In California, Divorces are no fault, making it relatively easy to obtain a divorce from the Court based solely on a showing of irreconcilable differences. Additionally, parties who no longer wish to live together as husband and wife can also choose to file for Legal Separation, rather than for Dissolution of Marriage. Legal Separation is a legal construct that provides the same financial and custodial options as dissolution, but without the granting of a divorce. In actuality, the Dissolution or Legal Separation portion of your case will be the easiest and least time consuming part. Instead, most of our shared time and efforts will be spent on issues of child custody, child support, spousal support, domestic violence, and the division of property.

AAlthough a divorce can be an emotional process, the majority if cases can settle without going to trial. To ensure that a dispute trial does not occur, we assist during mediations between the two parties. This is to ensure that a fair solution is agreed upon by both sides. In order to receive approval of this agreed upon solution, the mediation process must be presented to a judge by a lawyer and/or lawyers as well as the two parties involved. The court will make a decision for the parties, if they are unable to settle upon an agreement based on support, custody, and/or property.

You may benefit from legal advice about divorce, even before the final decision is made to get divorced. Marital rights can be won and lost while you wait and remain in denial about your former partners intentions. The opposite can also be true - that you can win marital rights while your Partner remains in denial about your intentions. If your decision depends upon an analysis of the legal issues, then you should consult a family law attorney. Decisions made early in the process may have long-lasting psychological or financial effects.