The Norby’s, Kind Hearted Professionals and Divorce
It has become one of my life’s strivings to try to save as many families as possible from a litigated divorce. If you have followed my blog at all you will have gathered that it is my perspective that most couples shouldn’t need a Judge to step in and tell them how...
Divorce and Diving In.
I had a swimming class in high school which was my very first class of the day. We were supposed to dive in and swim a couple of warm up laps then meet the instructor at one side of the pool where the class would begin. The water was cold so each morning I would...
Divorce and Proceeding by Default.
To initiate a divorce in California, typically one spouse will file a Summons and Petition with the Court and then will take that paperwork and have it served on the other spouse. This paperwork places the other spouse on notice that they have 30 days to have a...
Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Top O’ the Mornin to Ya! With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would table divorce stuff for another week and share a little bit about what the day means to me and why. You might figure that with a name like Barney, I have some Irish...
Divorce and Taking a Moment to Breathe.
It is a Friday morning, and come noon I am going to sneak out of the office, drive up to Dana Point and catch a ferry over to Catalina Island. If you have not been to Catalina, it is like a Mediterranean desert isle with hillsides dotted in pastel colored houses,...
Divorce Reimbursement and Paying a Spouse’s Prior Support Obligations
Your situation may involve circumstances where you, or your spouse, was required to pay child or spousal support for a prior spouse or children outside of the marriage. These obligations need to be factored into the family finances during the marriage. So, what...
Paying for Appraisals and other Valuations in Divorce.
To be in a position to understand how to fairly divide assets and obligations in a divorce, we need to know their value. For complying with the Court’s disclosure requirements we are also required to place values on everything. For many assets this is an easy task. ...
Realtors and Divorce
One often challenging issue in divorce is sorting out what will happen to the family residence. I have written prior blogs about some of the options and considerations, including one spouse moving forward with a buyout, deferring the sale until the market is better...
Using Financial Professionals to Support a Healthy Divorce
Most people facing divorce think first and foremost to find a divorce attorney to move them through the process. I encourage couples to also look at hiring a mediator as a first resource. Whichever path is taken there are other professional resources to bring into...
Police Dogs, Bar Exams and Divorce Mediation
This past weekend I was cleaning up some old files and I happened across a copy of my old bar exam dated Tuesday morning, July 28, 1992. I didn’t even realize that I had kept a copy, yet here it was over 30 years later, reminding me of my beginnings in the law. At...