Important Resources
The Los Angeles County Superior Court’s website for Family Law litigants is a resource for you to see how the court process works. We at West Valley Family Law Group help you navigate the needed documents, filings, case calendars, and all other necessary steps to bring resolution to your case. Below is some information on what issues are commonly involved in family law cases. More definitions can be found in this family law glossary.
A new video, “From Conflict to Agreement” in English and Spanish, tells the story of three couples’ experiences struggling through many of the issues you are likely dealing with as well. The video describes tools parents can use to reduce their conflict and turn their attention to a child-focused resolution to their child custody dispute. The video is approximately 70 minutes long and can be stopped and re-started at any point. We encourage you to take advantage of this free and readily accessible resource.
Custody and Child Support
When a relationship ends, the issue of child custody can be one of the most difficult to deal with. California law focuses on what is in the best interests of the children. Along these lines, we can help you make decisions about visitation and/or supervised visitation, co-parenting agreements, required counseling, and more. We have experience with all kinds of families, including step-families, unmarried parents, same-sex parents, and more.
Another important component when children are involved is the financial aspect, such as child support payments and additional expenses such as day care, medical costs, or schooling. At West Valley Family Law Group, we help you navigate these laws to help you do what is best for your family.
Spousal Support (Alimony)
In California, spousal/partner support (also known as alimony), is money paid by one spouse or partner to the other after a legal separation, dissolution of marriage (divorce), or dissolution of domestic partnership. There are many factors that go into a court’s decision on how much spousal support to award.
In order for spousal/partner support to be awarded, there must be an active court case. A spouse or domestic partner must ask a judge to order support as a result of divorce, dissolution of domestic partnership, or legal separation.
You can ask for a “temporary” spousal/partner support order while the court case is pending. When the case becomes final, support becomes “permanent” (or long term) spousal or partner support.
In California, courts use a formula to determine the amount of spousal/partner support. Courts in different counties, such as Los Angeles County, Orange County, or Ventura County, may use slightly different factors in making this calculation.
Some of these factors include:
The length of the marriage or domestic partnership
What each person needs based on the marital standard of living
What each person pays or can pay
Whether having a job would make it too hard to take care of the children
The age and health of both people
Debts and property
Whether one spouse or domestic partner helped the other get an education, training, career, or professional license
Whether there was domestic violence in the marriage or domestic partnership
Whether one spouse’s, or domestic partner’s, career was affected by unemployment or by taking care of the children or home
The tax impact of spousal support (although this is subject to a change in the law as of 1/1/2019)
Divorce
Divorce in the greater Los Angeles area is common, but that does not mean your individual situation is common or routine. Emotions are running high, and lives built together are going through major changes. It is important to have an experienced divorce attorney by your side to navigate California’s divorce laws and to ensure that you are treated fairly and with compassion.
Divorces can be uncontested or contested. It can be amicable, or there may be major disagreements around spousal or partner support, child custody, or division of property. There may also be issues of domestic violence, and more, to contend with. California is a no-fault state, but that does not mean that it is an easy, straight-forward process. West Valley Family Law Group traverses the differences with how divorce and/or separation works for domestic partnerships, same-sex couples, and marriages in California.
West Valley Family Law Group helps you with the legal, and many non-legal, aspects of divorcing in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Orange counties. We are on your side, with collaborative and experienced tactics. We are aggressive on your behalf when needed and have years of litigation experience to get you the right results.
Parental Rights
We help you understand your rights as a parent, whether you are the primary earner or not, whether you are the mother or father, or if you are in a same-sex relationship. Your children’s best interests are our interests.
Unmarried parents in California often come across additional challenges, such as establishing paternity, determining parental rights for unmarried couples, unmarried same-sex couples and more. West Valley Family Law Group has experience guiding clients through all of these situations to ensure parental rights are recognized and applied correctly and fairly.
Property & Debt Division
California divorce and separation law expects couples separating or divorcing to divide shared property and debts as equally as possible. Assets can include the family home, other real estate, businesses owned, retirement accounts, stocks, employment benefits, and more. Shared debts can include credit card debt, mortgages and other loans, and more.
West Valley Family Law Group helps you through the process of preparing the financial disclosure forms required to obtain a divorce Judgment in California. We also navigate the court process while working with your spouse’s or partner’s lawyer to ensure all of the necessary information and documents are disclosed, and that all agreements are adhered to.