California Family Law Blog

Mike Robinson, a lobbyist in California, says he has multiple Republican sponsors who are willing to draft legislation to amend California’s domestic violence laws so that they refer to “victims” of domestic violence and not just women. This language, he says, has been approved by the Legislative Counsel. He is also looking for a Democratic sponsor.

Also, earlier this year, a group of man who claim they were threatened and battered by their wives appeared in court. In Woods v. California, the four plaintiffs said that they did not receive their constitutionally mandated equal protection when they sought out police safeguards and shelter service as victims of domestic violence.The plaintiffs in the case did not seek any damages. Instead, they intended to force gender-neutral law enforcement services related to the state’s health, penal, and government codes.

Robinson and the plaintiffs in Woods say they are not trying to reduce the services available to battered women, they are merely asking for services for men.

Continue reading " Advocates For Male Domestic Violence Victims Move Closer Toward Gender-Neutral Laws " »

In an effort to help more than 8,000 California children receive financial support from their parents, San Mateo County is launching a pilot program designed to obligate parents to financially support their children.

California Senate Bill 523, proposed by Senator Leland Yee, lets a judge order an unemployed parent to get a job when a child support order is issued. If a parent doesn’t follow the mandate, he or she can face contempt charges and end up in jail. If successful, the county-only program could become a model for the entire state of California.

Right now, California courts are not allowed to go after noncustodial parents who are delinquent with their payments unless 120 days have passed. During this time, interest is accruing on the debt and the kids are not receiving child support. 41% of cases usually become delinquent after four months, and six to nine months must pass before parents can be found in contempt.

The California Department of Child Support Services answers a number of Frequently Asked Questions regarding child support in the state of California, including the following:

Continue reading " Child Support Pilot Program In San Mateo County May Order Unemployed Moms And Dads To Get A Job Or Go To Jail " »

Sportscaster Jim Lampley has been ordered to complete a 52-week long domestic violence counseling course and serve three years probation. He is also mandated to do 40 hours of volunteer service and pay $674. The announcer pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge that he violated a restraining order to stay away from his ex-girlfriend whom he is accused of attacking on New Year’s Eve. In criminal law, pleading “no contest” in a criminal court has an effect equal to pleading guilty.

The judge also issued a protective order, which forbids Lampley from coming within 100 yards of Candice Sanders, his ex-girlfriend, for three years. The order can only be changed if Sanders consents to it.

Sanders, a former Miss California USA, had a temporary order against Lampley. He violated the order and was arrested when he showed up at her house. He was released, posting a $35,000 bail.

Continue reading " California Sports Announcer Jim Lampley Pleads No Contest To Violating Restraining Order " »

When filing for divorce, it is important to be aware of the tax rules regulating spousal support and child support:

Child Support
This is not included on a recipient’s tax return. It is also not deductible on the return of the ex-spouse paying child support.

Spousal Support
This must be reported on the recipient’s tax return as income. It is deductible against the payer’s gross income.

If an ex-spouse pays less than the alimony and child support amounts ordered under the divorce degree, the excess over the total child support required will be what is considered alimony.

Continue reading " Divorce, Spousal Support, Child Support, and Taxes " »

Donna Black is asking a San Diego court to grant her the status of “Putative Spouse.” James and Donna Black filed for divorce a few years ago—although the proceedings hit a snag when Black admitted to still having been married to someone else when he married Donna in 1978. Apparently, his first marriage was several days away from being officially terminated when he tied the knot a second time. A court in Tennessee therefore found his second marriage to be not valid and, therefore, Donna was not entitled to their community property, such as the shares he owns in the Biopraxis, the biotech company in San Diego that he helped build. The admission also prevented James, 75 from having to pay spousal support to Donna. Donna and James have three children together.

In California, if any member of a couple believes that they were in a valid marriage that was actually void, a court can declare that one or both parties be given the status of putative spouse. This person could then be entitled to receive alimony and a division of the former couple’s joint property.

Community property is characterized as all of the property, assets, and debts that each party in a couple acquired during a marriage. As California is a community property state, when a couple divorces, they must equally divide their community property unless they signed a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement where other arrangements was made.

Hiding assets to prevent the other party in a divorce proceeding from obtaining their equal share of the community property is illegal.

Examples of How Someone Might Hide Their Assets:
· Paying a salary to an employer that does not exist
· Not letting the government know about certain streams of income
· Asking one’s employer to delay the date of bonuses or raises
· Hiding money in their child’s name
· Hiding assets in a safe deposit box

Continue reading " Woman Is Asking California Court To Grant Her “Putative Spouse” Status, As Bigamy And Dementia Complicates Divorce Proceedings " »

An Iowa woman whose 5-year-old daughter was kidnapped and killed in 2005 has been ordered to give up her parental rights to her two sons, who have been in foster care since their sister’s murder. Miller has been granted one more visit with her sons, ages 2 and 3, who will become eligible for adoption.

The boys’ sister, Evelyn, then 5, disappeared from their apartment in July 2005. Miller says that she came home after her overnight job to discover the front door partially open and her boyfriend and their two sons asleep. A massive search ensued, and Evelyn’s body was eventually found in the Cedar River. Her death was declared a homicide. No charges have been filed in connection to her murder and the investigation continues to this day.

Casey Frederiksen, the father of the boys, voluntarily signed away his parental rights, but Miller, who has been hospitalized for mental health problems, opposed the juvenile judge’s decision that she give up her children. According to the judge, the two boys had spent more than six months removed from their parents’ physical custody and that neither parent had kept up a significant amount of meaningful contact or tried to resume caring for them.

Frederiksen is serving time in prison for a child pornography conviction. His friend Danny Slick, who was one of the last people to see Evelyn alive the night she disappeared, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to the police investigating her death. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 21, 2007.

Continue reading " Woman Whose Daughter Was Murdered Loses Legal Custody Of Her Two Sons " »

A recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found that nearly half of its members have seen an increase in postnuptial agreements. A postnuptial agreement is agreed to after the marriage and delineates how assets will be divided in the event of divorce. A couple that agrees to a postnuptial agreement generally has the desire to stay married. Child custody, spousal support, and child support are some of the issues that can be covered in a postnuptial agreement.

Unlike prenuptial agreements, there is no Act that exists which applies to postnuptial agreements. This means that a postnuptial agreement may be held to a higher standard of scrutiny by the courts.

Writing A Postnuptial Agreement

When writing a postnuptial agreement, it is important to make sure that you and your spouse discuss a number of matters, including the following:

· Any joint assets and debts
· Future income
· Current existing concerns about your financial lifestyle

Continue reading " Postnuptial Agreements After Marriage Are Growing In Popularity " »

Authorities in Mexico City have arrested an American couple for trying to illegally adopt a baby in Mexico. The couple, who both have California driver’s licenses, face charges of trying to buy or rob a child. They are being held at a local jail. While the husband is claiming total responsibility for what occurred, the wife told local journalists that she has wanted a baby for a long time but that the adoption process she became involved in didn’t meet legal standards.

For American citizens who wish to adopt a child from another country, there are proper legal channels that must be taken in order to ensure that the international adoption is legal and valid. It is important for prospective parents to know about the adoptions laws in the country where the child is from, as well as the laws that govern the immigration process that parents will have to follow in order to bring their child to live in the United States.

The U.S. State Department offers information regarding adopting a child from Mexico, including the following:

The State System for the Full Development of the Family (Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, or DIF) is a government institution in each Mexican state that handles family matters. The DIF and the Mexican Foreign Relations are assigned responsibility to study each child’s eligibility for intercountry adoption and arrange adoptions. The DIF determines whether a family would be suitable for a particular child by ensuring that a home study has been done. The DIF makes every effort to place children with relatives or Mexican citizens living in Mexico before placing children for inter-country adoption.

Continue reading " California Couple Arrested After Trying To Illegally Adopted A Baby In Mexico " »

A judge in Los Angeles is ordering Anna Nicole Smith to have her baby daughter Dannielynn Hope take a paternity test by February 21. If Smith decides not to have her daughter complete the test by the deadline, then she must fly back to L.A. to explain the reason for her delay.

The paternity lawsuit against Smith was filed by photographer Larry Birkheard in October. He says that he and Smith had a 2 ½ year affair and that he is Dannielynn Hope’s father. Smith denies that she and the photographer were romantically involved and says that Howard K. Stern, her boyfriend and attorney, is her daughter’s father. Birkhead wants Dannielynn Hope to take a paternity test. He has also filed a civil action against Smith and Stern with a Bahamian court. He claims that Stern and Smith acted fraudulently when they named Stern as the baby’s father on her birth certificate.

Yesterday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald Schnider ruled that Dannielynn Hope could take the test in Miami or the Bahamas. Schnider had stayed the previous deadline, January 23, after the former reality TV star’s attorneys had claimed that a Bahamian judge needed to sign off on the L.A. court order. Birkhead’s attorneys say that because Dannielynn was conceived in the United States and because Smith had been working and living in Los Angeles, the issue is an L.A. matter.

California Family Code, Section 7550 to 7558 can also be called the Uniform Act on Blood Tests to Determine Paternity. Here are sections 7551-7552:

7551. In a civil action or proceeding in which paternity is a relevant fact, the court may upon its own initiative or upon suggestion made by or on behalf of any person who is involved, and shall upon motion of any party to the action or proceeding made at a time so as not to delay the proceedings unduly, order the mother, child, and alleged father to submit to genetic tests. If a party refuses to submit to the tests, the court may resolve the question of paternity against that party or enforce its order if the rights of others and the interests of justice so require. A party's refusal to submit to the tests is admissible in evidence in any proceeding to determine paternity. For the purposes of this chapter, "genetic tests" means any genetic test that is generally acknowledged as reliable by accreditation bodies designated by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Continue reading " In Ongoing Paternity Dispute, Los Angeles Judge Orders Anna Nicole Smith To Return To Los Angeles Unless She Lets Her Daughter Take DNA Test " »

Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson will be officially divorced on May 28. A judge from the Los Angeles Superior Court finalized the terms of their divorce last week, and the divorce will go through following the mandatory six-month waiting period. The two celebrities filed separate petitions for divorce on November 27. They cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their divorce.

The rocker and the former Baywatch star were married for four months. Neither party requested spousal support nor did they have children together. According to the terms of their divorce, Rock and Anderson will divide the shares of the company that they own together (and plan on selling) RR & PA, LLC, down the middle. They will not have to share any property or income that they acquired while married to one another, and both Rock and Anderson will pay for their own attorney fees.

The two first got engaged in 2002, but they separated before getting married. Last year, they started dating again and announced in July that they were getting engaged again. They got married three times: Once, on July 29 in St. Tropez, on a yacht; during a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills on August 3; and at a wedding party in Nashville, Tennessee.

In California, divorce can only be filed on the grounds of irreconcilable differences or incurable insanity. California is a no-fault divorce state. This means that one person can file for divorce even if the other person does not wish to separate. It also places fault for the failure of the marriage on both parties by acknowledging that both persons contributed in someway to the relationship’s demise. The no-fault divorce prevents parties from having to spend weeks determining who was at fault for the relationship’s breakdown.

Continue reading " Divorce Of Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock To Be Final In May " »

The temporary child custody agreement reached between pop superstar Britney Spears and aspiring rapper Kevin Federline for January has been extended through the end of February. Both Spears and Federline are seeking sole custody of their two sons, nearly 5-month-old Jayden James Federline and 1-year-old Sean Preston Federline. Spears had submitted her petition to divorce Federline last November. He soon countersued for divorce and asked for spousal support (even though he and Spears had signed a prenuptial agreement before their marriage), as well as sole custody of their sons.

Under the temporary joint custody agreement, the boys will continue to live with Spears, and Federline will be allowed to visit his sons at her home on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 12n-4pm.

In other news about the former couple, certain news outlets are saying that Britney Spears has allegedly offered Federline a $25 million divorce settlement, which he has turned down because he allegedly wants $50 million.

In California, if a couple cannot agree on child custody terms, a judge will make the decision for them.

Continue reading " Britney Spears and Kevin Federline Agree To Extend Joint Custody Of Their Two Sons Through February 2007 " »