Marital Disputes
It is often said that home is where the heart is. The failure of marriage creates uncertainty and anxiety for both spouses and children. However, when problems threaten to tear your home apart, an experienced family law attorney can help you resolve these problems compassionately and professionally.
If you are involved in a marital dispute, our Family Law attorney will help you protect your rights and find a positive path to your future.
Pre-Marital and Post-Marital Agreements
Pre-Marital and Post-Marital agreements are common in California. Through these agreements, the spouses get an opportunity to make decisions regarding their legal rights and duties with respect to their property. These rights and duties are the base of their marriage and must be made under the Family and Property law of California.
In case the couple moves to another state, then these rights and duties must be reviewed in accordance with the laws of that state. These agreements are contracts and must be made following all the principles under the Law of contracts.
Analysis and Drafting of Pre-Marital and Post-Marital Agreements
A well-crafted premarital or postnuptial agreement can protect the financial interests of both spouses and any of their dependents, including ex-spouses and children from prior relationships.
Our services are available to draft prenuptial or postnuptial agreements, review prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, advise clients on their best interests, and negotiate changes to the proposed agreements.
Property Characterization
The most common dispute in divorce cases is how the property, debts, and assets will be divided between both spouses. According to the law of California, the property acquired during marriage must be divided between the spouses equally and fairly after the dissolution of the marriage. However, it must be noted that many complexities arise during this process. These disputes can only be solved by hiring a competent and experienced lawyer who has dealt with such cases before as well.
It must be noted that property acquired through gift and inheritance must not be added to this category and will not be divided between the spouses equally. The primary determination that is to be made in such cases is whether the property was acquired before or after the date of marriage in order for the court to reach a decision.
Business Valuations
Divorce cases in which valuation of business is involved tend to get more difficult and require specialized lawyers. Our experienced attorney possess the understanding of taxation, compensation, valuation principles, basic business knowledge, accounting principles and relevant case laws.
When valuing businesses, the following factors must be taken into consideration:
- Fair Market Value
- Investment Value
- Asset Value
Property Tracing
Even if property was acquired during the marriage, its community or separate character might ultimately depend on whether the funds used to acquire it were community or separate property funds. Thus, the community or separate character of property can be traced back to the funds that the parties used to acquire it.
Tracings may be required by California law in a number of settings in order to find out what each spouse’s share of the community property is. Tracing can also be used to determine the character of loan proceeds, such as money received through refinancing a house.
Child Support
Child support can be defined as the sum of money that a court orders one of the parents or both of them to pay every month that will be used only for the child’s expenses. In California, there are various factors that the court considers in order to determine child support. One of those factors is how much the parent earns, how much time the parent spends with the child and tax deductions. These things will help in determining child support value. The custodial parent will be automatically spending more time with the child so the child support payments will be made to the custodial parent. According to the current California law, it has been noted that custodial parents tend to spend money directly on the children.
Spousal Support
Spousal support is commonly known as alimony. These are the payments which one spouse makes to the other spouse after an order for divorce or separation has been given by the court. In most cases, the spouse that has a higher income has to provide spousal support to the other partner. The court can order the spouse with a higher income to make monthly payments to the other spouse in a pending divorce case.
Breach of Fiduciary Duties
Oftentimes spouses fail to perform their legal obligations towards each other. Under section 721 of the California Family Code, the spouses owe each other specific fiduciary duties. Married couples and business partners are governed under the same type of rules. Therefore, if one of the parties breach a fiduciary duty that he or she owes to his or her partner, then the other party will be entitled to certain legal remedies. In case your spouse has breached any of his or her fiduciary duty owed towards you, then under the California Family Law, the court can award you the following awards:
- Sanctions
- Fees of the attorney
- Other costs
- Your assets
Domestic Violence issues
A lot of times false domestic violence allegations are brought to the court for harming the reputation of the other party, and such false allegations are common in divorce and child custody cases. Make sure to hire an experienced domestic violence attorney who will not let the courts be manipulated by these false allegations and will defend the party to the fullest. Our lawyers will provide support to both the victims of domestic violence of those against whom false allegations of domestic violence have been made.
Hire a California Family Law Attorney for Solving your Marital Disputes
Resolving a marital dispute can be challenging and stressful if you try to do it alone. If you are going through a marital dispute, then get in contact with our highly skilled and experienced family law attorneys who have dealt with many cases of the same nature and will ensure that the decision is made in your favor.