I provide a free initial consultation for family law matters. This gives me an opportunity to meet with a potential client, learn about their situation and decide how I can most effectively represent them. I then prepare a detailed representation agreement that describes the specific legal services that I will provide in that particular case along with a fixed fee for those services. In a prior post, I suggested five questions to help you choose a family law attorney. Below are five things to bring with you to an initial consultation to help you and the family law attorney evaluate your case. Read more of this post.
In a divorce proceeding, bifurcation is the division of the divorce into into two or more parts. In California, bifurcation is governed by California Family Law Code Section 2337. There are two types of bifurcation. In the first, the parties bifurcate the divorce by severing the issue of marital status from all other issues to obtain a “status-only divorce.” In the second, the parties bifurcate a single key issue from the rest of the case, and have a mini-trial to resolve that key issue. Both types of bifurcation can be especially useful to people getting divorced in today’s economic downturn.
Certain parts of a divorce such as the division and valuation of property, child custody, child support and spousal support can take longer to resolve than we would like. This is equally true whether the parties are negotiating or are preparing for trial. They may bifurcate the issue of marital status and reserve the court’s jurisdiction over all other matters. This can give them the peace of mind knowing that they are divorced, can move on with their lives, and can even remarry, while knowing that they will have the time necessary to properly resolve the other divorce issues.
Filing for dissolution of marriage in California requires that one of the parties meets certain residency requirements. Specifically he or she must have been a resident of the state of California for the last 6 months, and of the particular county where the case is filed for the last 3 months. I wrote about California’s residency requirements for a dissolution of marriage in a previous blog post.
After the petition for dissolution of marriage has been filed with the court, and properly served with a summons on the other party, the parties must wait a minimum of 6 months to become divorced. This 6 month waiting period cannot be shortened no matter how simple the matter, how amicable the parties, or how much they want the divorce to be finalized. In many cases, the parties are able to resolve all marital issues including division of property, spousal support, child support, and child custody in less than 6 months and are left counting the days until they can be divorced. Read more of this post.
Here are three legal terms that you should think about if you are thinking about filing for divorce:
One part of a divorce is the division of property. California is a community property state. All property obtained by either party during marriage is presumed to be community property and jointly owned 50/50, unless the acquisition of the property was the result of a gift or inheritance. Any property acquired during marriage that can be traced to separate property is also separate property. All other property, including property that was acquired before marriage or after the date of separation is separate property. Certain actions and/or agreements Read more of this post.
You can file for divorce in California if you have adequate grounds and meet the residency requirements.
California is a no-fault divorce state. Legally adequate grounds for divorce, under California Family Code Section 2310 are “incurable insanity” and “irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable dissolution of the marriage.” Residency for purposes of divorce requires that one party has lived in the state of California for the last 6 months, and in the particular county where the divorce will be filed for the last 3 months.
Los Angeles Family Law Attorney - Disclaimer: The contents of this website may be an "Advertisement" as defined by the Rules of Professional Conduct and California Business and Professions Code. It is informational and is not intended as formal legal advice. The information contained in this website is general in nature and may not have application to particular factual or legal circumstances. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until we have signed a formal written attorney-client agreement. Any result described herein depended on the facts and circumstances of that particular case and is not a promise or guarantee of results for your case. You should consult a family law attorney to discuss your case. We are licensed to practice law in the state of California. This advertisement is void where prohibited by law. Contact a Los Angeles Family Law Lawyer to schedule a consultation.
© 2009 Law Offices of Evan Braunstein - All rights reserved. Los Angeles Divorce Attorneys and Los Angeles Family Law Lawyers serving Los Angeles.
