages with audit tracking.

## Why it matters
Generic practice management treats a divorce matter and a corporate deal the same way — an empty record you configure by hand. HammerLex ships the family law setup as a starting point, so a new hire opens their first custody matter into a workspace that already speaks family law. Because the setup is idempotent, adopting the vertical later fills in only what's missing.

## FAQ
**Does HammerLex handle custody and family law matters?** Yes. The Family Law vertical seeds a matter template and case custom fields for case type, filing county, children involved, opposing party, and opposing counsel. Rename them or add your own any time.

**Can I track retainers for family law clients?** Yes. HammerLex bills against the retainer on the matter ledger and drafts a replenishment request for approval when the balance drops below a threshold you set.

**Does it calculate family law deadlines?** Yes — a rules-based engine generates statutory deadlines from a single trigger date, counting court days and rolling off weekends and holidays.

**Can I switch to Family Law after setup?** Yes. Changing your vertical is idempotent — HammerLex adds only the starter content you're missing.

Related: [all practice areas](https://hammerlex.com/practice-areas/index.md) · [estate planning](https://hammerlex.com/practice-areas/estate-planning.md) · [corporate & M&A](https://hammerlex.com/practice-areas/corporate-ma.md) · [book a demo](https://hammerlex.com/contact) · [matter profitability calculator](https://hammerlex.com/tools/matter-profitability-calculator.md)