LANDMARK SUPREME COURT CASE HAS HUGE RAMIFICATIONS FOR FORMER SPOUSES OF SERVICEMEMBERS On May 15, 2017, the United States Supreme Court in Howell v. Howell (490 U.S. 581) held that a state court may not order a veteran to indemnify a divorced spouse for the loss in the divorced spouse’s portion of the veteran’s retirement pay caused by the veteran’s… READ MORE
Divorce
Personal Injury Settlements and Divorce
How are personal injury settlements divided in divorce cases? By Andrew Tran, Esq. and David K. Wilkinson, CFLS, AAML If a spouse has been involved in a personal injury lawsuit and is entitled to receive a settlement, how much (if any) is the other spouse entitled to during a divorce proceeding? Starting Point – if During Marriage then Community Property Pursuant… READ MORE
How Divorce Works in California: A Complete Guide
We often have Irvine, Orange County clients ask our attorneys, “How does divorce work in California”? This page is designed to explain just how divorce cases work from start to finish, the different types of cases for divorce, and discusses the myriad of issues that may arise during divorce. Getting Started Divorce cases are started different ways depending on the… READ MORE
A Father’s Guide to Winning Custody in Irvine, California
California law presumes that both parents should have a meaningful role in the major decisions that affect a child and frequent and continuing contact with the child. The Court’s focus in making custody of a child and visitation decisions is on the kid’s best interest. Why then do so many mothers end up with the majority of the parenting time with… READ MORE
Guide to Request for Order (RFO) Hearings in Orange County
The February 2016 Shimkus case out of Orange County holds that family court judges don’t have to consider declarations. Then how do I prepare for my hearing? What is the judge going to consider? How do I get “evidence” into Court? These are very real concerns for every litigant that is stepping foot into Court in Orange County. We can… READ MORE
Domestic Violence Includes Controlling Behavior in Irvine California
Domestic Violence Family Law Attorneys – Free Consultation In the recently published case of Rodriguez v. Menjivar, (12/16/2015, Court of Appeal, 2nd Dist., Div. 7), the Court of Appeals reviewed a domestic violence case out of Los Angeles County involving the question of whether evidence of mental abuse and controlling behavior are relevant to a court’s determination of abuse under… READ MORE
Division of Retirement (Social Security and Pension) – Recent Peterson Case
Irvine California – Recent Case Law Provides for Unjust Division of Social Security and Pension Benefits In a recent case from Los Angeles County, a husband (John) and wife (Annette) divorced. Both parties are attorneys. Annette worked for L.A. County and had a pension benefit through her employment, and John worked in private practice and accrued Social Security benefits through… READ MORE
Orange County Divorce Lawyers: Dealing with Delay Tactics
Guide to help speed up the resolution of divorce cases Divorce cases can be extremely quick or excruciatingly long. Whether a divorce case is resolved within a matter of months or within a matter of years depends on a variety of factors, some of which are in the parties’ control and some not. A dissolution of marriage case is usually swiftly resolved when… READ MORE
California Divorce Law – Are Frozen Embryos Property or Children?
Irvine Divorce Specialists – Free Consultations An interesting case popped up recently in the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. In this case, Dr. Mimi Lee and Stephen Findley created several embryos when they learned that Lee had cancer. Now the parties are divorcing. Lee cannot have children and wants the embryos to implant into a surrogate and Findley… READ MORE
Are Damages Available to a Victim of Domestic Violence (Abuse)?
What kinds of orders can the family court make after making a finding of domestic abuse? Can the court award damages like pain and suffering? Domestic violence restraining orders are made through the Family Court in Orange County, to protect people within the same “family” unit from another person within the same family core, or formerly part of the same… READ MORE