San Diego Divorce Attorneys Blog
“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 documents at issue. In popular culture, being the party to file a lawsuit first is always portrayed as preferable. But like most things on TV, they just don’t hold up in real life; except maybe in Hollywood. (Hollywood is hard to call “real life” in any case.)
Gwen Stefani, is dating during divorce wise?
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 and filed for divorce. Even so, each party reportedly walked away from the divorce getting what they wanted.
Competency Issues in Family Law
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 2210(c), a marriage is voidable if either party to the contract is of unsound mind. In other words, if they are not competent to enter the marital contract, the marriage can later be annulled. Continue reading
Taxes and Divorce: 3 Common Mistakes to Avoid
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 derived from labor. This presumption ends at the date of separation. Any property acquired after the date of separation is presumed to be the separate property of the acquiring spouse.
Drew Barrymore Divorcing for the Third Time, What are the Odds?
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 seem too shocking. Surely we are all pretty familiar with the statistic that about 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce. It is a bit less widely recognized that for each time a person gets remarried, the higher their chances of divorcing become. Past statistics from the US Census bureau have showed that 60 percent of second marriages end and 73 percent of third marriages end in divorce.
Should a Spouse Receive Less in a Divorce because they are Terminally Ill?
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 this case, after a 30-year marriage, the parties had accumulated approximately $1.5 million in assets that had to be divided in their divorce.
Moore/Marsden – Determining the Community Interest in a Home after the Second Spouse is Added to Title
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 the age of the low interest rate, the basic formula is almost never used due to frequent refinancing. In the second post, we discussed how the formula applies to improvements. In this post, we will address one of the most common adjustments that need to be made to the formula (that usually occurs after a refinance): How do you calculate the community interest in one spouse’s separate property after the other spouse is added on title?
Traveling Abroad
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 blog should help to explain what issues you will face, what concerns are valid and how to go about getting an order allowing or preventing travel abroad with the children.
The Indian Child Welfare Act’s application to the case of Lexi from Santa Clarita
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 family – but Sunday could be the worst day for the lives of Rusty and Summer Page and their 6-year-old foster daughter, Lexi.
Lexi spent time in two other foster homes before the Pages took her to live with them and their three young children four years ago. Now, they want to adopt her.
“She’s a very happy girl and she’s a part of our family and we love her dearly,” Summer said.
Rusty added that Lexi moved in with them when she was only 2 years old and knows the couple as her mother and father.
But the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services plans to come to the Page family home Sunday to take Lexi away and send her to live with a family in Utah. The decision was made because of her heritage – she is 1.5 percent Choctaw.
Because of that, her case fell under the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law passed in the 1970s that aims to protect the best interests of Native American children and promote stability of tribal families.
Photographs and Memories
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 recreate a time machine, photographs and home videos are the only way we can go back in time to relive moments.