Divorce & Family Law

Automatic temporary restraining orders that go into effect immediately after you file for divorce. These standard family law restraining orders are included on the summons (form FL-110 page 2) of every family law matter.

These orders prohibit taking the minor children of the marriage out of California without the other parent’s written permission or court order, canceling insurance policies or changing beneficiaries, giving away property, transferring and selling property, or encumbering property without a court order.

Further, you are required to notify your spouse before any large expenditures, which will have to be accounted for. The other party will be bound by the automatic temporary restraining orders once he or she is served with the summons and petition.

The court can decide all issues related to your marriage including ending your marriage, child custody and child visitation, child support, alimony or spousal support, division of all community property and debts, confirmation of all separate property and debts, division of pension plans, attorneys fees and costs, reimbursement and credits owed to a party or to the community, domestic violence restraining orders to prevent harassment or harm to a party or the parties’ children, interpretation and enforcement of pre-marital agreements and post-marital agreements, restoration of a parties’ former name, claims against a spouse for breach of their fiduciary duty owed to the other spouse, including failure to disclose assets during the divorce, claims against third parties holding assets of the community, and other related issues of the divorce.

to prove “fault.” California is a no-fault state meaning that no proof of fault is required to get divorced and your spouse cannot prevent you from obtaining a divorce.

A divorce may be granted for irreconcilable differences that have caused the breakdown of the marriage or for incurable insanity of a party. Most divorces are based on irreconcilable differences, which only require a party to claim that the marriage relationship has completely broken down.

Legal separations are normally requested when a party desires resolution of the issues of the marriage such as custody, property division and support, but does not want to terminate the actual marital relationship. Legal separations are generally requested for religious or medical reasons whereby the legally separated spouse still can maintain the other spouse medical coverage.

Both parties have to consent to a legal separation. Should a judgment of legal separation be entered by the court and the parties later desire a divorce, a new petition for dissolution of marriage will have to be filed.

In California, a spouse does not have to “give” you permission to divorce and you do not have to prove “fault.” California is a no-fault state meaning that no proof of fault is required to get divorced and your spouse cannot prevent you from obtaining a divorce.

A divorce may be granted for irreconcilable differences that have caused the breakdown of the marriage or for incurable insanity of a party. Most divorces are based on irreconcilable differences, which only require a party to claim that the marriage relationship has completely broken down.

Legal separations are normally requested when a party desires resolution of the issues of the marriage such as custody, property division, and support, but does not want to terminate the actual marital relationship.

Legal separations are generally requested for religious or medical reasons whereby the legally separated spouse still can maintain the other spouse’s medical coverage. Both parties have to consent to a legal separation. Should a judgment of legal separation be entered by the court and the parties later desire a divorce, a new petition for dissolution of marriage will have to be filed.

A nullity of marriage may only be granted when the marriage is void or voidable under specific conditions set forth in the California Family Code. Briefly, a marriage is void of incest or bigamy and is voidable in cases of a minority, unsound mind, physical incapacity, force, or fraud. The grounds for nullity must have existed at the time of the marriage and the grounds must be proven to the court. An annulment is not automatically granted. You can not obtain an annulment simply because of an extremely short marriage.

Most commonly, fraud is the basis for a voidable marriage, which requires a showing, that the consent to marry was obtained by fraud. This means that the false representations or concealment of a material fact constituting fraud must have directly affected the marital relationship. This can be difficult to prove and will require the party seeking an annulment to prove the factual basis of the fraud. In addition, there are certain timeframes by which to bring a nullity of marriage based upon fraud.

Because the issues surrounding an annulment are unusually complex and normally have certain timeframes by which to bring your petition (statute of limitations), you should not delay in seeking legal advise from an attorney regarding pursuing an annulment.

The California Family Law Court has jurisdiction to hear petitions to establish a parent or child relationship (California Judicial Counsel Form FL-200). In such proceedings, the issues of paternity, custody, and visitation, and child support are decided. Typical scenarios involve a parent seeking child support or a parent seeking visitation of the mutual child or children of the parties. Child support actions can also be commenced by the California Department of Child Support Services.

There are certain strict jurisdictional and procedural requirements in bringing these proceedings. You should not delay in seeking legal advise from an attorney regarding your parental rights

A judgment for divorce cannot be entered unless one of the parties to the marriage was a resident of California for at least 6 months and a resident of the county in which the petition for dissolution was filed for at least 3 months before the filing of the petition for dissolution. You cannot waive this requirement.

For example, if you moved from Los Angeles County to Orange County and wanted to immediately file for divorce in Orange County, you could not until after you have met the 3-month residency requirement. However, your move would not prevent you from immediately filing for divorce in Los Angeles. There is no statutory residency requirement in order to file for a legal separation. A judgment for legal separation requires both spouses’ consent to the legal separation.

The earliest that a parties’ marital status can be terminated is 6 months from the date that the other party is served with the summons and petition for dissolution of marriage. The passage of time alone is not sufficient as the marital status does not automatically terminate at the 6-month mark. A judgment for dissolution has to be entered by the court. Should other issues of the marriage take longer to resolve than six months, the court, upon application by a party to “bifurcate” the issues, may terminate the marital status and reserve jurisdiction over all other remaining issues in the marriage to be decided at a later date.

A judgment for dissolution of marriage which has been agreed to by the parties, commonly referred to as a stipulated judgment, can be entered by the court before the passage of six months but the marital status will not terminate until after 6 months from the date of service of the respondent. The date of termination of the marital status will be specified on the notice of entry of judgment and on the judgment for dissolution of marriage.

Upon application (California Judicial Counsel form FL-300), the court may make orders on a temporary (pendente-lite) basis by filing a Request for Order (“RFO”) seeking temporary relief. The court can decide issues of child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, provisional exclusive use of an automobile or residence, turn-over of community funds, payment of a certain debt, restraining orders, and requests for attorneys’ fees and costs to afford legal representation, all on a temporary basis.

The court generally will not divide community property at hearings on temporary orders. Matters set on an expedited basis (ex-parte) require a showing of an emergency, immediate harm, or immediate threat of harm to a child, person, or property (including depletion of community bank accounts), and can be set for hearing within one court day. Financial issues including temporary support or attorneys fees are almost never considered an emergency but immediate payment of some expenses can be ordered on an expedited basis.

Hearings on non-emergency issues are normally set for hearing within 21 to 45 days of filing the application, depending on the court’s availability. The object of temporary orders can be to preserve the status quo and “keep the peace” or to provide support pending trial on the issues. Temporary orders typically last until modified by further court orders or until the entry of final judgment.