Category: Family Law

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags community property, Divorce, marital property division, separate property, Spousal Support

Child Custody Child Support Divorce Family Law High Net-Worth Divorce Marital Property Division Spousal Support

Lessons from Chris Rock’s Divorce and Prenuptial Agreement

Post author By Scott
Post date January 12, 2015

Negotiation versus Litigation in a Slip and Fall Case

A lesson to be taken from Chris Rock’s divorce: review your prenuptial agreement.

The Divorce

The comedian just recently his announced his divorce from wife Malaak Compton-Rock. Rock is seeking shared custody of the couples two daughters.

Prenuptial Agreement Expired

According to court documents, it seems the prenuptial agreement the couple entered into when they married in 1996 has expired because the couple has been together for so long.

But how?

Sunset Provision

Two words: sunset provisions, also known as expirations in prenuptial agreements. While sunset provisions aren’t too common, they are a planning tool that can be an essential part of a client’s financial picture. This is especially the case when one of the spouses is significantly wealthier than the other. What a sunset provision does is entitle one spouse to receive a set amount of assets should the marriage remain intact for a certain length of time.

“Many times, it’s assumed that these agreements never expire, but that’s not necessarily the case,” says Avani Ramnani of Francis Financial Inc. “We encourage clients to revisit them every four or five years. Refresh your memory and make sure you’re following the stipulations that are in the prenup.”

Revisiting Prenuptial Agreement

Because of these sunset provisions, it’s important that you (and your spouse) revisit your prenuptial agreement to ensure that provisions still apply. Bringing in an attorney can help you to assess the agreement’s validity.

“It’s good to do a quick review, but you should seek legal help to evaluate that prenup and make sure that it’s valid, followed and taken into account while planning,” says Ramnani.

Source: Investment News, Chris Rock’s divorce offers lessons in divorce planning, December 30, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Custody, Divorce, Prenuptial Agreement

Child Custody Child Support Child Visitation Family Law

How To Get Child Support After Judgment

Post author By Scott
Post date January 9, 2015

You’ve received a judgment that the other parent is supposed to make child support payments to you. What’s next?

Receiving Child Support Payments

After you have received a child support court order, the other parent is legally required to start making child support payments to you. The court order you receive will include the start date for the child support payments. The payments will be paid monthly, and will be taken out of the other parent’s paycheck.

Wage Assignment and Garnishment

Every child support case where child support is awarded, the court will order a wage assignment or wage garnishment be issued and served. This wage assignment requires that the other parent’s employer takes the support payments out of the other parent’s wage.

Local Child Support Agencies

If the local child support agency (LCSA) is not involved in the child support case, both parents are allowed to agree that the child support payments be made in other ways, rather than a wage assignment. This means the wage assignment is “stayed,” or put on hold. Parents are then responsible for working out how the child support payments will be made. But if a LCSA is involved, the LCSA must agree to having the wage assignment “stayed.” Typically, if a LCSA is involved, the agency will keep the wage assignment in place.

Failing to Pay Child Support

There are serious consequences for not paying child support. You can be held in contempt of court if you have the ability to pay child support but do not make the payments. This can mean jail time. If you are unable to make child support payments due to loss of job, or gap in employment, you should contact a family law attorney, or the court to avoid jail time or fines.

Source: California Courts, Collecting a Child Support Order, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Child Support, child support judgment, child support payments

Domestic Violence Family Law

Domestic Violence in Ventura County

Post author By Scott
Post date January 8, 2015

Ventura County has had 8,000 reported cases of domestic violence this year, ranking it amongst the top in all of California when it comes to domestic violence rates.

Increase in Domestic Violence Cases Since 2012

According to the California Department of Justice, in 2012 there were roughly 7,500 reported cases of domestic violence in Ventura County. This year, the California Department of Justice has received 8,000 cases of domestic violence, and reports that 14% of Ventura County residents have reported some form of domestic violence in their homes. The state average is 6.7%.

Why?

According to local social workers and law enforcement officials, there are numerous reasons for the high rate of domestic violence cases

Erik Sternad is the director of Camarillo based nonprofit Interface Children and Family Services. He says that money woes, substance abuse, and emotional immaturity are all common triggers for domestic violence. “We do know that abuse stretches across socioeconomic lines, and we know it is usually behavior passed from parent to child,” he said. Victims also commonly do not have outside support to turn to, thus leaving abusers free to take control of a victim’s life.

Domestic Violence Underreported

While Ventura County takes domestic violence seriously, incidents still go un-reported due to fear and lack of knowledge of outside sources such as outreach programs like Interface.

“Law enforcement in Ventura County takes domestic violence reports more seriously,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Frawley. “They follow up more than other counties. Even so, I think everybody can agree that domestic violence is still underreported.” Sternad agrees that educating the public is one way to cut down on domestic violence situations. “Interface uses outreach programs to help stop abuse before it happens,” he said, “and a school program is used to educate families that are at risk.”

“We are definitely seeing high levels of stress in families during the holidays,” he said. “This is really contributing to the abuse of children and spouses. Because of what we are seeing, we have doubled the amount of preventative education in schools, but funds are short.”

Source: Camarillo Acorn, County’s domestic violence rate one of highest in California, November 28, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence outreach, domestic violence rates, Ventura County

Collaborative Law Divorce Family Law Mediation

Collaborative Divorce

Post author By Scott
Post date January 7, 2015

Divorce doesn’t have to be a traumatic process according to practitioners of collaborative divorce.

Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce approaches the divorce process from a different place – a place where you can avoid the court system while putting negotiations and decisions into the hands of the spouses. By utilizing specially trained professionals, opuses are able to come to a decision together.

Collaborative Divorce v. Mediation

Collaborative divorce should not be confused with mediation. In mediation, a couple works with one neutral party. But in collaborative divorce, each spouse has their own team of professionals – including their own attorney, financial advisors, etc. Both spouses and their respective teams meet to identify issues and create solutions. The time it takes to work through the process is heavily dependent on the issues that need to be worked out. The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals did a survey on the duration of the process and found 58 percent of collaborative divorce cases were completed in less than nine months.

Professionals

The types of professionals you will need for your collaborative divorce team will vary based on the specifics of your divorce. Professionals may include:

financial neutrals
child specialists
mental health professionals
business valuators
real estate evaluators

This team can help you emerge with a solid footing following your divorce. “You can tell who’s gone through the collaborative process vs. litigation,” said Amy Wolff, a specialist in the financial issues associated with divorce. “The clients who have used the collaborative option emerge from the process more ready to focus; they can bounce back more quickly.” Approaching divorce with the mindset of it being “collaborative” can help ease the tensions surrounding the divorce process.

Source: CNBC, Collaborative divorce can ease emotional, economic stress, May 2, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Collaborative Divorce, Divorce, divorce process

Divorce Family Law Marital Property Division

How to Divide Marital Property

Post author By Scott
Post date January 6, 2015

When You Might Consider a Lawyer for Personal Injury Claims

Divorce is not an easy experience, emotionally. But it can be even more difficult when you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse need to divide marital property.

Talk to A Marital Property Lawyer

If you have significant property or assets or significant debt, you should consider calling a marital property division lawyer prior to even filing for divorce. If the amount of property, assets, or debt are really significant you might want to son cider hiring a lawyer just for that aspect of your divorce, and another lawyer to handle the actual divorce.

Here’s some basic information to help you understand what happens when you have to divide marital property.

Prenuptial Agreement

The first thing a lawyer and a court will need to know is “was there a prenuptial agreement made prior to the wedding?” Typically prenuptial agreements outline what will happen to property gained during a marriage, while also outlining each spouse’s separate property prior to the marriage.

What Counts as Property?

Property is anything that can be bought or sold, or anything that has a financial value. This includes: houses, cars, furniture, clothing, bank accounts, businesses, etc. Within that, there are two forms of property when it comes to a marriage: community property and separate property. Community property is anything earned or acquired during the course of the marriage. Separate property belongs to one spouse. States make their own determinations on what counts as separate property. A family law attorney would be able to help you determine what is “separate property” based on your state’s laws.

Court Decision

If you are not able to settle how the marital property will be divided through mediation or collaborative law, a court will decide how this property will be divided. A judge will sign off on the agreement once it has been determined. Until that point, any marital property will belong to both of you, regardless of who is living in it, using it, or has control of it.

Contact a family law attorney, such as the ones with Divorce Law LA, to help with marital property division.

Source: California Courts, Property and Debt in a Divorce or Legal Separation, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags community property, marital property, marital property division, property, property division, separate property

Family Law Spousal Support

Enforcement of Alimony Orders

Post author By Scott
Post date January 5, 2015

Statistics indicate over 195k people die from malpractice

People fall behind on alimony payments for a lot of reasons. The impact on those receiving the payments can be extreme. Here’s what to do if your spouse fails to make your alimony payments.

Why?

If you are not receiving the alimony payments the court ordered to be paid to you, try to find out why. Is it the result of job loss? Or an injury that has caused a reduction in income? If this is the case, you might consider working out a plan of action with your spouse to help recover the lost alimony. You might want to work with an attorney to help draft an agreement, to ensure that you’ll eventually receive the alimony payments.

Avoiding Alimony Payment

But if your spouse is just avoiding their court-ordered obligation, then you’ll need to seek legal help. A motion will need to be filed with the court, asking a judge to order your spouse to pay the past payments, as well as a promise to keep up with the future payments. An experienced family law attorney can draft a persuasive legal motion as well as represent your interests in court.

Options

Courts are able to dole out a number punishments or fines for delinquent spouses. They tend to vary from state to state, but for the most part, a court will allow the following:

Holding a spouse in contempt, which can lead to fines and possible jail time.
Income withholding, during which the delinquent spouse’s employer is required to withhold the alimony amount from the delinquent spouse’s paycheck and send it directly to the spouse receiving alimony.
Writ of Execution. This is when a judge awards a portion of the payor spouse’s bank accounts and other assets to the receiver spouse.
If the amount owed is substantial, you can ask the court to issue a money judgment for the total amount owed along with interest.

Contact a family law attorney that can help you file a legal action to enforce alimony. A lawyer will be able to ensure you receive the money that is owed to you.

Source: Divorce Net, Enforcing Alimony Orders, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Alimony, alimony deficiency, alimony payments, failure to make alimony payments, Spousal Support

Divorce Family Law Spousal Support

How Do Courts Award Spousal Support?

Post author By Scott
Post date January 2, 2015

Spousal support, also called alimony, is the payments that one spouse makes to another spouse after a divorce in order to maintain the former spouse’s standard of living. But how is spousal support determined when it comes to who pays who and how much?

California Law Regarding Spousal Support

California law dictates that a court determines spousal support awards after carefully reviewing various factors, including: the length of the marriage, the income of each spouse, the age of each spouse, the standard of living during the marriage, and the assets that will be available to each party once the divorce agreement is finalized. A court may also consider other factors it deems fit.

How Long Does Spousal Support Last?

A court will determine how long the spousal support payments be made. Often times this is for a set period time, but also dependent on if the spouse receiving the support marries or has a change in their financial standing (as the result of a job or higher pay). The court determines the duration of spousal support by following certain general equitable principals and guidelines that have been set forth and determined by common law case histories. While circumstances vary, a court rarely awards “lifetime support.”

General Rule of Thumb: Spousal support payments will be made for half the length of a less than 10 year-long marriage.

Spousal Support Not Always Awarded to Woman

There are some noted changes in how courts award spousal support. Since the majority of married women work outside of home now, spousal support is not always awarded to women (as was the trend years ago). Therefore, the court will usually require the higher earner, either husband or wife, to assist the lower earner with maintaining the standard of living, at least for a period of time.

Source: CA Divorce, How Spousal Support is Decided in California, 2014

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550

Tags Alimony, awarding spousal support, Spousal Support, spousal support agreement, spousal support awards

Child Custody Child Support Child Visitation Divorce Domestic Violence Family Law Move Aways (Child Relocation)

Child Custody and Move Aways

Post author By Scott
Post date December 30, 2014

Relocating to a new state or new country can be difficult. But that process can be made even more difficult when it means moving away with a child you share with your ex-spouse or partner.

Are You Allowed to Move Away?

The first thing you need to identify is if you are able to move away and relocate your child. A standard rule of thumb when it comes to child relocation and a permanent child custody and visitation order is that neither parent is able to relocate the child unless he or she has received consent (written consent) from the other parent or a court.

Allowing a Move Away

Family law courts consider a number of factors when considering allowing a move away. As always, the court takes the “best interest of the child” into account. These are the other factors a court considers:

Is the child stable in the current child custody arrangement
Where is the new location? How far away is it from the remaining parent’s household?
Financial impact (for both parents)
Age of the child
How is the current relationship between the parents and the child?
How is the co-parenting relationship between both parents?
What are the child’s wishes (dependent on the child’s age)?
Are there special accommodations needed for the child? Are they available in the new location?
What’s the reason for the move?
Additional factors the court deems fit to consider

To Note: California Family Code section 7501

Under the California Family Code section 7501, “a parent entitled to custody of a child has a right to change the residence of the child, subject to the power of the court to restrain a removal that would prejudice the rights or welfare of the child.” Therefore, the custodial parent of a child does not have to prove that the move away is necessary, since they have been awarded the legal right to have the child live with them.

Modification of Court Orders

A move away request is considered a modification of court orders. Therefore, it’s important to be mindful of the current custody and visitation rights you have prior to the move away. You will need to get the other parent’s written agreement as well as the court’s permission in order to proceed with your move away. You might want to consider working with a move away attorney to help that your move away is legally done and you don’t risk jeopardizing your current agreement.

33 S. Catalina Ave. Ste. 202

Pasadena, Ca. 91106

(626) 478-3550