San Diego Divorce Attorneys BlogThe “Right of First Refusal” is a concept originating from contract law that grants the holder of the right the option to enter into a business transaction with the owner of something before the owner may enter into a transaction with a third party. Put more simply; before you can sell your widget to a third party, you must ask whether I want to buy the widget. So why are we blogging about a contractual right on a family law blog? Continue reading
Articles Posted in Divorce
Brad Pitt’s request to seal court records denied; what does that mean?
If you have been following the Brangelina news as closely as we have, you may have heard in early December 2016 that Brad filed an emergency motion with the Los Angeles court requesting that the Court’s records relating to the parties custody dispute be “sealed.” Brad’s request was denied.
This may have left you with many questions: What does it mean to have records under seal? Why would this be necessary? What are the requirements to place records under seal? And why was Brad’s request denied? Read on for answers! Continue reading
Can I (or should I) get married once I have a default judgment?
Under California law, once a party is served with the summons and petition for dissolution, they have 30 days to file a formal response with the Court. After this 30 days is expired, the petitioner has the option of filing for a default judgment granting them everything they asked for in their petition, including the dissolution of the marriage once the six month statutory cooling off period is completed. However, the respondent can come back within six months, under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, and get the default judgment set aside as if it never existed. Would such a default judgment also set aside the actual dissolution of the marriage, or do parties always remain divorced once they are divorced by the family court? Continue reading
Wait…I Can’t Just Call an Uber
Much like Kleenex, Band-Aids, or Xerox (products that have become synonymous with the brands that popularized them), Uber has become synonyms with ride-share applications. Even if you take a Lyft, most people will still say “taking an Uber.” Having an on demand driver 24/7 at your fingertips makes it hard to imagine how we survived before Uber was created. Uber has solved many problems people did not realize they even had. There is one problem it has not solved…transporting your children in a co-parenting relationship. Continue reading
How to get a divorce even if your spouse refuses to participate
You decided you want a divorce, you file for a divorce, and then…*crickets*… your spouse, for whatever reason, has decided not to participate in your divorce. Perhaps your spouse doesn’t understand the legal process, doesn’t want to get divorced, or he/she is upset that you filed for divorce and intends to do anything possible to make your life more difficult. If this sounds like you, don’t worry. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO GET A DIVORCE, even if your spouse chooses not to take any part in it.
If you are experiencing the problem above and you wish to proceed with a divorce even in the face of an uncooperative spouse, you will need to seek a default judgment. In order to do so, you must follow very specific procedures to ensure that you will be granted a divorce. The following is a very general overview of the required steps (note that there may be additional forms or procedural steps that must be taken within each subsection which are not covered here). Continue reading
What is a ‘Jackson Credit’ ?
If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you know that child custody and visitation are fluid orders as that often change with the needs of the child. This makes a lot of sense because a 3 year-old is very different from a 16 year-old and will therefore have a very different child sharing schedule. Also as a frequent reader, you know that a change in the time sharing percentage of the children often justifies a change in the child support orders. Small changes in the time share percentage are unlikely to make a big impact. Big changes in guideline child support require major shifts in the child sharing percentage. Continue reading
The Dreaded Winter Break.
My favorite holiday song is Andy Williams’ version of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Something about that song encapsulates everything that is special about the winter holiday season. There are the lights, the food, the family, and the nostalgia of being a kid at Christmas. Now that I have a family of my own, seeing this special season through the eyes of my own children makes it all feel that much more real and special. However, for many divorced or divorcing parents the winter break is a difficult time. In this blog I want to address a couple common issues that divorcing parents face and with them provide some advice for enjoying the holidays in spite of the difficulties of a divorce. Continue reading
Changing your child’s school enrollment
Change is a big part of any divorce. When you have children, dealing with change can be one of the most difficult parts of the divorce. No matter how many times people tell you that “kids are resilient and everything will be okay” it doesn’t make it any easier. The truth is, most kids handle divorce well especially when their parents are able to successfully co-parent. Nonetheless, there is one change that no amount of co-parenting can make easier. That is changing schools. Most families only have one residence which means that at least one parent will need to find a new home. If that new home happens to be in the same neighborhood as the former family residence, then changing schools should not be an issue. More often than not however, one parent moves to a residence that is zoned for a different school than the children currently attend.
So what do you do? Continue reading
When Is Income Not Income Available for Support? A Look at the Pearlstein Case
As we’ve mentioned many times over on this blog, support (both child support and spousal support) can be very complicated in California. In some instances, the relevant statutes provide the Court with vast discretion that needs to be clarified in subsequent court cases. One of those Court cases is the Pearlstein case which deals with the determination of income resulting from capital gains.
In Pearlstein, Husband sold a substantial amount of shares in a business. In consideration for the sale of his shares, Husband received shares of another business and cash. What Husband ended up doing with the stock and cash he received from the sale is the key to the case: he did not sell the shares and he reinvested the cash.
Has Trump Got You and Your Marriage in a Slump?
This having likely been one of the most divisive political campaigns and presidential nominations in history, it may not be surprising that the widespread political divide and contempt has spilled over into many households and left countless numbers of people questioning relationships with their significant others. For several months, we suspected that this would be true, but a recent Google search led way to an astonishing amount of op-ed articles and message board discussions regarding women (at least mostly women from what we could tell), detailing the rift that differing opinions regarding President Elect Donald Trump had caused in their marriages.Some even took to message boards or wrote into advice columns to seek guidance as to whether the difference in opinion was a legitimate reason to end the marriage or relationship at issue. Continue reading