Who Gets To Stay in the House During a Divorce?
Choosing who gets to stay in the marital home during a divorce is often one of the most contentious issues when spouses separate, along with child custody and spousal support. California is a community property state where marital assets are split 50/50 between spouses in a divorce. The answer to the question of who keeps the house depends on the status of the house in or outside of the pool…
Read MoreCustody vs. Legal Guardianship: What are the Differences?
We’ve all heard there’s more than one way to be a parent, but this observation is especially accurate when it comes to legal terminology. Two examples are child custody and legal guardianship. While both terms have similar definitions and the responsibilities that come with both are also comparable, there are distinct differences between custody and legal guardianship. Both are long-term and even lifelong commitments to caregiving and both address a…
Read MoreCan You Transfer a Family Law Case to Another County or State?
Life can take people on different paths, which is why they sometimes end up in family court deciding matters of divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, adoption, guardianship, and other cases involving families and children. But what happens when life’s path leads to another county or state? What happens to a family law case when one or both parties move away from the original county and the court that…
Read MoreHow To Change Your Name After Divorce?
While no one taking marriage vows expects their marriage to end in divorce, sadly, a significant number of walks down the aisle end at divorce court later. When closing one chapter of your life and opening a new one, it’s common to want a fresh start. For many newly divorced individuals, that fresh start includes moving on from a spouse’s last name and reclaiming the name they had before their…
Read MoreWhere to File for Divorce in Los Angeles, CA
The decision to file for divorce may feel like the end of a rough road, but once the decision is made, it’s actually the beginning of another journey—a legal one, that starts with learning where to file for divorce. If you live in Los Angeles County and you’ve made the decision that a divorce from your spouse is inevitable, you might wish to be the petitioner rather than the respondent…
Read MoreWhat Is Discovery in Divorce?
Divorce is a difficult process both emotionally and throughout each of the necessary steps required by law to end a marriage in California. California’s no-fault divorce state means either spouse may file for divorce simply under the grounds of irreconcilable differences, so filing is a relatively simple matter; however, it’s also a 50/50 divorce state for separation of marital property, including all debts and assets accumulated during the marriage. This…
Read More[Study] The State of Divorce in the U.S.
At Fernandez & Karney, we help families with the divorce process every day. Therefore we wanted to find out just how much divorce rates have changed across the country and in which states people are divorced the most and least often. To this end, we compared U.S. Census American Community Survey results from 2010- 2021 (the latest year available) to examine the issue. Below is the “State of Divorce”…
Read MoreHow To Keep Your Pension in a Divorce
Whether retirement is around the corner or decades away, one of the highest valued assets to negotiate during a divorce settlement is a pension or retirement plan from your 401K, IRA, or FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) package. Pensions are also among the most complex assets to divide during the divorce process in California, where the state’s equal distribution of marital assets law applies to employee pensions. It can be…
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