Child Custody

12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hiring a Divorce (Legal) Coach

What is a Legal Coach? Depending on the complexity of your case and your financial circumstances, a legal coach may be a great way to obtain assistance with your Divorce or Domestic Partnership Dissolution. Legal coaches or consulting attorney’s (similar to LC’s but usually limited to advice, strategy and assistance with drafting documents vs. a LC who may also guide you through the process of represented yourself). can be a really great way to get you through your legal action without …
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Hello Divorce Launches, Bringing Divorce Online and On-Demand

You asked, We listened: DIY Divorce — With a little (flat fee) legal help along the way. Over the last several years, our family law practice has evolved, grown, transitioned and modernized. In so doing, we have been lucky enough to work with a unique clientele – The savvy, smart, curious client who is most interested in taking an active role in their matter to attain the best result possible — a strategic path primarily influenced by a cost/benefit analysis …
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10 Important Laws you Need to Know (if you’re getting a divorce)

We’ve compiled some of the most important statutes and laws that pertain to California Divorce. While there are many more that may be at issue in your separation, we thought this would be a great primer. We will definitely follow up with a ‘Part 2’ of this article soon! 1.    Spousal Support (Family Code Section 4320): While pre judgment spousal support is generally calculated using a formula, long term spousal support is determined by review of various factors. Some of the …
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Apps and Websites to Make Co-parenting (a little) Easier

Our Family Wizard:  Our Family Wizard is a wonderful way to simplify shared custody. As an added bonus, it’s a great way to gather evidence if your ex refuses to cooperatively co parent and you need to request orders from the court granting you more custodial time, sole legal custody on one or more issue pertaining to your children (e.g. school choice or medical/mental health needs) and/or requiring your ex to ‘play ‘fair.’ OFW is a web platform and app …
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Get Better Results in Court by Knowing your Judge

When preparing for court, it’s always important that you know the law and how it applies to the facts of your case. We are always preparing clients for their best and worst case scenarios before entering the courtroom. But managing your expectations about what the likely result be if you litigate your case is more than knowing the law or rules of evidence. Understanding your judge is a very big part of presenting your case in court. If you are …
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Child Support Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s face it. California’s child support laws are not intuitive. I find that much of Family Law is just about having good common sense – except for child support, that is. I mean, I get the most perplexed looks from clients who ask me why the child support the receive went down even after their ex spouse remarried a wealthy new spouse or why they have to pay more child support even though their net disposable income has gone down …
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Presenting Evidence in Family Court, Part 1

Most people (even some lawyers) don’t expect the Evidence Code to apply in family law — in the same way that we see it used in Criminal or Civil Law. The fact is, that it most often does. Even when we are in front of a judge who has a more informal approach (allows evidence to be considered without meeting all of the legal criteria), general knowledge of the rules of evidence can really help you to gain a legal …
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How Social Media Can Undermine your Divorce Action

More than ever, litigants and lawyers are using social media to collect information that they can use as ‘evidence’ in a Family Law Case. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and various dating websites are all popular places to look when in the midst of a messy divorce. Why are social media posts important to a Divorce or other Family Law action? Most of us with a smartphone spend a lot of time tapped into some form of social media. Popular posts …
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Finalizing the Divorce that Won’t Quit

We’ve resolved all issues but I don’t know what to do next? Even uncontested divorces can be tricky to finalize when you are not an experienced divorce attorney. In California, if you and your spouse have agreed on all issues (child custody, child support, spousal support, property & debt division and attorney fees), you can proceed by a process called ‘default’ which allows you to finalize your divorce without the other party filing all of the mandatory forms and without …
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The Modern Legal Client: Taking matters into their own hands

‘We settled!’ I love hearing those words — especially when they are followed by ‘Great Result!’ These days lawyers need to get creative. We need to think ‘outside the box’ and tailor our legal services to the financial and emotional needs of our client. Savvy Family Law clients have found access to free or low cost online resources such as online case forms, chat rooms and support groups, laws and codes, and local court procedure. One of the first things …
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