Westwood Family Law Attorney

In Need of a Family Law Attorney in Westwood?

Family law disputes in Westwood require attorneys who appreciate this neighborhood’s academic culture and professional sophistication. Fernandez Law Group represents Westwood residents through divorce, custody battles, and property division cases, drawing on over 100 years of combined experience. Our practice serves the unique needs of university faculty, medical professionals, and established families in this prestigious Los Angeles community.

Westwood’s character reflects its position as home to UCLA’s campus, creating a neighborhood unlike any other in Los Angeles. The concentration of academics, researchers, and medical professionals generates family law cases with distinctive challenges around tenure-track careers, faculty retirement systems, and professional practice valuations. Our attorneys understand these specialized issues and provide representation that addresses the particular concerns facing Westwood’s educated, accomplished residents during difficult family transitions.

Family Law Services for Westwood Clients

Fernandez Law Group handles all aspects of family law with particular attention to issues common among Westwood’s professional community. Our representation spans from initial consultation through final judgment and beyond. Our team includes a Certified Family Law Specialist, which can add immeasurable value to your case.

Divorce and Marital Dissolution

As an experienced divorce attorney in Westwood, we regularly handle divorces involving university faculty, where issues like tenure status, sabbatical plans, and academic calendar constraints affect case strategy and settlement timing. Faculty compensation packages include elements requiring extensive knowledge: base salary, summer teaching, research grants, textbook royalties, speaking fees, and consulting income. Each component may be treated differently for support calculations and property division purposes.

California law requires equitable division of marital property and appropriate support arrangements. Medical professional divorces present their own complexities, particularly when one spouse owns or has partnership interest in a medical practice. Valuing these practices requires understanding patient flow, reimbursement rates, partnership agreements, and professional goodwill. Our attorneys work with qualified business appraisers who focus on medical practice valuations to ensure accurate assessment.

Westwood’s real estate appreciates significantly over time, meaning homes purchased years ago may now constitute the largest marital asset. Property division requires careful analysis of purchase contributions, mortgage payments, improvements, and appreciation to determine each spouse’s interest. We trace separate property contributions, calculate community property interests, and develop tax-efficient division strategies.

Our divorce representation addresses all aspects of marital dissolution, from straightforward uncontested cases to complex litigation involving substantial assets, custody disputes, and support controversies. We help clients understand how divorce affects benefits like health insurance coverage through UC’s system, retirement planning with UCRP and other accounts, and estate planning documents requiring updates post-divorce.

Child Custody and Parenting Plans

Child custody matters in Westwood often involve parents with strong views on education, given the neighborhood’s academic culture. Disputes may center on school choice, with parents disagreeing about public versus private education, emphasis on academics versus arts, or religious instruction. We help parents develop detailed parenting plans addressing educational decision-making, extracurricular activities, and how to handle disagreements about children’s upbringing.

California courts evaluate custody based on children’s best interests, examining factors including parental involvement in daily care, ability to meet children’s physical and emotional needs, and each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent. We develop evidence demonstrating our clients’ commitment to their children and their capability to provide nurturing, stable home environments.

Child Support and Spousal Support

Child support calculations for Westwood professionals demand careful income analysis. Academic compensation includes salary, stipends, grants, royalties, and consulting fees that must all be accounted for. Medical professionals may receive income from multiple sources requiring aggregation for accurate support calculation. We ensure support orders reflect true earning capacity rather than just reported salary.

Spousal support determinations consider whether one spouse sacrificed career opportunities to support the other’s educational or professional advancement. Many Westwood marriages involve one spouse who worked while the other completed graduate degrees or built an academic or medical career. These sacrifices significantly impact support awards, with courts recognizing the supporting spouse’s contributions deserve compensation.

Property Division and Asset Valuation

Beyond real estate, Westwood divorces involve dividing retirement benefits that may include UC Retirement Plan accounts, 403(b) plans, and deferred compensation specific to academic employment. Medical professionals may have profit-sharing plans, partnership interests, and business assets requiring specialized valuation. We retain qualified appraisers and forensic accountants when necessary to ensure accurate asset assessment.

Tracing separate property becomes essential when spouses owned assets before marriage or received inheritances during marriage. Many Westwood residents purchased homes or made investments before marriage that have appreciated substantially, requiring careful analysis to distinguish separate from community property. We protect clients’ separate property rights while ensuring community assets receive appropriate division.

Additional Family Law Matters

Beyond divorce and custody, we handle paternity establishment for unmarried parents, domestic violence protective orders, post-judgment modifications addressing changed circumstances, and enforcement actions compelling compliance with court orders.

Why Westwood Residents Choose Fernandez Law Group

Our founding partner, Steven Fernandez, holds a Certified Family Law Specialist certification from the State Bar of California, representing the highest credential available to California family law attorneys. This certification, earned through extensive experience, rigorous testing, and peer evaluation, combined with our firm’s 100+ years of collective experience, demonstrates our capability handling sophisticated family law matters.

Our practice distinguishes itself through a deep understanding of issues specific to Westwood’s professional community. We’ve handled numerous cases involving university faculty, medical professionals, and established families, giving us insight into compensation structures, benefit systems, and career considerations that affect family law cases in this community. This knowledge allows us to identify issues other attorneys might miss and develop strategies addressing Westwood clients’ unique circumstances.

Communication remains central to our client service. We keep clients informed about case developments, respond promptly to inquiries, and explain complex legal concepts in understandable terms. Family law cases generate anxiety and uncertainty; transparent communication reduces both while building trust essential to effective attorney-client relationships.

We pursue favorable outcomes through negotiation when possible, recognizing that settlement saves time, reduces costs, and minimizes conflict compared to litigation. However, our willingness and ability to try cases when necessary gives us leverage in negotiations. Opposing counsel knows we prepare thoroughly and litigate effectively, encouraging reasonable settlement discussions.

Understanding the Family Law Process

Family law cases follow established procedural steps, though specific paths vary depending on whether parties cooperate or contest issues. One spouse initiates proceedings by filing a petition with the court and serving it on the other spouse, officially beginning the case and triggering various deadlines and requirements.

Temporary orders may be necessary early in the case to establish interim arrangements for custody, support, or property use while the case progresses toward final resolution. These temporary orders provide stability and structure during what can be a lengthy process.

Both parties must complete extensive financial disclosure, documenting income, assets, debts, and expenses. This disclosure forms the foundation for property division and support determinations. We review opposing parties’ disclosures carefully, identifying omissions or inaccuracies that could affect outcomes.

Discovery allows parties to obtain additional information beyond initial disclosures through formal requests, depositions, and interrogatories. Complex cases may require expert witnesses, including appraisers, vocational evaluators, or forensic accountants, who provide specialized analysis supporting case positions.

Settlement negotiations occur throughout the process, with many cases resolving through direct negotiation or mediation without requiring a trial. Mediation offers parties the opportunity to craft customized solutions addressing their specific needs and priorities rather than accepting court-imposed judgments.

Cases that don’t settle proceed to trial, where judges make final determinations after hearing evidence and argument from both sides. We prepare meticulously for trial, organizing evidence, preparing witnesses, and developing clear, persuasive presentations of our clients’ positions.

Protecting Your Family’s Future

Family law judgments shape your financial future, your relationship with your children, and your ability to move forward after divorce. Poor legal representation or inadequate case preparation can result in property divisions that fail to protect your interests, support orders that don’t reflect appropriate calculations, or custody arrangements that limit your parental involvement.

We recognize that getting it right initially matters more than in many other legal contexts. While California law allows modification of support and custody orders when circumstances change substantially, courts strongly prefer stability. Seeking modifications requires meeting high legal standards, incurring additional legal fees, and enduring more time in the legal system. Thorough initial representation that achieves comprehensive, well-crafted judgments serves clients’ long-term interests better than having to return to court repeatedly seeking changes.

For Westwood professionals whose careers may involve sabbaticals, relocations for academic appointments, or practice expansions, we build flexibility into custody and support orders where appropriate. For parents, we negotiate detailed parenting plans that address foreseeable issues rather than leaving ambiguities that generate future disputes.

Westwood’s Unique Family Law Environment

Westwood’s identity centers on UCLA’s sprawling campus, which dominates the neighborhood physically and culturally. Unlike other affluent Los Angeles areas, Westwood’s population includes substantial numbers of professors, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and university staff alongside established professionals and longtime residents. This academic atmosphere creates family law cases involving considerations rarely seen elsewhere, from disputes over sabbatical timing affecting custody schedules to division of academic publishing royalties.

The UCLA Medical Center and associated healthcare facilities make Westwood a hub for medical professionals whose practices and partnerships require specialized valuation during divorce. These cases often involve complicated income streams from hospital affiliations, private practices, medical groups, and consulting arrangements. Real estate near campus commands premium prices, with many properties purchased decades ago now worth millions, creating substantial appreciation issues in property division.

Our experience with Los Angeles County family courts, combined with our understanding of academic and medical career structures, positions us to represent Westwood clients effectively. We know how to address unique compensation packages, navigate university benefit systems, and develop custody arrangements respecting both professional obligations and children’s needs.

Serving Westwood’s Professional Community

Our location provides convenient access for Westwood clients, and our scheduling accommodates the demands facing university faculty with teaching obligations, medical professionals with patient care responsibilities, and other busy professionals. We recognize that family law matters shouldn’t unnecessarily disrupt your professional life.

Westwood’s population reflects diverse cultural backgrounds, family structures, and values. We approach each case with cultural sensitivity, recognizing that different families have different priorities and that effective representation requires understanding and respecting these differences.

Contact Our Westwood Family Law Attorneys

Family law challenges affecting Westwood families demand representation that understands both legal requirements and the distinctive characteristics of this academic community. Fernandez Law Group provides knowledgeable counsel for divorces involving university careers, medical practices, and substantial real estate holdings. Our Los Angeles family law attorneys bring proven success in handling the sophisticated family law matters common in Westwood.

Contact our office to schedule a consultation where we’ll discuss your situation, evaluate your case, and explain your options. We provide straightforward assessments without unnecessary legal jargon, helping you understand what to expect as your case progresses.