Divorce Is Difficult, But We Will Guide You Through It
Divorce can be a difficult, emotional, and life-changing event. We understand that you are likely battling emotions of guilt, anger, loneliness or sadness during this process. It is important to remember that you don’t have to endure this time alone.
As experienced divorce attorneys, our job is to ensure that you are securing a future for yourself and your family, financially and emotionally. We offer expert family law services with compassion and confidentiality. We are here to help you through the entire process of divorce, from filing for divorce to negotiating child custody and/or alimony.
Once we have decided on your specific goals and what’s of utmost importance to you, our divorce attorneys will take steps to protect your rights and ensure you aren’t saddled with a divorce settlement you’ll regret in the long run.
We have years of experience and have the ability to devise the best strategy possible to help you resolve your divorce or family law issue, so you can move on with your life.
Get the Family Law Advocate You Deserve
When you become a client, you become our priority. Given the emotional, financial and legal impact of a divorce on you and your family, we work closely with you through every step of the process to ensure that you receive the attention that you need and deserve. You can expect exceptional service, promptly returned phone calls and emails, respect, and courtesy.
Types of Divorces in California
Few California divorces are ever alike. Each divorce case has its own share of issues. Some divorce proceedings are quick and easy while others can drag on for an extended period of time, maybe even years.
The complexity of your divorce case depends on your specific issues and the willingness of you and your spouse with regards to resolving your case amicably and cooperatively.
Whether you have a short-term marriage, one of a long-term nature, have an immense amount of assets to divide or are going through a military divorce, we can help you and your spouse come to an agreement that is fair and mutually-beneficial to both parties.
Uncontested vs. Contested Divorce
One of the major contributors to a complex divorce is when neither party is willing to compromise. Even if one party is amicable, if the other possesses animosity it can make for challenging divorce process.
Ideally, you and your spouse will have a general idea of how assets will be divided and liabilities shared so that you both can move on with your lives. You can then hire the services of an experienced San Diego divorce attorney to help you and your spouse form a proper strategy for moving forward with the divorce.
Even if your spouse isn’t playing nice, an experienced attorney can fight for your rights during divorce so that you get the best possible outcome for the benefit of your future and the future of any children involved.
The Typical Divorce
In the state of California, it pays to have an expert divorce attorney by your side as you contemplate and file for divorce. The first step is to file for divorce, which can be assisted by a qualified attorney. The complaint will be served to your spouse and they’ll have thirty days to answer the complaint.
There are various options available to you when it comes to California divorce. There is divorce mediation, which involves you and your spouse sitting down cooperatively in order to settle your divorce outside of court.
There is also a temporary hearing, which typically occurs early on in the divorce process. This is the stage where evidence will be gathered and options considered in order to form a cohesive divorce strategy. Your attorney can help you dig down to the details so that you can navigate the division of assets and liabilities, settle child support and custody issues, and more.
Next comes a late stage evaluation of judicial hosted settlement conference, which is generally accepted as a way to refrain from engaging in a long and expensive court battle.
If the divorce case needs to go to court, which means that the spouses weren’t able to come to a fair and mutually-agreeable settlement, both sides will argue for things like alimony, child support, child custody, and other issues.
Ideally, you and your spouse will settle on the important issues before going to court. In order to resolve your divorce quickly and to get the best possible outcome for your case, hire a professional San Diego family lawyer to stand by your side.
To get more information about different types of divorce in the state of California, click here.
Call Today for a Free Consultation
At Griffith, Young, and Lass, we make your case our top priority. We will work closely with you to understand your case and ascertain your goals in order to form a cohesive divorce strategy.
If you are separated from your spouse or are considering separation and divorce, we can help. Call a knowledgeable and qualified California family law attorney for a free consultation.
During this consultation, we will explain the details of the California divorce process and help you prepare for your upcoming divorce case. We will, of course, prepare for a settlement but will be prepared to go to court if necessary. You can rest assured that your divorce case will be in the best of hands.
Our divorce attorneys have proven track records for helping our clients achieve fair and agreeable outcomes for their cases with regards to child custody, alimony, child support, and other crucial details. You can start the process by calling Griffith, Young, and Lass, now serving clients throughout San Diego, Carlsbad, Vista, and San Marcos, California.
Asset Division
There are two key concepts to keep in mind when it comes to proper division of assets during divorce. First, you and your spouse will need to define the assets that represent community property, which are those assets that will be divided between both spouses.
Community Property
California community property law states that assets and debts that are acquired from the date of the marriage onward and through the date of separation are characterized as community property. These assets and liabilities are then subject to equal division between the husband and wife.
Separate Property
Unlike community property, separate property in California are those assets and debts that are acquired prior to entering the marriage. These items can include real estate, investments, retirement savings, and cash.
Spousal Support/Alimony
In a California divorce, a spouse may be required to pay temporary or permanent spousal support, otherwise referred to as alimony.
A judge may deem that spousal support is required if the status quo needs to be maintained between spouses as separation turns to divorce.
In many cases, alimony will be temporary and a final date of payment will be listed in the California divorce decree.
Permanent spousal support is sometimes granted if the other spouse has limited income potential or other factors exist that require the paying spouse to maintain a specific quality of life.
Spousal Support Factors to Consider
Judges presiding over divorce cases take many factors into consideration when determining the amount and duration of spousal support, including the marriage length, health and age of each spouse, the earning potential of both parties, education levels, periods of unemployment due to child-rearing, and many more.
Child Custody
Aside from the division of assets and alimony calculations, child custody issues tend to plague many California divorce cases. There are essentially two types of child custody cases in California. There are legal and physical custody cases.
With legal custody, the parent has legal power to make important decisions regarding the welfare of the children, such as health issues, schooling, specifics about general welfare, and others.
Physical custody orders address the children’s physical location and orders regarding co-parenting. True joint physical custody or 50-50 custody is where time is equally shared between parents. The alternative is for one parent to hold primary custody and the other parent to hold custodial custody, whereby visitation orders will be settled during the divorce process.
Child Support
Even though the parents of a family may be divorcing, both spouses are still financially obligated to the rearing of their children. Even if the parents share joint custody, one parent may be required to pay child support to the other.
Child support is calculated using a number of variables, such as the number of children, respective timeshares, gross monthly income of both parents, among other considerations.
Child Support Add-Ons
A family law court judge may order other child support recommendations, such as paying for half of uninsured medical expenses, including co-pays and deductibles. Others include half of all daycare expenses, and others.
