A Divorce Attorney Explains the Requirements for Getting a Divorce in California

As a divorce attorney in California, we work with couples that no longer wish to remain married and are interested in ending their relationship in either an amicable or contested divorce.  The family laws in each state are different so if you recently moved to California or are unfamiliar with our laws it is important to have a quick review prior to filing.  

Here is what you need to know:

• Residency. If you want to divorce here, you must have lived in the state for at six months prior to filing (three of those must be in the county where your filing takes place).  Otherwise, if you recently moved you would have to either file in the state you came from or wait for the six months to pass before proceeding.  Most couples simply wait for the six months because of how inconvenient it is to have a legal proceeding take place in the state you no longer live in. 
• California is a no-fault state. In some states, fault must be established in order to “qualify” for a divorce.  Otherwise, the request may not be granted.  As a divorce attorney in California, we know that you can get a divorce simply because you want one.  It is important to remember, however, that the judge may take the circumstances surrounding the divorce into consideration when making their ruling. 
• Waiting Period.  In many states, there is a waiting period to see if the couple can reconcile.  The intent is to decrease the number of divorces, though it mostly only creates further challenges for divorcing couples.  In California, a couple must wait six months after filing before a divorce can be finalized. The judge may also delay the proceedings by an additional thirty days if they feel like the couple could reconcile. 
• Division of assets.  The court will make a determination for how assets, property, and debts are split up.  
• Children.  During the course of the trial, the judge will hear testimony and take facts into consideration to determine what is in the best interest of the children.  They will then make a ruling on who will maintain custody, visitation, and child support.  This can be the most difficult aspect of a divorce, and if you feel that the ruling was unjust, you can file a formal appeal. 

As a divorce attorney, many of our clients are new to this process and unsure of what to expect.  During the consultation, we will walk you through the steps that must be taken from filing to your final ruling.  It can take months and even a year for more complicated cases.  We always recommend speaking with a lawyer before filing so that you can have your ducks in a row and ensure that you and your children will be protected.  A divorce is a serious and complicated legal affair and having professional guidance will help you to get through it successfully. 

A Divorce Attorney Can Help You to Sort Through Your Finances

An attorney can help you to untangle your finances when getting a divorce. That is exactly what divorce is – an untangling of two lives and everything that is part of life.  This applies to large obvious things like a house to small things like a safety deposit box.  Anything that you own has to be sorted through with decisions made as to how it will be divided or who will keep what. This can be extremely tedious, especially for people that have been married a long time. 

It is wise to start by creating an inventory of every item that you own, every financial account, and every debt.  We can provide you with worksheets to take notes on.  Once this is done each item should be assigned a value, unless it is purely sentimental.  This way when everything is divided and it is easy to tell how fair the split is.  

The challenge is that most people cannot handle dividing everything up with their ex-spouse.  Tensions can be high, and each item represents a story or memory which can make emotions heightened.  Having an attorney help you to sort through everything is often the best way to go about it.  Most people are less inclined to be as emotional or passionate with a third party in the room so it can help to keep things calm.  If you and your ex each have an attorney, you can do this by having everyone sit down in a room for an hour or two.  Otherwise you can use the same attorney as a moderator.  This is typically only possible if you are getting along very well. 

When dividing larger assets it is common for the debt to stay with it.  For example, if you are keeping your home, the mortgage would also be your responsibility.  If they are keeping the truck, they will have the debt and payments associated with it.  For this reason some people choose not to have an equitable division of assets because they don’t want to make the debt payments.  If no one wants the asset or debt, a plan needs to be created for how to sell or liquidate it.  

Splitting up financial accounts can also be challenging.  Savings accounts are often split down the middle but retirement accounts can be a touchy issue. An attorney can help you to negotiate a compromise for these things when possible.  If one cannot be reached a judge will decide when the case goes to trial.  Reaching a compromise as quickly as possible is actually in your best interests.  It will make it possible for you to begin using the funds instead of having them frozen pending trial.  This can help you to pay for living expenses, etc.  It is okay if you can only reach an agreement on some of your assets and accounts.  Once an agreement is reached it can be signed and those items will not need to be addressed at trial which will shorten the process and remove unnecessary complications.  

To learn more about how an attorney can help you, call Keen & Genochio Attorneys at Law today.

An Attorney Can Help You Get a Child Support Judgment

If you are divorced and receiving child support, an attorney can help you to collect on that support when your ex stops paying.  Many parents that are required to pay child support live up to their end of the bargain.  The challenge is that if they stop paying it can create a financial hardship for the one that is supposed to receive the payments.  Fortunately, there are ways to obtain your court ordered child support.

During your initial consultation, we will discuss your specific case and the circumstances surrounding the non-payment of child support.  We will need to know how much they are supposed to pay every month, how far behind they are, and if they have been making any form of payment recently.  Once retained, we will review the court order before making a recommendation on how to proceed.

As an attorney, we can help you to calculate how much is owed to you and draft a letter to be sent to your ex formerly requesting payment.  Sometimes people will respond to a lawyer, even when they have been ignoring your request.  The understanding that you will take legal action is a very compelling incentive to work out a payment plan.  This is an option for resolving the dispute and can even be settled out of court.  The key is to have a lawyer draft the agreements so that if they fall behind again, you have additional documentation.

If your ex is unresponsive or simply refuses to cooperate and pay child support, the next option is to go to court.  We will have the opportunity to present the judge with the initial order to pay child support, the documentation proving that support has not been received, and a formal request for a judgment in order to collect on what is owed.

The judge will typically review the income and employment information for your ex prior to making a final ruling.  Any information that you have regarding their employment should be provided prior to the hearing so that we can properly prepare and include it into our arguments.  As your attorney, we will argue the case on your behalf and make a compelling argument for the judge to enforce the child support order. 

If your ex is currently employed, their wages may be garnished in order to collect the child support.  This means that there employer would receive a letter informing them that a certain amount of money needs to be withheld from their paycheck and paid towards the obligation.  If you know that your spouse has that money available, and can prove it, the judge may order a lump sum to be paid at one time.  The key in both scenarios is proving that they have the resources to pay child support.

If your ex refuses to comply with the judgment, they could be sentenced to jail on a temporary basis.  This threat is typically enough to prompt people to start paying.  As a local attorney, we can help you through the process so that you can begin collecting the money you deserve.  

Resolve Custody Disputes with Help from an Attorney

If you have children, an attorney can help you to navigate through the choppy waters of a custody dispute.  Going through a divorce is never easy and when children are involved it is even more complicated.  Instead of being able to simply divide your assets there are important decisions to be made that will impact your life, and the life of your child, until they turn eighteen.

While married, there are simple day to day decisions that are made about your children without really thinking about them.  Things like transportation to and from school, visiting the grandparents, attending family birthday parties, and buying new shoes are simply things that are done – rather than discussed.  Once divorced, these things are no longer simple.  That is why the court requires a thorough parenting plan to be written that makes allowances for these normal life activities.

As an attorney we ask our clients to start thinking about the following and consider how they would want to handle them:

·         Schooling.  Where do you want your child to attend school, both now and in the future?  Your parenting plan can specify this along with whether the decision is made by one parent, or both.

·         Transportation.  Who is responsible for transporting the children to and from school or to and from one parents’ house to the other?  When it comes to exchanging the children, drop off days, times, and locations can all be specified.

·         Special Occasions.  Consider every day or event that you deem to be a special occasion and specify where the children are (what parent they are with) on each of those days.  This will obviously include major holidays, but there are other family events that should be taken into consideration.  For example, list the birthday for every family member that is involved in the children’s lives.  If you don’t list your Grandma and the children are supposed to be with your ex-spouse that day, they will probably be unable to go to your Grandma’s birthday party.  It is better to be thorough.

·         Clothing.  Will each parent to be responsible for purchasing the children clothing that is worn at their house or is one parent going to buy all of their clothes with the other one reimbursing them?  Consider how you want to handle this so that there is no confusion.

·         Toys.  The children probably have a lot of toys that were accumulated throughout the course of your marriage.  Who gets to keep what at their house?  If you don’t specify, the spouse keeping your primary home may get all of the toys with it.

As an experienced attorney, we can help you to sort through these issues as part of your divorce and help you to sort through disputes after the fact.  Even if your divorce has been settled, you can go back and revise custody issues at a later date.  For more information or a consultation give us a call, and we will be happy to assist you. 

How an Attorney Can Help With a Military Divorce

As a San Diego attorney, we work with a lot of military families that are going through a divorce.  This is a difficult time for anyone and being in the military can present a whole new set of challenges.  There are both California laws and military laws that need to be followed, making hiring an experienced military lawyer an important part of the process.

We work with people that are stationed at North Island Naval Air Station, Camp Pendleton, Miramar Naval AirStation, and Coronado. If you are stationed at a California base, and currently deployed overseas, we can still help you with the divorce process. Since California requires a six month waiting period many soldiers find it best to start the process while they are deployed so that it can be finalized when they return.

Military divorces can be more complicated for several reasons, including:

·         Finances.  As an attorney for military families, we understand how to calculate a soldier’s total compensation.  Military pay is not as straight forward as civilian pay and can be confusing to some attorneys and judges.  This can be made even more confusing during a deployment.  Proper calculations are important for determining child support and spousal support, when applicable.

·         Establishing residency.  Most residency laws are based on where you have been living.  If you have been deployed or temporarily stationed at a different base, this can become complicated.  If your spouse didn’t move with you immediately, this can also complicate the issue.  We can help you to sort out residency issues so that the appropriate jurisdiction can be established.

·         Retirements and pensions.  These are assets that can be divided similarly to how a home or bank accounts can be divided.  We will help you build a case as to what you are entitled to and why.

·         Determining custody.  As a military member, it is important that your custody rights are preserved.  Just because you have been deployed doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have rights to see your children.  It is important that you have an attorney that can advocate for your rights.  Simultaneously if you are a military spouse you may have specific custody concerns that you want to have examined.  We advocate for our client, regardless of whether they are in the military or married to someone who is.

·         Attorney fees.  In our consultation, we will discuss attorney’s fees and the possibilities of having them paid for by your spouse.  The percentage each person pays is up for negotiations or will be determined by a judge.

We can make it easier to navigate through your divorce and ensure that the outcome is in line with what you desire.  There are no guarantees that you will get everything that you want, so the goal is to get as much as you want as possible.  Working with a lawyer that has worked with military families will help you to achieve your goals.  We will work with military members, stationed here or overseas, and their soon to be ex-spouses.  Our loyalty is to our clients, and we advocate for their best interest in every situation.