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.

If you have met with a family law attorney, have minor children and will likely need Court orders to determine custody and a parenting schedule, then please be prepared to provide the following information. This information will be used to help the Court understand why the custody and parenting schedule you are requesting is in the best interests of your minor children. Although you should always run this past your family law attorney, it may be immensely helpful if you copied and pasted the information below into the computer format of your choice {Word, e-mail. .. etc.), completed the information and then sent it to your family law attorney to be incorporated into documents for the Court.

A divorce is really a three step process: (1) initiate, (2) value and (3) settle/set matters for trial. In theory, it should not take longer than a few weeks to resolve all issues in a divorce case. Why divorces take longer may be because of mental illness, addictions, emotions, dishonesty and/or unethical attorneys. I have had people be honest about their income and assets and get their divorce cases done in a matter of weeks and I have had people be dishonest or bad tempered, perpetually, which drags the process out for everyone and results in too much money and time being spent. There are ways to diminish the impact of these obstacles and avoid your divorce dragging on. The solution is to strictly adhere to the three step process, be honest, stay in contact with your attorney and, if need be, set the matter for trial.

California Family Code sections 6203, 6211 and 6320 define abuse, essentially, as your spouse, former spouse, partner or the parent of your child causing, or attempting to cause, you or your children reasonable fear of imminent bodily injury. In layman's terms, abuse may consist of, for example, beating, cutting, kicking, threatening, stalking or raping you or your children. If any of these actions have recently been taken against you or your children, then call the police immediately!

The majority of family law clients reflexively state "full custody" or "50/50" when the topic of child custody arises in their family law matters. Family law attorneys then spend a good portion of time talking about the different types of custody and what is best for their client's children because "full custody" or "50/50" may or may not be appropriate.