The idea that a husband should financially support his ex-wife in the form of monthly alimony payments after a divorce has remained a tenet in divorce law throughout the United States and in California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009, men accounted for 97% of alimony.  Alternatively, the idea that a dissolution order wherein both parties waive any right to past, present, or future alimony is FINAL has been perceived as an absolute in divorce law. Yet, both of these concepts are being challenged as the recession has given rise to greater numbers of unemployment and has depleted retirement and saving accounts.  According to statistics gathered by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, there has been a “spike” in clients seeking modification of their alimony obligations and attempts to rewrite divorce agreements.
Continue Reading

The road toward getting your California divorce judgment probably felt long and rough at times.  You worked hard to protect your family and financial interests during the divorce, and now you need to do the same after the divorce.  While not quite “deadly sins,” it’s still essential that you avoid these post-divorce mistakes before any damage is done.  You may want to ask yourself, are you guilty of any of the following? Continue Reading

Divorces in San Diego and throughout California can’t become final until at least six months after a spouse is served with divorce papers.  Usually, a divorce will take longer than this minimum waiting period.  Many steps need to be taken during the transition to protect your family, business, and finances.

For divorcing spouses who have kids, a Divorcesupport.com blog provides advice on how to best meet your children’s emotional needs during a divorce.  It cautions that you shouldn’t be the only one providing your kids with emotional support.  When family and friends aren’t enough, then look for counseling options.  You’re also encouraged to get emotional support for yourself, such as through a local support group, family, and friends. Continue Reading

Here in San Diego, there’s no shortage of ways for a divorcing spouse to spend away all of the couple’s assets during a divorce, if he or she really wanted to.  Thankfully for the other spouse or domestic partner, one important way that California deals with this concern is with “automatic temporary restraining orders.”

An automatic temporary restraining order (ATRO) sets out many ground rules that both spouses have to comply with during the divorce process, known as “dissolution of marriage” in California.  For the spouse who begins the divorce, the ATROs are effective when the divorce papers are filed in court.  For the spouse responding to the divorce, the order goes into effect once the divorce papers are served. Continue Reading

Adultery, insanity, collusion, cruelty, abandonment: In California, most of these circumstances relate more to the plot of a soap opera than to a divorce.  While any one of these could have actually motivated the divorce, a California judgment of dissolution (divorce) will be based only on either irreconcilable differences or (less likely) incurable insanity.  That’s because since 1970, California was the first state to implement the no-fault divorce.  Since then, many other states have followed suit, while others allow both fault and no fault divorces.  With a no fault divorce, the court can terminate the marriage without proving fault.  Compare this to a fault based divorce, where the termination will be granted only if you give and prove grounds for divorce within those reasons allowed by state law, or defend against these claims if you’re responding to a spouse’s petition for the divorce.  In a fault based divorce, the conduct of the spouse who’s found to be “at fault” may even be considered when deciding issues such as property division.  As of now, New York is the last state in the nation that doesn’t have a no fault ground for divorce.    Continue Reading