Summer is winding down, vacations are ending and the kids are going back to school. This is the perfect time for pre-divorce planning. Here are some things to keep in mind if you are heading down this path or are already on it.

When it comes to divorce, California is a 50/50 state. That means that if two spouses are separating, they will typically each get half of the property and assets they acquired during the marriage with some exceptions. If you are considering a divorce in California, you may be wondering what this 50/50 split means for you and how you can get around it. In this blog post, we’ll explain what it means to be a 50/50 state, the implications it has for your divorce, and some tips for getting around this policy.

Asking for a divorce is one of the most difficult conversations you can have with your partner. It is a life-changing decision that requires thoughtfulness and understanding. Divorce is never an easy conversation to have, but it can be done in a way that is respectful and respectful of both parties involved. In this blog post, we will discuss how to ask for a divorce in the best way possible, so that the process can be easier for everyone involved.

Divorce can be an emotionally and mentally draining process, especially when one partner is unpredictable and difficult to reason with. To make matters worse, it’s often hard to get advice on the best way to handle a challenging partner. Thankfully, divorce attorneys and mediators are here to help. Through their years of experience, top divorce attorneys and mediators have identified some of the best ways to reason with an unstable partner during divorce.

Going through a divorce can be an emotionally challenging time for anyone, especially when children are involved. One of the most pressing concerns for parents is how to maintain a strong relationship with their children while navigating the complexities of a divorce.

Going through a divorce is never easy, especially when children are involved. For many parents, the idea of not being able to see their kids as often as they used to can be heartbreaking. However, there is a solution to this issue: co-parenting. Co-parenting is a method in which both parents actively participate in raising their children even after their divorce.

Are you a parent in the midst of a child custody dispute? If so, you may be wondering what grounds can be used to support your case for full custody of your children. It is essential to understand the legal standards and various factors that come into play when the court is determining what type of custody arrangement is in the best interest of the child or children involved. In this blog post, we will provide an overview of the grounds for full custody and what a parent needs to know.

A divorce may be the most detrimental event of your life. It may also be the most liberating and empowering. Either way, you need to be financially prepared. Here are a list of common questions I get about preparing for your divorce as well as my response, which I hope you find helpful.

It Considers the Best Interest of Children and is the Preferred Method of Dissolution with Support, Confidentiality, and Creative Informed Interest-Based Solutions that are Tailored to Each Family.

Divorce is a difficult and emotional process, but unfortunately it is also a costly one. If you are considering divorce in California, it is important to understand the potential costs you may face. This blog post will provide an overview of the financial costs associated with getting a divorce in California, so that you can make the best decision for you and your family. We will discuss the average cost of divorce in California, as well as the various factors that can increase or decrease the total cost.

Cryptocurrency is second only to Elon Musk talking about living on Mars when it comes to things I find fascinating. Cryptocurrency is also something that every family law attorney practicing in California should understand because, as we see in In re Marriage of Desouza (2020) 54 Cal.App.5th 25, it could mean big money for our clients.

The terms “grey divorce,” “silver splitter” or “diamond divorcees” are terms used to refer to a demographic trend of an increasing divorce rate for older couples in long-lasting marriages. These particular types of divorce cases have their own particular types of issues. Marriage of McLain (2017) 7 Cal.App.5th 262 highlights just such issues.

How long will my case take? This process is confusing. Why am I doing all of this work up front? Common questions I hear from family law clients and rightly so. Dissolving a marriage does sometimes take longer than all of us would like. The process does feel confusing because so many things are happening at once and need to happen at once. Doing work up front means preparation for settlement or trial and swifter preparation for settlement or trial means drafting and entering a judgment more quickly. To help my visual learners out there, I prepared a decision tree of sorts to show the steps in a divorce case. Let’s discuss them.

Potential family law clients in California will invariably recite during the initial consultation that they were told by a friend, neighbor, estate planning attorney…etc. that they cannot move out of the family home before or during their divorce or paternity case. The reasons given are a range of their ownership interest in the house will be forfeited (not true, not California law), they will be viewed as abandoning their house and face legal consequences (not true, not California Law), they will be viewed as abandoning their family and lose parenting time if child custody is an issue (not true, not California Law).The truth is, you can and probably should leave the family home in most situations.

On appeal, wife challenges the trial court’s characterization of a majority of the cash and securities held in commingled accounts as husband’s separate property.Specifically, wife attacks a detailed tracing analysis performed by husband’s expert witness, upon which the trial court relied. The Court of Appeal concluded that the tracing is valid and constituted substantial evidence in support of the judgment. (Ciprari, supra, 32 Cal.App.5th at p. 89.)

There are numbers of ways that an amicable divorce can take place. For example, mediation, collaborative law and where one party is represented by an attorney and the other party is not. I want to focus on the last option, as it is a way I have helped a high percentage of my clients get divorced for over a decade. Here is how it works in brief.

I remember my first day of Community Property class in law school like it was yesterday. My instructor rattled off a few impressive cases that were "guaranteed" to make the class more than just an entire semester dedicated to which spouse gets the house and which spouse gets the business. Enter In re Marriage of Rossi (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 34. I think I was already asleep, or partially there, when I was rattled out of my stupor by my professor's description of the facts in the Rossi case: "because the wife failed to disclose that she won the lottery to the husband during their dissolution of marriage proceedings, rather than awarding the husband his one-half, the husband was awarded ALL of the lottery winnings!" The entire class was flabbergasted.

In re Marriage of G.C. and R.W. (2018) 23 Cal.App.5th 1, certified for partial publication, really challenges your cerebral cortex and highlights the complexity of modern-day divorce cases. Its also begs for a timeline, and a map.

People do interesting things with real property and deeds before and during marriage. They add people onto title, take people off title or change the form of title for real and imaginary reasons with or without the assistance of attorneys. Sometimes, this creates problems and, worse case scenario, the loss of property to one spouse in a divorce.

Family law includes nearly every area of law; however, the purpose of this blog post is to explore some estate planning considerations in the context of a divorce. This post is limited to estate plans drafted in California and divorces taking place in California, as each state may have different laws.