INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL IN FAMILY LAW PROCEEDINGS In the recent case of In re Marriage of Campi, 212 Cal.App.4th 1565 (2013), husband and wife of a twenty-year marriage decided to separate, and then disputed over the dissolution of their marriage for the following seven years. The husband requested a community property home become his separate property. The parties agreed… READ MORE
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Posts Categorized: Divorce
Does A Child Support Order In A Paternity Case Terminate Upon The Marriage Of the Parents:
The short answer is yes. In the case of Marriage of Wilson & Bodine, (2012) 207 Cal. App. 4th 768, a child support order was previously set through a paternity case when the parties had a child together prior to marriage. The parties subsequently married. Therefore, the obligee (parent receiving child support) sought to enforce the years of unpaid child… READ MORE
Default Judgments Must Match Divorce Petition Relief Sought
Default Judgments – Trial Courts Must Carefully Examine Petitioner’s Complaint A default judgment in dissolution of marriage cases is a judgment attained when the respondent does not respond to the case and the petitioner files a request with the court to move forward in the case without the respondent’s involvement. The word “default” is literally defined as a defendant’s (in… READ MORE
Bias in Custody Evaluations
When a Child Custody Evaluator Proves to Maintain a Bias, He or She Must be Removed and any Orders Therefrom Must be Vacated In the recent matter of Irmo Adams & A. (2012) (CA 4/3 – Opinion filed October 16, 2012), a 2008 stipulated divorce judgment provides for shared legal custody of the parties’ son and puts a scheduled parenting plan… READ MORE
When Paternity and Divorce Collide
Attorneys Specializing in Divorce and Paternity The recent case of Irmo Wilson & Bodine, (2012) (filed July 2012) presents an interesting cross-issue between paternity and divorce matters. Recall that there are typically two mechanisms in which to file a lawsuit for child custody orders, filing a Petition to Establish a Parental Relationship (called a paternity case) and Petition for Dissolution… READ MORE
Modification and Requests to Extend Spousal Support Orders
California Family Law Specialists in Spousal Support Issues In the recent case of Irmo Khera & Sameer, (2012) (filed from the 6th Dist. on June 19, 2012), the Court of Appeal decided on several important issues having to do with post-judgment modification requests to extend spousal support beyond an agreed upon time. Husband’s dissolution petition was filed in 2003. The… READ MORE
When is a Joinder in a Family Law Case Appropriate?
In family law cases (as well as “civil” cases generally), either party is allowed to request that the court “join” someone or some entity to the family law case. When the court “joins” a person or entity to a case it has the effect of that person/entity becoming a party to the case. In a recent unpublished opinion from District… READ MORE
Final Declaration of Disclosure in Divorce Needed for Discovery
What is A Declaration of Disclosure? All divorce cases filed in California require the exchange of “Declarations of Disclosure.” The Declarations of Disclosure are financial disclosures that each party to a divorce case must provide to the other side, and they consist of an Income & Expense Declaration as well as a Schedule of Assets and Debts. Those documents are… READ MORE
Watts Charges: What Constitutes Exclusive Use and Possession?
Husband’s presence in wife’s residence a couple of days per week simply to wash his clothes did not legally or factually diminish the wife’s exclusive possession and control of the residence. In Irmo Carlos, an unpublished opinion of District 2, Division 6 (Filed January 4, 2012), Wife filed a petition for dissolution in 2006 after 42 years of marriage. In 2007, the court entered… READ MORE
Tracing Separate Property can be a Difficult Task
California Upholds Strict Tracing Requirements for Reimbursement Claims In every California dissolution (divorce) proceeding, the court is required to divide the parties’ community property estate. The community estate includes the property acquired by either party during the marriage with several exceptions. Inheritances, for example, are not part of the community estate. In the division of the community estate, unless a party signs… READ MORE