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...
It wasn’t too long ago when I wrote about how little guideline child support has changed over the past 30 years. Change is now afoot. The California legislature has adopted SB-343 which modifies the formula for calculating child support and makes some notable...
I was recently reading through a study that provided a variety of divorce related statistics. One such statistic indicated that the average length of a marriage ending in divorce was 7.8 years for men and 7.9 years for women. In this week’s blog we will explore some...
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...
Why is it that people get married? Just speaking from my own experience, about 27 years ago my wife and I decided that we had found a partner that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with. We enjoyed being with each other, inspired one another and shared dreams...
Perhaps one of the most challenging and time consuming tasks required in a California divorce is disclosure. Before a Judge will grant a divorce or legal separation both parties must certify that they have fully disclosed all of their assets and liabilities, have...
This week is a week of change for me. My wonderful assistant, Rosie, is saying goodbye and my new assistant Brianna is coming into the fold. We are creatures of habit and change can be uncomfortable, challenging and stressful. It is a part of life and the sooner we...
Perhaps one of the most difficult things that parents must grapple with when the decision is made to divorce is accepting that they no longer have the opportunity to spend every day with their children. Factoring in the need for children to attend school and the...
I have been developing a writing practice where I get up each morning at 5:00 a.m. when the house is still sleeping, I grab my cup of coffee and sit down in the quiet to write. I will write about whatever comes to mind and the one requirement I have is that it is to...
Discover the intricacies of managing student loan debt during divorce. This guide elaborates on how the Family Code 2641 influences debt division and how to safeguard your financial wellbeing in a divorce scenario with student loans. Explore key aspects such as divorce and student loans, student loan debt divorce, and student loan forgiveness divorce.
Introduction Recently, a client approached me to have her marriage annulled because she had married someone who was in prison, and they never lived together or consummated the marriage. However, an annulment was not possible in this situation, and the couple had to...
Several years ago there was a well known San Diego Divorce case that involved the divorcing couple fighting over ownership of their dog. The Judge had allowed the couple to put on an entire trial over ownership and “custody” of the dog after which the Judge made...
A big part of what makes divorce so challenging is that divorcing couples are asked to make very important decisions related to their children, their property and their finances during a time of emotional turmoil. Divorce mediation takes it one step further and asks...