Stepparenting and bringing distinct families together never goes as smooth and simple as on The Brady Bunch. Are there potential dangers?
Can I Get A Divorce Online?
Divorce Online In California? While some states do allow you to file for divorce online, the short answer, at least as far as California goes, is no.
Divorce and Spousal Support: UPDATED
Two kinds of spousal support exist in the Golden State. Depending on the circumstances, the court may award temporary or permanent support.
Should I File For Divorce First?
Whether or not to file for divorce is a big question, but another is whether or not you should file for divorce first, before your spouse.
Date of Separation & Divorce
The date of separation has a huge impact on divorce, but a significant change to California law is about to alter the landscape.
Divorcing a Spouse that’s M.I.A.
Divorce is tricky business in the best circumstances, but what if you can’t locate your spouse? How do you divorce someone you can’t find?
Pokemon Go: Cheater Edition
The augmented reality game has swept the nation with a number of unexpected side effects, one of which is forgetting that you’re being tracked by GPS.
Can Divorce Get Me Fired?
What we do outside of the office can have a big impact on our work. Even though we try not to, we often bring the weight of our home lives with us to the day job. And it seems like weekly we hear about a person getting canned for using …
Child Custody: Relocation After Divorce
Divorce can be a traumatic event. Ending a marriage may throw your entire world into upheaval. After surviving this experience, many people simply want to get away and a relocation is an option. Some move to a new place to escape negative memories; to be near family, friends, or another …
Jurisdiction & Divorce
Resolving to file for divorce is a momentous decision. Ending a marriage can throw your entire life into upheaval. While any number of factors go into pursuing this course of action, there’s much more to deal with after you make this choice. An entire world of logistical questions awaits out …
Analysis & Marital Stability
Relationships crumble for any number of reasons, from infidelity to abuse to two people simply not getting along. A recent study out of Australia, where one-third of marriages end in divorce, digs into the factors that lead to marital stability. Using numbers from seven waves of the Household, Income and …
Movies for Father’s Day
A holiday designed to celebrate dads and everything they do for us, Father’s Day is almost here. It’s an opportunity to remind our dads how grateful we are for everything they do, to commemorate parental bonds, and applaud their influence on our lives. You can celebrate fathers and fatherhood in …
When Business Partners Divorce
During a marriage, your life becomes intertwined with that of your spouse. Possessions often belong equally to both parties, which is a big reason why the division of property can be such a contentious part of divorce. Splitting belongings at the end of a union can become heated and complex, …
Outlook On Divorce & Family Have Changed
Marriage may be an institution, but it’s not immune to change. What marriage is, what it means, how important it is; all of this and more have transformed dramatically over time. Some shifts are massive and easily recognizable. Others are subtle, changing across many years, so gradual you hardly notice …
Paternity Fraud & Establishing Paternity
Unless proven otherwise, when a child is born during a marriage, the mother’s husband is assumed to be the biological father. In CA, you have two years to file a motion for genetic tests after paternity has been pronounced.
Ozzy Osbourne & Divorce
Celebrity marriages seem to come and go with every new round of the 24-hour news cycle. The lengths can be measured in months, or even days in a few cases. Which is what makes the relationship between heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Sharon, such an anomaly on …
Tips on Conflict In Divorce
Few life events are as notorious for causing conflict as divorce. Not every single split devolves into an epic screaming match, but if we’re being realistic, if there was no friction at all, you probably wouldn’t be getting a divorce in the first place. Emotions are high and tempers can …
7 Things To Do Before Divorce
Divorce is a process. It can be a long, complicated, drawn-out one. This can be a highly emotional time, one full of pressure and tension, and being prepared may help make sure nothing gets lost along the way. With that in mind, here is a checklist of things you may …
How To Petition For The Dissolution Of Marriage
The steps to getting divorced in CA are relatively simple; establish residency on a state/county level, file the forms, serve your spouse, and finalize your agreement.
What Can Gwen Stefani Teach Us About Divorce Settlements?
We look to celebrities for fashion inspiration, for movies, for music, for entertainment. They’re often trendsetters and influencers of culture. But should we also look to them for marital advice or for how to go approach divorce settlements? While their situations are often quite different from our own—even if gossip magazines are …
Finding the Best Attorney
When faced with divorce or custody issues it is normal to want to hire the best San Diego family law attorney. Family law cases are complicated, emotional, and the outcome will have a significant impact on your daily life so it makes sense to want the top San Diego divorce …
10 Family Law Legal Terms
Anytime you have an interaction with the legal system, you experience a crash course in family law legal terms and terminology. Maybe you’ve read a lot of John Grisham books, watched a lot of Law and Order or other legal dramas. Maybe you’re a little more familiar than the average …
Credit Card Debt and Divorce
People who get divorced have generally spent quite a bit of time thinking about it. Unfortunately, they usually aren’t thinking about the more granular details. How Does Divorce Affect Your Debt? The most important thing to remember about credit card debt and divorce is that credit card companies ARE NOT …
Paternity in California
What things should you know about paternity in California? Let’s Start With Maury Povich Did you know that Maury Povich used to be one of the most respected newsmen in the country? Seriously, look it up. He even brought respectability to one of the very first tabloid news shows that …
Divorce and IVF
It is common for long-time couples to discuss future plans such as marriage, home owning, and ultimately raising a family. These plans come with a lot of “what-ifs”— and the unknown can make taking big steps challenging. In particular, having children is one of the most significant decisions a couple …
An Everyday Divorced Dad
The upheaval and change that comes with divorce can make finding your bearings difficult. Changes in schedules, living situations, and finances often create uncertainty and stress as you try to navigate through the dissolution of a marriage. Doing the following three things everyday can help create structure and consistency for …
Social Media as Evidence in Family Law Cases
A moment of frustration can easily turn into a legal headache when social media is added to the mix. The combination of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and the ability to instantaneously post personal thoughts or frustrations can later cause a huge uproar with those it may …
Back to School Tips
School is back in session and kids are quickly getting into the swing of homework and extracurricular activities. The start of school presents a great opportunity for being more involved in your child’s daily activities and for building strong relationships with their teachers, coaches, and other people that will be …
Common Child Support Mistakes
Child support serves an important role in providing your child the necessary financial resources to sustain their well being—but calculating the accurate amount of support that is necessary isn’t infallible. Changing circumstances, income fluctuations, and the child’s needs all factor into how support should be computed. Being aware of common …
Co-Parenting After Divorce
Signing the divorce decree can feel like you have reached the finish line. The negotiating and bargaining is complete, assets and debts have been divided, and the logistics of the separation have been worked out. Finalizing the divorce provides closure, but for divorcing parents it is also the official matriculation …
Step-Parenting and Blended Families
Navigating stepfamilies can be challenging for everyone involved. Whether they are your children from a previous relationship, or they are your significant other’s, blending into a cohesive unit is no easy task. While the road to successful step-parenting can be difficult, the reward of forging strong and lasting relationships is …
California Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce is the dissolution of a marriage where both parties agree to all the terms of the divorce. An uncontested divorce is a bit of an all-or-nothing situation. You will only be able to proceed if both people agree to how property, assets, retirement, debt, etc. are to …
How Much Does a Divorce Cost In CA?
This is one of the most common questions we here. Often people are frustrated when we answer, “That depends”, but it does. Unfortunately, divorce can be a complex issue with a plethora of factors that will drastically affect the cost—making it difficult to estimate the final expense. Average Cost of Divorce …
What is Legal Separation in CA?
There is a pervasive misconception that a legal separation is the first step in getting divorced. While legal separation can be part of the divorce process, it is not a requirement for dissolving a marriage. What Is A Legal Separation? A legal separation is a formal and legally binding agreement …
Legislation: More Than 2 Parents?
The California legislature is blazing a trail in custody. On October 4, 2013 State Senate Bill No. 274 was signed into law and established provisions for recognizing more than 2 parents. Until the passing of Bill 274, parentage was established using guidelines from the Uniform Parentage Act. Those guidelines limited …
Should I Mediate?
Men researching options for ending their marriages are often overwhelmed by what can seem like a confusing game of terminology. Divorce, legal separation, mediation, and collaborative divorce are a few of the most common terms used to describe some of the different paths to ending a marriage. What Is Mediation? …
How Do I Win Custody?
“How do I win custody?” is often the first question that we are asked by fathers in an initial consultation. This isn’t surprising; child custody can be a complicated topic rife with stress and frustration. Understanding the information the court uses to make a decision on custody can ensure that …
What Are Grounds For Divorce In California?
If you are considering divorce, you may be wondering, “what are grounds for divorce in California?” What Is A No-Fault Divorce? California is a no-fault divorce state. This means that neither party is required to show that wrongdoing was committed. No-fault divorce allows couples to dissolve their marriage without the …
Paternity and Deceit
A news story out of England highlights one man’s custody nightmare. After 14 years of marriage, Richard Rodwell and his wife Helen divorced. She was awarded full custody and Mr. Rodwell was ordered to pay £300 (around $440 U.S. dollars) a month. Rodwell was an involved father—he was present for …
Divorce Insurance V. Prenuptial Agreement
Life is filled with uncertainty and that uncertainty has been answered with insurance. Auto, home, life, even pet insurance are all readily available to protect and safeguard you, your family and your belongings —but what about protecting your marriage? SafeGuard Guaranty Corp, based in North Carolina began offering divorce insurance …
Text Messages as Evidence
Divorce and text messages as evidence are in the news once again with the release of a smartphone app called CATE. CATE stands for Call and Text Eraser. The Android application is designed to block calls and texts to your phone during designated times, discretely hide numbers from your contact …
My Ex Uses Medical Marijuana
This week San Diego child custody lawyer, Zephyr Hill, answers a question about medical marijuana, modifying child custody, and divorce law in California. The father’s question details how his ex-wife is using medical marijuana and asks if it is possible to change the custody agreement. The father asks: “My ex-wife …
Kobe Bryant Divorce
Any amount of money that she will receive must be reasonable both in amount and in time frame. To determine what is reasonable, the court is going to look at many factors listed in Cal. Fam. Code §4320.