If a California family court order is disobeyed, there are many different ways to compel compliance, but can a person be jailed if, for example, child support isn’t paid? Through the court’s “contempt power,” many family court orders that have been violated can potentially be punished with jail time. On the other hand, the U.S. and California constitutions protect people from being put in jail just for having unpaid debts. In the case of spousal support (alimony) or child support, even though money is owed, the payments are not seen as “debts” because they arise from legal obligations created when you have children or get married, which is why jail can be imposed for willfully violating the court order. Continue Reading
Just recently, an AP article published in the San Diego Union Tribune reports that for a middle-income family, a child born in 2008 will cost (in current dollars) about $221,000 to raise through age 17. When adjusted for inflation, this figure jumps to an estimated $292,000, as forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Their annual report helps state governments and courts determine child support guidelines.
Even without reading the report, you know that raising children is expensive and always a challenge, but for divorced parents, child support can create additional concerns. For example, what happens when a parent’s income grows, or if a parent loses a job? Continue Reading
As we all know, it’s still a buyers market here in California, and you and your partner may be thinking about pooling your resources and buying a home together. This can be a great investment, but it can also turn out to be a costly mistake if you don’t take the right steps. Consider the story of a woman and her boyfriend who bought a townhouse together, as told in a Christian Science Monitor article by Marilyn Gardner. She had contributed a smaller portion of the down payment, and had been paying part of the mortgage, but the home was titled in her boyfriend’s name only. When they broke up, he kept the home and the equity, and she lost all the money she had put in. Continue Reading
Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” but in lands far away from California, two men in Germany and Cambodia have proven otherwise. In 2007, a German man divorcing his wife took a chainsaw to his wooden house, splitting it in two and then transported his newly redesigned home to his brother’s property. The following year, it happened again. This time the setting was Cambodia, where a man similarly decided that the court system’s idea of property division just wasn’t for him. Instead, he sawed his home in half before moving it to his parents’ property. Continue Reading
Whether it’s true or not that divorce rates rise when the economy falls, it’s no surprise that San Diego divorces are affected by the recession in one way or another. A Time article points out that for some persons who are seeking divorce, it makes financial sense to divide assets now while businesses and stocks are valued lower. Meanwhile, others find themselves living together after separation because they can’t afford to maintain separate households. Continue Reading
If you’re getting married, then you should think about how California’s community property rules will affect you, and whether there’s a better way for you to promote your financial goals. You may have heard that after seven years together, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart confirmed they’re getting married, and I can’t help but wonder-will there be a prenup? Thinking back to another famous Hollywood marriage, the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes prenuptial agreement reportedly provides Holmes from between $3 to $33 million per year, according to MSNBC. Continue Reading
If your California divorce decree says that you or your former spouse will give up the right to the other’s pension, is it ever possible for that spouse to be paid the benefits anyway? San Diego divorcées and soon to be ex-spouses alike should pay attention, because earlier this year the United States Supreme Court ruled on this question in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings & Investment Plan. Continue Reading
Even though the California Supreme Court reached its decision to uphold the same-sex marriage ban, both Proposition 8 supporters and opponents still have a lot of work ahead of them. The Los Angeles Times reports that fund raising efforts have begun on both sides, as the possibility of voter re-amendment of the constitution in 2010 to restore gay marriage is being planned. Strangely enough, the two rival lawyers in the Bush v. Gore case are now working together and have set the stage for a federal challenge to Proposition 8, as discussed in the San Diego Union Tribune. Continue Reading
If you’re thinking about how to handle your California divorce and protect your assets, you may want to take into account the divorce of millionaire H. Beatty Chadwick. He’s never been charged with a crime, but since 1995 he’s been jailed for civil contempt after $2.5 million didn’t turn up during his divorce proceedings. When will he get out? Possibly not until he produces the money. While his wife believes he hid the money in offshore bank accounts, Chadwick maintains he lost the money in a failed overseas investment. It’s important to protect your financial interests, but hiding assets or hiding money behind fraudulent business transactions is never the answer. Continue Reading
