Southern California Family Law Attorney Blog

When a married couple in California chooses to divorce, custody of their child may be divided up in several different ways. Although many people may assume that the mother will be the best caretaker for the child, it may be important to look more closely at the situation to determine who should have physical and legal custody of the child. The situation must be assessed completely before a judge or mediator makes a decision regarding who is best able to care for the child.

After her ex-husband was granted custody of their daughter in their final divorce decree, a woman claims she plotted with her parents to kill him and his mother. Although the plan to kill the mother was uncovered by an undercover law enforcement official before being carried out, the woman’s ex-husband was killed in an altercation with her father.

Continue reading Woman and parents guilty in murder of custodial father

There are several states in the country that allow same-sex couples to be married legally, while many others are in the process of enacting laws that define how marriage and divorce should be interpreted under the law. One of the main concerns in California for these people who have been in a domestic partnership with someone of the same sex is the benefits they feel they should be given from the partner’s employer, and this concern is particularly important when the partner is employed by the state government.

In neighboring state Arizona, courts lifted an injunction they felt was discriminatory against same-sex couples. The state hopes to win an appeal that would allow them to terminate the benefits that are being offered to same-sex couples as a result of the court’s order.

Continue reading Court rules dependents of state employees must receive benefits

When two people who are married make the decision to end the marriage, they seek to obtain a divorce. The divorce process often involves hiring an attorney, splitting assets, settling child custody arrangements, and meeting all the requirements of the law in California. During this time, emotions may be running high, and it can be difficult to agree on important things when one person feels hurt or betrayed by the other spouse. The end of a marriage is rarely a simple thing, but even when it is, the process may take more time than the couple expected.

The fact that even amicable divorces were taking several months or years to complete was a motivating factor for a California judge who is looking to speed up the process for the sixty percent of couples who will seek divorce in California. Couples who benefit from this program may only be asked to pay for court costs, and may find their divorce final in as little as one day.

Continue reading Judge in California hopes to make divorce easier to obtain

When two parents make the decision to end their marriage, the custody agreement for their children will be decided in their divorce documents. Part of this agreement is the amount of child support that the parent who does not have custody of the children in California will pay to support the children over the years. This amount may be based on several different factors, but failure to make regular payments of child support is against the law, and may result in fines or jail time for the parent.

Recently, a county Sheriff made the decision to arrest several parents who were consistently behind on child support in the county. Although the amount of child support owed for each parent arrested is not known, all who were arrested directly violated court orders by not making regular payments.

Continue reading Sheriff rounds up group of parents late on child support