Finding the Right Attorney
Family law matters usually involve highly charged emotions as people deal with the fallout from a broken marriage, a messy divorce and ongoing custody issues. When emotions run high, it’s critical to have an attorney who can clearly explain the ground rules and impart confidence that your case is being handled effectively.
Knowing What to Look For
Here are some tips to help you find the right lawyer for you:- Experience Counts. Find out how long the prospective attorney has practiced family law in California and approximately how many such cases he or she has handled.
- Resources Count. Find out whether the prospective attorney has sufficient resources to handle your case efficiently and effectively. For instance, if your attorney carries a large caseload, he or she should have a sufficient number of assistants to help manage the caseload. Alternatively, if the prospective attorney has a light office staff, does he or she use technology to help manage the load?
- Personality Counts. You should perceive that a prospective attorney is prepared to be a strong advocate and is willing and able to fight for the best outcome possible for you. Personalities vary greatly among attorneys, as with any other profession, but mid-divorce is not the time to wish your attorney were more aggressive.
Establishing Paternity
Emancipation is a legal way for a child to become an adult before reaching the age of adulthood, which in California is eighteen years. Once a child is emancipated, his or her parents do not legally have custody or control of him or her any longer.
Children who are emancipated lose the right to be supported by their parents, but they have the freedom to make their own choices regarding medical care, applying for a work permit, signing up for school or college, and living where they choose. Emancipated or not, children of mandatory school age must continue going to school.
There are basically three ways to become emancipated. Getting married or joining the U.S. Armed Forces will have the effect of emancipation, but both require a parent’s consent.
The third way for a child to become emancipated is to obtain a judicial declaration of emancipation. There are several requirements a child must fulfill before a court will grant emancipation, so it is best to proceed with the help of a qualified family law attorney if court is the only viable option.
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Adopting a stepchild or domestic partner’s child is a fairly common milestone for many families. Adoption has the effect of uniting a family while legally terminating the parental rights of a birth parent who has little or no involvement in the child’s life.
In many cases, the uninvolved birth parent will consent to an adoption. It is also possible to carry out an adoption without his or her consent. Allowing an adoption without a parent’s consent is a serious matter, so a court will not proceed until the uninvolved birth parent has had a chance to present his or her objections.
If possible, one way to speed up an adoption case is to get the uninvolved birth parent’s written consent to the adoption. If written consent is not possible, then the prospective adoptive parent must locate the uninvolved birth parent and provide a last known address to the court.
If the uninvolved birth parent cannot be located, the prospective adoptive parent must convince the court that he or she made a good faith effort to find the uninvolved parent and notify him or her of the adoption proceedings.
A stepparent or domestic partner adoption should be a joyful time for your family. Talk to an attorney experienced in California family law to help make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible, without any unexpected surprises along the way.
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Some divorces can be accomplished in what seems like a blink of the eye. Oftentimes, a young couple without children or assets to speak of simply needs to sign a few legal documents to go their separate ways. But as years go by and marriages get longer, divorces get more complicated as children are born and assets are accumulated.
Such was the case with Frank and Jamie McCourt. At the time of their divorce, Frank was the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In determining Jamie’s stake in the family assets, Frank estimated the value of marital assets, including the Dodgers franchise, at roughly $300 million.
Eventually, the divorce was finalized in October of 2011and Jamie was awarded $131 million. Not exactly half, but not too shabby, either.
A mere six monthly later, however, Frank sold the Dodgers franchise for a whopping $2.15 billion. (That’s right, billion with a ‘B’). Jamie promptly took Frank back to court, feeling she had been cheated out of her fair share. Among other things, Jamie alleged that Frank grossly undervalued the business.
Situations like this are not uncommon, particularly when the marital assets include a business. An experienced and pragmatic divorce attorney understands the importance of a fair business valuation conducted by a qualified expert. Be sure your attorney is prepared with the facts so you can get your fair share the first time around.
If you feel like your spouse took you to the cleaners in your divorce, before giving up, consider your options for taking your ex back to court. At the 
In California, our state allows both men and women to change their last names when they get married if one or both of them choose to do so. California is one of only nine states that officially has this equal opportunity law on the books.
A recent incident in Florida brought to light the lingering gender discrimination in other parts of the country. According to news reports, a Florida man was accused of fraud by the state Department of Motor Vehicles after he adopted his wife’s last name following their 2011 marriage.
Lazaro Dinh decided to take his wife’s last name rather than vice versa. Lazaro said he had no emotional ties to his last name and he wanted to help his wife’s Vietnamese family perpetuate their surname. After the wedding, Lazaro followed the usual steps to obtain a new passport and Social Security card. He also changed his bank accounts and credit cards before attempting to obtain a new driver’s license.
Lazaro then applied for a new driver’s license the same way female Floridians do when changing their name after marriage. The Florida DMV issued Lazaro a new license and he went on with life. More than a year later, Lazaro received a letter from Florida’s DMV informing him that his license had been suspended due to an accusation of “obtaining a driving license by fraud”.
He first thought it must be a mistake, but when he called the DMV office in Tallahassee he was told that in order to legally change his name he must do so through a court, a process that takes several months and over $400 in filing fees. When Lazaro explained that his name change was the result of a marriage he was told the rule only applied to women.
Luckily for Lazaro, the Florida DMV decided not to pursue fraud charges at roughly the same time the news hit the internet.
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