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In the much-publicized divorce of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, the tabloids found dozens of opportunities to photograph each parent out and about with their daughter Suri. It’s possible they were simply going about their daily lives while being hounded by the paparazzi, but it is just as likely the soon-to-be-divorced parents were trying to build their respective cases for custody.
When a marriage falls apart, the children of the relationship are caught in the middle. Parents often overlook the negative effect of their verbal sparring on the children. Courts, on the other hand, are not prone to overlook a parent’s bad behavior while the children are present.
Just as parents take measures to protect their children from negative outside influences, parents in the midst of a divorce have a duty to protect their children as much as possible. The children’s lives are going to change, but that doesn’t mean the children should be privy to all dirty laundry.
The details of a divorce should only be shared with children to the extent warranted by each child’s mental and emotional maturity level, and never in a manner reasonably expected to cause the child to harbor ill will for the other parent.
In our experience, children are flexible, adaptable, and perceptive. They may appear to be largely unaffected by your divorce, when in fact they have many questions they are simply afraid to ask. Counseling is often recommended after a divorce to help children process the break up of their parents and learn to deal with their conflicting emotions in a healthy way.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will fight for you to achieve the best outcome possible in your divorce or custody proceedings. We can also help you help your children by recommending qualified counselors or classes designed to help your family avoid or overcome the negative effects of a divorce.
Judy L. Burger is known for her aggressive representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
It is not unusual for couples seeking a divorce to be unable to reach an agreement on various issues, such as child custody to the division of assets and liabilities. While one spouse may have no interest in compromising on a particular issue, the other spouse may be anxious to move on. In some cases, it may be appropriate to ask the court for a “bifurcation” of marital status. What this means is that the court will address the issue of your marital status while postponing resolution of the remaining issues.
Though bifurcation is possible, it is rare. Courts are reluctant to bifurcate divorce cases for two reasons. First, they generally prefer to handle each case as a whole. California courts are heavily burdened as it is, and splitting one case into two inevitably creates more work.
The second reason courts are reluctant to bifurcate divorce cases is that once a marriage has been dissolved, one or both parties may lose motivation to work out the other issues.
Nonetheless, bifurcation is granted in rare circumstances, such as when a spouse is expecting a child conceived outside the existing marriage. In that situation, bifurcation may lead to a quicker judgment of divorce, allowing the expectant mother or father to marry the other parent prior to the child’s birth.
If bifurcation is appropriate in your situation, seek the help of an experienced California divorce lawyer.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will aggressively pursue the best outcome for you in your divorce or custody proceedings. Judy L. Burger is known for taking a firm stand for her clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you need help moving your divorce or custody case along, call us today to set up a consultation. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
If you decide to change your name when you get married, you will need to submit a series of forms notifying several different institutions and government bodies of your name change. The first one to tackle should be the Social Security Administration for tax purposes and retirement benefits.
Notifying the Social Security Administration of your name change serves dual purposes. Within 10 days of notifying the Social Security Administration, they will automatically notify the IRS of your new name. Failure to alert Social Security could likely end up causing the IRS to reject your tax return, since your new name on your tax forms will not match Social Security records.
The next agency to notify is your state’s DMV office to obtain a new driver’s license. While you’re there, ask for a form to get your vehicle’s registration changed to reflect your new name.
Once you have a new driver’s license, you will need to alert your employer of your new name so that your next paycheck will have the correct name on it. Depending on where you bank, it might be a little difficult to cash a check with someone else’s name on it.
Finally, you should alert your creditors so that your creditor accounts can be transitioned to reflect your new name. Otherwise, your good credit history with your old name could disappear.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or custody proceedings. Judy L. Burger is known for her tenacious representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form
In order to get divorced in California, there are several requirements and procedures that must be followed. First, at least one of the parties to the marriage must have been a resident of California for at least 6 months before the date of filing. At least one of the parties must also be a resident of the county in which a proceeding is filed for at least 3 months prior to filing the petition for divorce.
California is a no-fault divorce state, meaning a spouse does not have to allege fault on the part of the other spouse in order to get a divorce. Since a California divorce does not require a showing of fault, most couples simply allege that irreconcilable differences have caused the marriage to break down.
Another valid basis for requesting a divorce in California is incurable insanity. A plaintiff must demonstrate sufficient proof, including competent medical and psychiatric testimony that the respondent spouse was and is incurably insane. Dissolving a marriage on grounds of incurable insanity does not relieve the spouse of any obligation imposed by law as a result of the marriage regarding the insane spouse, so it is possible a court could issue an order for spousal support for the insane spouse.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or custody proceedings. Judy L. Burger is known for her tenacious representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
Many clients ask us what they can expect in mediation and we are careful to explain the ins and outs and the mechanics of the mediation process. Mediation can be a very positive experience for those who are of a mind to compromise and who are fortunate to have the help of a truly unbiased and experienced mediator. Knowing the basics ahead of time often helps alleviate our clients’ anxiety.
The basic idea behind mediation is that the two parties, along with their attorneys, sit down with a neutral third party and attempt to reach an agreement on various issues in a divorce. The discussions that take place during mediation are kept confidential and are prohibited from being used if the matter eventually winds up in court. This arrangement is intended to allow for the worry-free sharing of ideas and offers.
One fact worth taking to heart is that mediators are referred to as neutrals because that is the essence of their role – to maintain complete neutrality regardless of the facts of a case. Maintaining neutrality can be a challenge when facts weigh heavily in favor of one party, but neutrality is absolutely essential. If one spouse perceives a lack of absolute neutrality, the mediation is unlikely to be successful.
Another fact to remember is that mediation can only result in an agreement when both parties engage in mediation with a good faith intent to be open minded and willing to compromise to find the middle ground in every disputed issue.
Being open minded and willing to compromise may sound reasonable enough, but often the problem is that by the time one or both spouses decide to file for divorce, good faith is long gone. A spouse who was the victim of neglect or deceit may not be able to forgive and forget. In our family law practice, we deal with highly contested cases where emotions are frequently too raw for a mediation to be successful.
If you are facing mediation, the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger are here to help. We will assist you in preparing for mediation and help you construct a back-up plan in the event mediation is unsuccessful. Our attorneys will aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for you, whether you need to demonstrate the other parent’s faults, or defend such claims. Judy L. Burger is known for steadfastly representing clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. Call us today to learn more about how we can help at (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
Celebrities and the sometimes twisted lives they lead make for fabulous tabloid fodder – entertaining perhaps, but not usually educational per se. On the contrary, the current soap opera surrounding Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries, and Kanye West provides the perfect scenario to learn about one aspect of California law most people may be unaware of.
Kardashian and Humphries married on August 20, 2011. Seventy-two days later, they split up and Humphries claimed the marriage was a fraud from the get-go. In legal parlance, Humphries claimed grounds for an annulment. Kardashian, on the other hand, wanted a divorce and denied any fraud on her part. Leaving the intervening details to the tabloids, suffice it to say that as of January 2013 Kardashian and Humphries are still legally married.
Which brings us to the twist in this story: Kim Kardashian is pregnant and it’s no secret that the baby was sired by Kanye West. Nonetheless, under California law, as long as Kardashian is married to Humphries, Humphries will be presumed by law to be the baby’s father. Like other states, California has anti-bastardization laws, also known as parentage laws, which state when a mother is married, her newborn child is legally presumed to be her husband’s child.
In other words, Humphries will be deemed to be the baby’s legal father unless he disputes parentage through the court system. He will have all the rights and responsibilities of a father to include visitation rights and the duty to provide child support.
Surely Kardashian and West can put together enough money for diapers and daycare, but you never can tell with some folks. Humphries may want to take steps to protect his good name, especially since he claims he was never legally married to begin with.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will persistently pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce, custody, or other family law matter. Judy L. Burger is known for her aggressive representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
This article should be filed under the heading, “Things clients should ask, but don’t.” Granted, getting divorced is rarely a walk in the park, so it is very understandable when clients are too stressed to think clearly and ask all of the pertinent questions. That’s one reason we welcome phone calls and emails between meetings. An informed client is an empowered client, and mid-divorce is a good time to feel empowered.
So, without further ado, here is a list of five mistakes to avoid when getting divorced.
Rushing. It is natural to want to get it over with, but the decisions you make now may affect you and your children for the rest of your life. Take your time and consult your lawyer to help you consider all of the potential ramifications surrounding a settlement before you accept any offer from your soon-to-be ex-spouse.
Taking legal advice from your stylist. The easiest divorce is a complicated matter, and it can get even more complicated when you add children and significant assets. The average non-lawyer does not know what you ‘should’ get in a divorce, and more than likely does not know everything about your circumstances. Let your well-meaning friends offer emotional support, then change the subject.
Forgetting that equitable does not mean equal. A couple’s assets and liabilities will be equitably divided based on the individual circumstances of the case, including each party’s expected earning capacity, the value of separate estates, individual income needs, and so on.
Forgetting to consider tax consequences. We are not a tax law firm, but even we know that alimony is deductible for the payor but child support isn’t. Rather than agreeing to pay additional child support relative to extra curricular activities or non-covered medical expenses, opt to pay a little alimony for a period of time not to exceed the number of years until the children reach adulthood. Vice versa if you are the probable recipient of alimony – ask for extra child support instead. Of course, you should consider all of the potential tax consequences and while we are not experts, we can help you find one.
Hiring a second-rate lawyer or deciding to forego a lawyer altogether. It should go without saying, but say it we must. You should not represent yourself in a divorce any more than you should perform surgery on yourself. You wouldn’t cut out your own tumor or have it done at Wal-Mart. Yes, I’ma lawyer and this tip may seem self-serving, but skimping on a lawyer during your divorce is one mistake you will wish you never made. Find someone with the right combination of experience, tact, and tenacity to get the job done right the first time.
And finally, a bonus tip. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times: “If I knew then what I know now, I never would have married him/her.” It’s worth the time and money to hire an attorney before you get married to discuss how community property rules work in California and what you can expect to be the issues if your potential marriage does not work. While we can’t predict whether Mr. or Mrs. Right will turn into Mr. or Mrs. Crazy, we can explain basic divorce law and recommend the best options for protecting your assets.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or custody proceedings. Judy L. Burger is known for her tenacious representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
The recent decision by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa to forego divorce in favor of working out their differences is significant for several reasons. Most importantly their children will not have their lives turned upside down by the division of their family, and will continue to have Mommy and Daddy raising them together.
Hopefully the decision was not financially motivated, but we would be remiss if we didn’t also point out the fact that Bryant will save millions of dollars in child support and spousal support. Based on his reported income, Bryant could have been ordered to pay $1.3 million per month in payments to Vanessa if she were awarded primary physical custody.
Additionally, since the Bryants celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2011, their marriage is considered by California law to be long term. What this means is that all wages earned, and all items purchased since the day the exchanged nuptials would likely be considered community property and divided between the two accordingly.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will aggressively pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or custody proceedings. Judy L. Burger is known for her tenacious representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
In some instances, ten years is the benchmark for a marriage to be considered a long-term marriage. California follows this general rule, along with the Social Security Administration and the U.S. military, which can make it worthwhile to stick it out a little longer if you are close to your ten-year anniversary. (And vice-versa if you are more likely to be required to pay spousal support.)
In some cases, a marriage shorter than ten years may be deemed a long-term marriage. As with many decisions in family court, the judge has broad discretionary authority and his or her decisions are likely to withstand appeal if evidence was presented at trial to support the judge’s decision.
California law (Family Code Section 4336(a)) says that where a marriage is “of long duration,” the court retains jurisdiction indefinitely after the divorce is completed, unless the spouses agree otherwise. Retaining jurisdiction means the court may continue making decisions about matters between the ex-spouses, and can reevaluate original orders and modify them if the facts justify a change. In other words, unless alimony was waived by agreement, a court can reopen a case and award alimony later based on a change in circumstances, even if alimony was not awarded in the original proceedings.
The Social Security Administration also considers ten years to be a long-term marriage, which means a spouse could be eligible for derivative Social Security benefits if he or she remains unmarried at retirement age, depending on the former spouse’s earnings.
If your spouse is an active duty member of the military and you were married ten years, you may also be eligible for retirement pay and other continuing military benefits.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will persistently pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or post-divorce proceedings, whether you need to demonstrate the other spouse’s faults, or defend such claims. Judy L. Burger is known for her aggressive representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a spouse facing litigation, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
A putative marriage is one where the couple intended to enter into a valid marriage, but for one reason or another, the marriage is legally void in fact. There may have been a legal barrier to marriage, such as one of the parties was already married to someone else, or unbeknownst to the couple, the official who performed the marriage ceremony was not legally authorized to do so.
Sections 2250 – 2255 of the California Family Code explains a putative spouse’s rights when the couple breaks up. Rather than a petition for divorce, one or both parties must file a petition entitled “In re the marriage of ____ and ____” and the petition must state that it is a petition for a judgment of nullity of the marriage.
Once the marriage is found void or voidable, then the Court may proceed to divide property, award spousal support, and award custody of the children in a manner substantially similar to standard divorce proceedings as though the couple were legally married.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will persistently pursue the best outcome possible for you in your divorce or quasi-divorce proceedings, whether you need to demonstrate the other spouse’s faults, or defend such claims. Judy L. Burger is known for her aggressive representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a spouse facing divorce, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form.
In the much-publicized divorce of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, the tabloids found dozens of opportunities to photograph each parent out and about with their daughter Suri. It’s possible they were simply going about their daily lives while being hounded by the paparazzi, but it is just as likely the soon-to-be-divorced parents were trying to build their respective cases for custody.
When a marriage falls apart, the children of the relationship are caught in the middle. Parents often overlook the negative effect of their verbal sparring on the children. Courts, on the other hand, are not prone to overlook a parent’s bad behavior while the children are present.
Just as parents take measures to protect their children from negative outside influences, parents in the midst of a divorce have a duty to protect their children as much as possible. The children’s lives are going to change, but that doesn’t mean the children should be privy to all dirty laundry.
The details of a divorce should only be shared with children to the extent warranted by each child’s mental and emotional maturity level, and never in a manner reasonably expected to cause the child to harbor ill will for the other parent.
In our experience, children are flexible, adaptable, and perceptive. They may appear to be largely unaffected by your divorce, when in fact they have many questions they are simply afraid to ask. Counseling is often recommended after a divorce to help children process the break up of their parents and learn to deal with their conflicting emotions in a healthy way.
At the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, we will fight for you to achieve the best outcome possible in your divorce or custody proceedings. We can also help you help your children by recommending qualified counselors or classes designed to help your family avoid or overcome the negative effects of a divorce.
Judy L. Burger is known for her aggressive representation of clients in high conflict cases in and around the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento areas. If you are a parent facing a divorce or custody dispute, call us today to learn more about how we can help. Call (415)293-8314 in the San Francisco Bay area or (916)631-1935 in the Sacramento area, or contact us online via our confidential inquiry form. 
It is not unusual for couples seeking a divorce to be unable to reach an agreement on various issues, such as child custody to the division of assets and liabilities. While one spouse may have no interest in compromising on a particular issue, the other spouse may be anxious to move on. In some cases, it may be appropriate to ask the court for a “bifurcation” of marital status. What this means is that the court will address the issue of your marital status while postponing resolution of the remaining issues.
Though bifurcation is possible, it is rare. Courts are reluctant to bifurcate divorce cases for two reasons. First, they generally prefer to handle each case as a whole. California courts are heavily burdened as it is, and splitting one case into two inevitably creates more work.
The second reason courts are reluctant to bifurcate divorce cases is that once a marriage has been dissolved, one or both parties may lose motivation to work out the other issues.
Nonetheless, bifurcation is granted in rare circumstances, such as when a spouse is expecting a child conceived outside the existing marriage. In that situation, bifurcation may lead to a quicker judgment of divorce, allowing the expectant mother or father to marry the other parent prior to the child’s birth.
If bifurcation is appropriate in your situation, seek the help of an experienced California divorce lawyer.
At the 
Many clients ask us what they can expect in mediation and we are careful to explain the ins and outs and the mechanics of the mediation process. Mediation can be a very positive experience for those who are of a mind to compromise and who are fortunate to have the help of a truly unbiased and experienced mediator. Knowing the basics ahead of time often helps alleviate our clients’ anxiety.
The basic idea behind mediation is that the two parties, along with their attorneys, sit down with a neutral third party and attempt to reach an agreement on various issues in a divorce. The discussions that take place during mediation are kept confidential and are prohibited from being used if the matter eventually winds up in court. This arrangement is intended to allow for the worry-free sharing of ideas and offers.
One fact worth taking to heart is that mediators are referred to as neutrals because that is the essence of their role – to maintain complete neutrality regardless of the facts of a case. Maintaining neutrality can be a challenge when facts weigh heavily in favor of one party, but neutrality is absolutely essential. If one spouse perceives a lack of absolute neutrality, the mediation is unlikely to be successful.
Another fact to remember is that mediation can only result in an agreement when both parties engage in mediation with a good faith intent to be open minded and willing to compromise to find the middle ground in every disputed issue.
Being open minded and willing to compromise may sound reasonable enough, but often the problem is that by the time one or both spouses decide to file for divorce, good faith is long gone. A spouse who was the victim of neglect or deceit may not be able to forgive and forget. In our family law practice, we deal with highly contested cases where emotions are frequently too raw for a mediation to be successful.
If you are facing mediation, the 
Celebrities and the sometimes twisted lives they lead make for fabulous tabloid fodder – entertaining perhaps, but not usually educational per se. On the contrary, the current soap opera surrounding Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries, and Kanye West provides the perfect scenario to learn about one aspect of California law most people may be unaware of.
Kardashian and Humphries married on August 20, 2011. Seventy-two days later, they split up and Humphries claimed the marriage was a fraud from the get-go. In legal parlance, Humphries claimed grounds for an annulment. Kardashian, on the other hand, wanted a divorce and denied any fraud on her part. Leaving the intervening details to the tabloids, suffice it to say that as of January 2013 Kardashian and Humphries are still legally married.
Which brings us to the twist in this story: Kim Kardashian is pregnant and it’s no secret that the baby was sired by Kanye West. Nonetheless, under California law, as long as Kardashian is married to Humphries, Humphries will be presumed by law to be the baby’s father. Like other states, California has anti-bastardization laws, also known as parentage laws, which state when a mother is married, her newborn child is legally presumed to be her husband’s child.
In other words, Humphries will be deemed to be the baby’s legal father unless he disputes parentage through the court system. He will have all the rights and responsibilities of a father to include visitation rights and the duty to provide child support.
Surely Kardashian and West can put together enough money for diapers and daycare, but you never can tell with some folks. Humphries may want to take steps to protect his good name, especially since he claims he was never legally married to begin with.
At the 
This article should be filed under the heading, “Things clients should ask, but don’t.” Granted, getting divorced is rarely a walk in the park, so it is very understandable when clients are too stressed to think clearly and ask all of the pertinent questions. That’s one reason we welcome phone calls and emails between meetings. An informed client is an empowered client, and mid-divorce is a good time to feel empowered.
So, without further ado, here is a list of five mistakes to avoid when getting divorced.
The recent decision by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa to forego divorce in favor of working out their differences is significant for several reasons. Most importantly their children will not have their lives turned upside down by the division of their family, and will continue to have Mommy and Daddy raising them together.
Hopefully the decision was not financially motivated, but we would be remiss if we didn’t also point out the fact that Bryant will save millions of dollars in child support and spousal support. Based on his reported income, Bryant could have been ordered to pay $1.3 million per month in payments to Vanessa if she were awarded primary physical custody.
Additionally, since the Bryants celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2011, their marriage is considered by California law to be long term. What this means is that all wages earned, and all items purchased since the day the exchanged nuptials would likely be considered community property and divided between the two accordingly.
At the 
A putative marriage is one where the couple intended to enter into a valid marriage, but for one reason or another, the marriage is legally void in fact. There may have been a legal barrier to marriage, such as one of the parties was already married to someone else, or unbeknownst to the couple, the official who performed the marriage ceremony was not legally authorized to do so.
Sections 2250 – 2255 of the California Family Code explains a putative spouse’s rights when the couple breaks up. Rather than a petition for divorce, one or both parties must file a petition entitled “In re the marriage of ____ and ____” and the petition must state that it is a petition for a judgment of nullity of the marriage.
Once the marriage is found void or voidable, then the Court may proceed to divide property, award spousal support, and award custody of the children in a manner substantially similar to standard divorce proceedings as though the couple were legally married.
At the