Family Lawyer or Certified Family Law Specialist?
California Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Domestic Violence, Legal Separation, Property Division, Restraining Order, Spousal Support, Termination of Parental Rights, Termination of Parental Rights, Visitation

Family Lawyer or Certified Family Law Specialist?

When family law matters occur, you need a family lawyer, right? But what about complex situations? A Certified Family Law Specialist is just that – a certified specialist who handles complicated and difficult family law cases. When you have a heart problem, you don’t want a general practitioner; you want a heart specialist. Similarly, when your family has serious problems, turn to a CA Certified Family Law Specialist like Judy L. Burger.

What Is a Certified Family Law Specialist?

A Certified Family Law Specialist is an attorney who has been certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as having expertise in the area of family law. This certification is only awarded to attorneys who have demonstrated a high level of experience, proficiency, and commitment to family law through a rigorous process that includes examination and peer review. Certified Family Law Specialists are recognized for their specialized knowledge and proficiency in handling complex family law matters, including divorce, child custody, spousal support, complex property divisions, and other related issues.

A Certified Specialist Has Extensive Experience in Complex Cases

Certified Family Law Specialists are required to maintain their expertise by handling complex family law cases in order to expand their knowledge and experience. To maintain their certification, they must undergo recertification every five years, which involves completing additional continuing education and applying their extensive knowledge to assist California families.

A CFLS will have considerable experience with:

  • Divisive legal separations after a long marriage
  • Difficult divorces where the parties cannot agree on anything
  • Military divorces where both parties are actively serving
  • Complex business valuations where both spouses are owners
  • Sophisticated property divisions involving retirement and other investments
  • Heated mediations over support agreements
  • Emotionally charged situations involving different family backgrounds
  • Intense negotiations involving children and custody
  • Heart-wrenching discussions over grandparents’ rights
  • Litigating difficult child custody and support cases
  • Ex parte “emergency” hearings to stop or prevent abuse
  • Domestic violence assistance for spouses and children
  • Complex paternity issues for fathers
  • Completing and filing voluminous paperwork
  • More…

Experienced and highly knowledgeable in family law, Judy Burger, a Certified Family Law Specialist, brings a wealth of expertise and legal acumen to the table. Her extensive education, years of practical experience, and specialized certification make her an ideal choice for obtaining the results you seek in your family law matters.

A Family Law Generalist May Not Be Enough

Difficult family law matters are often mentally and emotionally challenging. The possible complexities and problems are legion and no two cases are alike. A general family law attorney may know the law, but highly charged issues with layers of complexity can be beyond their level of expertise. Realizing your lawyer is out of his or her depth in the middle of your divorce, child custody battle, or other personal matter is far too late. You could risk:

  • Losing custody
  • Limited visitation rights
  • Surrendering valuable assets
  • Burdensome support agreements
  • Your personal safety
  • Your family’s welfare
  • Your reputation
  • Your future

An experienced CFLS like Judy Burger encounters tough cases on a regular basis, so she has experience and resources a general family law attorney simply doesn’t have. If you anticipate a volatile situation in the making, now is the time to see a specialist for seasoned guidance, advice, and representation.

Don’t risk your safety, your family, or your future. Contact The Law Offices of Judy L. Burger, Certified CA Family Law Specialist, to schedule a consultation today. Our team is prepared to go above and beyond what a mere family lawyer can do for you!

 

Key Elements to Include in Your Parenting Plan
Child Custody

Key Elements to Include in Your Parenting Plan


Going through a divorce with minor children will involve you and your ex making several decisions about their future care. Ultimately, how you share decision-making and time with your kids will become part of a court-ordered parenting plan that you and your ex will be required to follow. Often parents will negotiate and develop their own plan terms rather than leaving decisions about their family up to the court. When they can’t agree, each parent can ask the court to grant their request for their preferred parenting plan terms. Therefore, it will be crucial to know which terms you need in your parenting plan as you proceed through your case. Here is more on the key elements to include in your parenting plan. Continue reading →

Understanding Grandparent Visitation Rights Under California Law
Child Custody

Understanding Grandparent Visitation Rights Under California Law


When you are a parent going through a divorce, you will have to determine how you and your ex will share custody of your kids. Although you are ending your relationship with each other, you will remain connected as co-parents. Further, your children, and by extension, you, will continue to have ties with your ex’s family members. In-law and other family dynamics can be complicated both during and after divorce and are not always easy to navigate. This can be especially true when it comes to managing your children’s time with their grandparents post-divorce. If you are going through a divorce involving kids, you will want to know how grandparent/grandchild visits will work after the case is over. Here is more about understanding grandparent visitation rights under California law: Continue reading →

It’s Possible to Get Temporary Orders During Your Divorce
California Divorce

It’s Possible to Get Temporary Orders During Your Divorce


When you file for or are served with a divorce, it can immediately impact your daily life, including your living situation. Once your case begins, you and your ex may decide that you no longer want to live together. While living apart during divorce can provide each person with the physical space they need, it can also raise certain practical issues that will need to be addressed. Having temporary orders in place while your divorce case is pending can help clarify each person’s responsibilities and minimize conflict. The good news is that it’s possible to get temporary orders during your divorce. However, temporary order issues can be just as complex as those raised during divorce. Therefore, it’s important to understand temporary orders and how they may operate during your California divorce case. Continue reading →

Will a California Judge Listen to My Child’s Preferences About Custody?
Child Custody, Visitation

Will a California Judge Listen to My Child’s Preferences About Custody?

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If you have ever wondered whether a judge will listen to your child’s preferences about custody or visitation, you are not alone. There is a short answer: Yes, under certain circumstances. However, there is much more to the story, and there are common misconceptions about the effect of the child’s preferences.

To understand the longer answer, you have to start with California law. In 2012, the California State Legislature enacted a law to give children more of a voice in custody and visitation matters. The law applies when a child is mature enough by “age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference” about custody or visitation.

The law has a specific provision when the child at least 14 years old, specifically with regard to how the child’s preferences are obtained and presented to the court. For these older children, the court “shall consider, and give due weight to” the child’s wishes unless doing so “is not in the child’s best interest.”

For kids less than 14 years of age, the court may permit the child to express his or her wishes if it is “appropriate pursuant to the child’s best interests.”

Any time a court does not allow a child to testify as a witness, the court must allow alternative means to obtain the child’s input. For example, the court may be informed of the child’s preferences through the child’s lawyer, an evaluator, or a mediator.

There is a common misconception that a court will necessarily do as the child asks.  This is not true. Even when the court does hear from the child, the court is not bound to follow the child’s preference. Rather, the court’s guiding principle is the best interest of the child. For this reason, the court can consider issues such as parent manipulation of the child and the child’s desire to avoid parental rules or discipline.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger have extensive experience in child custody and visitation matters and can advise you in detail about how courts deal with these issues. Contact us today to learn how our attorneys can help you in your case: (415) 293-8314.

Contesting Parentage in California
Child Custody, Child Support

Contesting Parentage in California

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It goes without saying that being a parent comes with both rights and responsibilities. Nowhere is this more evident than in legal proceedings that relate to families. In the realm of family law, a child’s parents have the right to request custody and visitation. However, they also have the responsibility of supporting the child, sometimes by paying child support, uninsured healthcare costs, and child care costs.

When a child is born, the mother’s name is listed on the birth certificate. If the mother is married at the time of birth, her husband is presumed to be the father, and his name is also placed on the birth certificate. Likewise, if the mother was married at the time the child was conceived, that man is presumed to be the father and is listed on the certificate.

If the mother is not married, determining who the father is can be more complicated. A very common way of establishing paternity is through a voluntary Declaration of Paternity completed by the parents. Outside of a presumption or voluntary declaration, court proceedings are often used to determine the child’s father. You can read more about paternity at our earlier blog here.

But what happens when a man disputes that he is the father of the child? Indeed, much is at stake for everyone involved — the mother, the putative father, the child, and the state of California.

The California Family Code reaffirms that the state has a compelling interest in establishing child paternity and that both parents have a duty to support their children. This makes sense because parentage affects many rights:

  • child support;
  • child custody and visitation;
  • health insurance;
  • military benefits, survivors’ benefits, and Social Security benefits; and
  • inheritance rights.

When a parent does not support a child, the child suffers. However, the child’s family and the state are also often negatively affected.

The state child support agency can request that a court establish the paternity of a child. Others who may start a paternity suit include the mother, the child’s personal representative, and, of course, the father. A man has the legal right to request a genetic test to determine whether he is the biological father of a child.

Under California Family Code § 7575, if a man who signed a voluntary declaration of paternity is determined by genetic testing not to be the father, the court may still refuse to set aside the declaration. The court’s decision in this regard is focused on the best interest of the child.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger have extensive experience in family law matters, including challenges to paternity. Contact us today to learn how our attorneys can help you in your case: (415) 293-8314.

Visitation

Supervised Visitation in California

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Supervised Visitation in California
Supervised visitation is a tool available to California judges when they want to ensure safety and look out for the best interest of a child. Supervised visitation allows a non-custodial parent to visit with his or her child in a safe environment under the supervision of a neutral third party.

There are several reasons a court might use supervised visitation, such as the following:

  • to allow the child and parent to become acquainted or reacquainted if they have no relationship or have been apart for some time;
  • to prevent the parent from abducting the child:
  • to address concerns about parenting skills or parental mental illness; and
  • to allow the parent and child to see each other even though there may be concerns about child abuse or neglect.

The legislature’s top priority in supervised visitation is “the safety of children, adults, and visitation supervisors.” After safety is assured, the paramount consideration is “the best interest of the child.”

California law allows for professional, paid providers to supervise visitation. However it also permits this need to be met by a nonprofessional provider, who is often a family member or friend. In either case, the law strictly regulates the qualifications of supervising providers. Regardless, the following three criteria apply:

  • no prior convictions for crimes against the person, including child molestation or abuse;
  • “no current or past court order in which the provider is the person being supervised”; and
  • if the person will be transporting the child, proof of current automobile insurance.

Professional providers must receive extensive training in many areas, including the following:

  • the responsibilities and duties of providers and their specific role;
  • laws relating to child abuse reporting, family law, and juvenile law;
  • child development needs;
  • cultural sensitivities; and
  • confidentiality

Supervised visitation sessions may be terminated if rules are violated, the child is “acutely distressed,” or a safety issue is present.

Supervised visitation provides an important means for a child to build or maintain a relationship with his or her noncustodial parent. If you need legal assistance in a hotly contested child custody or visitation matter, the attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger will provide respectful legal support. Make the call today to learn how our attorneys can help: (415) 293-8314.

Child Custody, Child Support, Visitation

What Does It Mean to Establish Paternity?

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What Does It Mean to Establish Paternity
Most people know that establishing paternity relates to naming someone as a child’s legal parent. However, many people are less clear about why it is important to establish paternity, also known as parentage.

When a child’s mother is married at the time the child is conceived or born, the person to whom she is married is automatically presumed to be the other parent, unless the court finds otherwise based on evidence before it. This presumption also applies to certain couples in registered domestic partnerships, as well as to situations in which the second parent openly treated the child as his or her own.

However, if the mother is not married at the time the child is born, the child does not have a second legal parent. In these cases, California provides two simple ways to establish parentage: a formal declaration of paternity or a court order.

In either case, once someone is established as a child’s legal parent, he or she gains both rights and responsibilities relating to the child. Only after parentage is established may that parent exercise parental rights, such pursuing custody and visitation. Additionally, until parentage is established, a person cannot be held legally responsible to pay child support.

While custody, visitation, and child support are all important reasons to establish parentage, there are many others:

  • The child’s right to inherit from the parent;
  • The child’s right to certain benefits related to the parent, such as Social Security and veteran’s benefits;
  • The child’s ability to access family medical records and history;
  • The right to recover certain government-provided benefits on behalf of the child;
  • The presence of the person’s name as a parent on the child’s birth certificate; and
  • The child’s ability to recover as a health or life insurance beneficiary from the person.

In addition to these concrete benefits, California law recognizes that “knowing one’s father is important to a child’s development.”

Declaration of Paternity

The simplest way to establish parentage is through a declaration of paternity signed voluntarily by both parents. This is a state-created a form that has the same effect as a court order when it is filed with the California Department of Child Support Services. By law, birthing hospitals and prenatal clinics must provide a voluntary declaration of paternity to an unmarried mother. The declarations are also available for free “at all local child support agency offices, offices of local registrars of births and deaths, courts, and county welfare departments.”

A parent who signs a declaration of paternity waives several legal rights, such as the right to have a court decide the issue of paternity and the right to legal representation in paternity proceedings.

Court Order

A court order is the second way parentage may be established when a mother is unwed at conception or birth. Either parent may petition a court to establish parentage. For example, a mother may ask a court to enter an order establishing a biological father as her child’s legal father. After this is done, the mother can pursue child support from the father. Similarly, a biological father may ask a court to establish him as the father, after which he may pursue custody or visitation with the child.

Parentage is the basis for many rights and responsibilities under California law. If you are involved in a parentage dispute, you want an attorney with substantial experience in Northern California who will represent you aggressively. Please contact the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger at (415) 259-6636 to learn more.

Child Custody

What Is a Child Custody Investigation?

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What Is a Child Custody Investigation
A child custody investigation is designed to help the family court determine the custody arrangement that is in the “best interest of the child.” In acrimonious divorce or legal separation proceedings, the parties may be vying for custody of their children. It can be difficult for a judge, sitting in a courtroom, to balance the evidence and determine what is best for the children. Child custody investigations can help identify and frame the issues the judge needs to resolve.

Child custody investigations are required by law any time there is a “serious” allegation of child abuse. This includes situations in which any of the following people allege child abuse:

  • The child, made to a law enforcement officer;
  • A child welfare services agency investigator; or
  • Any person who is required by law to report suspected child abuse.

A child custody investigation may also be ordered any time an allegation of serious child abuse “is supported by substantial independent corroboration.” This means that an evaluation may be ordered any time an allegation of serious child abuse is backed up by substantial independent evidence that the abuse occurred.

A child custody evaluation may also be ordered whenever a judge needs information that bears on what may be in the best interest of the children, such as alleged parental substance abuse, extreme parenting practices, or major mental health issues. Sometimes, one party to a divorce or legal separation may make allegations against the other of these types of conduct. Other times, the judge may become concerned based on other evidence or testimony presented to him or her.

Child custody investigations generally conclude with a report from the investigator to the court. The law sets forth minimum requirements for investigations; however, family court judges have great discretion to order additional evaluation “when necessary to determine the safety needs of the child.”

To read more about what happens during a child custody investigation, please see our earlier blog here.

Child custody evaluations are often necessary to protect California children. In hotly contested child support matters, you need an attorney to fight for you and your child. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger have extensive experience in divorce, child custody, and child support matters. Make the call today to learn how our attorneys can protect you and your children: (415) 293-8314.
Child Custody, Visitation

How Does a Temporary Move Out of the Family Home Affect Custody and Visitation Decisions?

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How Does a Temporary Move Out of the Family Home Affect Custody and Visitation Decisions
After a decision to divorce or separate is made, one parent sometimes moves out while the other parent stays in the family home with the children. We are often asked about the effect of this move on court decisions relating to custody and visitation.

Divorce and legal separation are difficult events for everyone involved, especially children. Children, particularly younger ones, often do not understand what is happening. Even older children may not understand the full implications of the end of an adult couple’s relationship. For these reasons, the guiding principle for California custody and visitation decisions is the “best interest” of the parties’ children.

California law does not allow a court to consider short absences of a parent from the family home in its custody and visitation decisions as long as the following three criteria are met:

  • The party showed an interest in maintaining custody or visitation;
  • The party either maintains or makes reasonable efforts to maintain regular contact with the child; and
  • The party shows no intention to abandon the child.

Even if these criteria are not met, a California judge will not consider a temporary absence or relocation from the family home if it is due to actual or threatened domestic violence. For example, if a husband has been physically abusive toward his wife and she moves out of the family home as a result, the court will not hold her absence from the home against her in its custody and visitation decisions.

These laws do not apply to a parent who has abandoned a child or to a parent who is excluded from the home by a court-issued protective or restraining order.

The health and well-being of your children are important not only to you, but to the State of California. In hotly contested child support matters, you need an attorney to fight for you and your child. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Judy L. Burger have extensive experience in divorce, child custody, and child support matters. Make the call today to learn how our attorneys can protect you and your children: (415) 293-8314.