We pride ourselves in our ability to properly advise and instruct our clients on legal matters, then meet or exceed their expectations. We are a results-driven law firm with experience in all aspects of divorce and paternity proceedings. Below are some of the successes our clients have enjoyed. If you have any questions regarding the legal issues in a particular case, or if you want advice regarding your legal situation, please do not hesitate on contacting us. Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee any results for any specific matter and the examples below may not necessarily occur in your particular case. We offer free confidential consultations, so you have nothing to lose while you discover why hundreds of people before you made us their attorneys.
Located in Los Angeles and serving all of Southern California, the law firm of Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP, represents clients in family law matters.
Family Law Cases
While our attorneys have extensive experience negotiating and litigating many family law issues, here are some specific examples of our successes:
Asset Concealment
In a case involving concealment and misrepresentation of high-value assets located outside of the United States, our attorneys were able to work with investigators and local counsel to uncover information concerning the hidden and misrepresented assets. The uncovered information was vital to the outcome of the case and provided our client with a favorable settlement.
complex settlement negotiation
In several recent cases, our attorneys were able to negotiate and settle complex matters involving significant real estate and investment assets. In one case, Mr. Wilkinson successfully negotiated the settlement of a high-conflict divorce matter involving several million dollars in real property assets, business entity assets, and liquid assets. Mr. Wilkinson used a combination of negotiating tactics to achieve the excellent result. In another case, Mr. Finkbeiner successfully mediated a high-conflict matter involving several distressed properties, and helped the parties reach a collaborative agreement.
child custody and move-away
Mr. Finkbeiner recently succeeded at trial in preventing the move-away by a mother across the country with the parties’ one-year old child. After trial involving oral testimony from several witnesses and argument, the Court denied the mother’s request to move to the East Coast even though the father had less than ten percent timeshare with the minor child. Mr. Finkbeiner also recently achieved success in a complex matter allowing a move-away for his client that Mr. Finkbeiner successfully joined into a family law case, even though she was not the child’s biological parent. Mr. Wilkinson recently litigated a case involving several complex issues pertaining to domestic violence, legal and physical custody. After a day-long trial, Mr. Wilkinson obtained a judgment granting his client sole legal and physical custody with supervised visitations for the other parent. Finally, our attorneys have recently blocked a move-away requested by a mother where the father had minimal visitation rights but proved parental alienation, succeeded in achieving a court-order allowing a non-parent to move-away with a child over the objection of both biological parents, and prevailed in a change of custody and move away case for a member of the United States military.
child and spousal support
Our attorneys have litigated hundreds of child support, spousal support and support modification cases. We are familiar with the complex set of laws pertaining to California guideline child support, as well as the rules pertaining to temporary and permanent spousal support. In several recent cases, our attorneys successfully negotiated child support and spousal support orders involving high-profile public figures.
military cases
Our attorneys have represented both military and spouses of military personnel. We are familiar with the rules pertaining to the division of military retirement. Recently, Mr. Finkbeiner arranged for his client to secure her community interest in her husband’s military retirement benefits by assisting in the acquisition of a Domestic Relations Order and serving the Order on DFAS. Finally, following a recent lengthy trial, our attorneys obtained a court-ordered judgment granting our military client sole legal and physical custody of a minor child with supervised visitations for the biological mother.
attorney fees
Our attorneys have successfully negotiated and litigated the issue of payment of attorney fees and costs for our clients. There are a variety of legal methods to secure payment of attorney fees and costs from the other party, which include requests under Cal. Fam. Code § 2030, sanctions under Cal. Fam. Code § 271, and other statutes. Our attorneys utilize the function of the Family Court as a law of equity for our client’s best interests. In several cases, our attorneys have won significant attorney fees and sanctions awards for our clients, several awards exceeding tens of thousands of dollars.
arrears
Mr. Wilkinson recently litigated a case wherein a government agency (Department of Child Support Services), through the California State Franchise Board, levied the client’s bank account due to a child support case that was significantly in arrears. Mr. Wilkinson sought and achieved an order from the court that forced the Department of Child Support Services to return the levied funds to the client. The court found that the levy was unlawful. Additionally, our attorneys recently obtained a judgment for over one-quarter of a million dollars against a child support obligor for unpaid principal owing and accrued interest. Finally, our attorneys negotiated the release of our client’s passport after the Department of Child Support Services notified the State Department that the client was over $2500 in child support arrears.
enforcement cases
In another very complex matter, Mr. Finkbeiner obtained a successful outcome for payment of arrears and life insurance proceeds from the decedent’s estate after the death of a parent, where the parties’ family law judgment provided terms for support and maintenance of a life insurance policy. Mr. Finkbeiner successfully obtained an injunction securing the funds in an out of state financial institution until the case was resolved.
pre-marital and post-marital agreements
The lawyers at Wilkinson & Finkbeiner, LLP have drafted and negotiated countless pre-marital and post-marital agreements. In several recent cases, Mr. Wilkinson drafted quality and client-specific agreements to protect separate property assets, which varied from California family law guidelines. Mr. Finkbeiner also recently negotiated a multifaceted and complex agreement concerning a successful hotel property.
guardianships
Our attorneys have extensive experience in dealing with cases involving guardianship of minor children. In a guardianship case, a non-parent petitions the court seeking an order allowing the proposed guardian to exercise custody of a child’s person and/or estate. In one matter, our attorneys obtained a guardianship order for grandparent petitioners.
restraining orders
In addition to representing many clients in high-conflict restraining order matters, Mr. Finkbeiner has lectured at the San Diego County Bar Association on the topic of restraining orders (prosecuting and defending) and how to properly present evidence at trial.
breach of fiduciary duty
Our attorneys have extensively litigated the issue of breach of fiduciary duty by a spouse as the breach pertains to Cal. Fam. Code §§ 721, 1100, and 2100, et seq. Recently, we litigated several separate trials and succeeded on our client’s claims of breach of fiduciary duty against their spouse. In one case, a husband liquidated a community property 401(k) account and the court found that not only must the husband pay wife her community share of the account the husband was ordered to pay attorney’s fees as a sanction. In another case, after a lengthy trial, the court found that a husband breached his fiduciary duty to his wife, our client, and ordered significant sanctions against the husband.
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