“Race to the courthouse” is an informal name used to describe the rule in some jurisdictions that the first conveyance instrument, mortgage, lien or judgment to be filed with the appropriate recorder’s office, will have priority and prevail over documents filed subsequently, irrespective of the date of execution of the…
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s divorce was recently finalized after a 13-year marriage. They had 3 children together. Gavin subjected Gwen to the stereotypical man cheats on woman with the nanny scenario. And allegedly in this case, man cheated on woman with nanny for 3 years before woman found out…
The competency of a party can have profound effects in family law in California. We will explore that a little in this post. First of all, whether or not a party is competent can be relevant as to the validity of the marriage contract itself. Pursuant to Family Code section…
Taxes are already complicated enough. Unfortunately, divorce makes it more complicated. Here are three rules of thumb every divorcee should try to remember: 1. Claim community income before the date of separation: In California, all property acquired during the marriage is presumed to be community property, including any property acquired…
In the first week of April, news broke that Drew Barrymore will be seeking a divorce from her third husband, Will Kopelman, after a marriage lasting just under four years. The couple has two children together, 3-year-old Olive and almost 2-year-old Frankie. In light of the statistics, this news doesn’t…
An interesting decision out of an Australian Federal Circuit Court this month caught our eye when a judge ruled that a man was entitled to only 1/3 of the marital estate because he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was estimated to live for only one more year. In…
In two previous posts, we discussed the very important Moore/Marsden formula, which is the formula that determines the community interest in real property when the community pays down mortgage principal on the separate property of another spouse. In the first post, we discussed the basic formula, while noting that in…
With summer right around the corner questions about summer vacations should begin coming soon. Inevitably one of the questions will be about the children traveling abroad. Whether you are the parent who wants to take the children abroad or you are a parent concerned about the children traveling abroad, this…
In the news over the past few weeks, you may have heard of Lexi, the 6-year-old Choctaw girl who was fostered by a family in Santa Clarita Valley and, against the wishes of her foster family, sent to live with her relatives in Utah: In photos, they are a happy…
Famous clothing designer, Karl Lagerfeld once said of photographs, “What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” Mr. Lagerfeld captured in that simple quote what it is we humans love so much about photographs; capturing moments. Until scientists are able to…