I had a question recently emailed to me that would be a good blog post, and it dealt with a man who wanted to know if his ex spouse could get any of his pension and 401k, when they had been divorced 9 years. Without all the facts, it is not a straightforward answer, but if the pension and 401k were acquired during marriage and before separation, then yes an ex spouse may have a claim. It depends on what the Judgment from 9 years ago says. If the Judgment either awards the retirement to him, or divides it between the parties, then whatever the Judgment says is binding on both parties. If, howev ..read more

Approximately 70% of divorce cases in California have at least one party who is self-represented, meaning they do not have an attorney. When you appear in a case without an attorney, you will be considered “pro per” which means you are representing yourself and you are your own attorney. Why are so many people in California self-represented in a divorce case? Money and being able to pay for an attorney is a big factor. Divorcing spouses will often also have one spouse hire an attorney who will handle all the paperwork for an uncontested, agreed upon divorce matter ..read more

An article on the Los Angeles Times website today mentions that basketball star Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa Bryant may be putting their divorce proceeding on hold to attempt to work out their marital issues and reconcile. The timing for this discussion is based on the fact that California requires anyone filing for divorce to wait at least six months before the marriage can be dissolved, and the Bryants are at the six month date of the divorce filing.  There is a slight error in the article by the LA Times, in that the six month period is not from the date of filing, b ..read more

For various reasons, there may come a time when a parent’s rights are terminated under California law. What this means is that the parent is no longer considered the minor child’s legal parent, and all rights and obligations of being a parent end. The issue of terminating parental rights most frequently comes up as part of the adoption process. For example, in a stepparent adoption where the stepfather is adopting the child, the biological father can either consent to the adoption and voluntarily waive his parental rights, or the Court can determine that the biological father is unfi ..read more

When one parent wants to move out of the area with the minor child in a custody case, they will usually need either the consent of the other parent, or they will need a court order granting the move away request. This issue comes up often when one parent wants to move out-of-state for a new job or because they are getting remarried. Issues that come up in a move away request are how the move would affect the minor child or children involved, how visitation and/or custody would be affected by the move, the reason for the move, and like all child custody matters, whether it is in the best intere ..read more

A question that often arises in child support cases in California is whether or not a parent can claim a child from a different relationship as a hardship on their income when figuring in the guideline amount of support. The short answers is yes, you can claim a minor child from a different relationship as a hardship deduction if you meet the requirements. Hardship deductions from income for supporting other children only apply to a child who is either a natural or adopted child of the party involved in the child support case. For example, if you were married and had two children from the marr ..read more

If you are involved in a child support case in California, you are going to come across the term “guideline support” frequently. What guideline support means is that child support is calculated based on a state guideline formula that is intended to cut down on litigation and facilitate the resolution of child support disputes. The practical effect is that having a guideline support amount gives all parties an idea of what the amount of support will be, and really encourages people to settle on the guideline amount instead of unnecessarily fighting over the amount of child support due. US Feder ..read more

In a California Divorce, property division is based on the concepts of community and separate property. Community property is property that was acquired during marriage by the parties, and is equally split at the time of divorce. The way to determine if something is part of the community is whether either party acquired it after they were married and before they separated. It does not matter whose name an asset was acquired in, but only whether it was acquired during the marriage. Some property, even if acquired during marriage, is exempt from being part of the community, and is not divided by ..read more