Divorce in California can be quite complicated, and if you are divorcing in Orange County, it’s absolutely imperative to have the advice and services of an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer. The rules and procedures for a California dissolution apply equally to opposite-sex and same-sex married couples and to registered domestic partners. Here’s a brief overview.

The law in California is “no-fault” divorce. Neither partner must prove that the other is “at-fault.” Either partner may obtain a divorce for irreconcilable differences. At least one partner must reside in this state for six months before he or she can file for dissolution, and that partner must live for at least three months in the county where the filing takes place. A divorce in California will take at least six months from the date when the non-filing partner is served with the petition for divorce. Property acquired during the marriage is considered community property and will be divided equitably by the court unless the divorcing partners can reach their own agreement. One partner may also be required to provide spousal support – “alimony” – to the other after a divorce.

When the divorcing partners are parents, the non-custodial parent is typically expected to provide child support payments until a child reaches his or her 18th birthday. California judges adhere to specific guidelines when determining child support amounts, and California aggressively enforces child support orders. Child custody is determined by what a court considers the best interests of the child. To have a child custody order modified after a divorce, you must show the court that a circumstance has significantly changed and that a modification will be in the child’s best interests. What you’ve read here is the most basic description of what happens in a dissolution in California. For the detailed advice and legal representation you’ll need in a California dissolution proceeding, speak right away with an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer.

It’s no secret that divorces are difficult. Emotions can run quite high. Today, in the era of no-fault divorce, if children are involved, or if significant assets and properties are in dispute, it’s imperative to stay focused on settling the issues rather than expressing the emotions. If you are divorcing in Orange County or elsewhere in southern California, work from the beginning with an experienced California attorney whose practice focuses exclusively on family law. Contact an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer to discuss dissolution or to learn about alternatives to annulment.

It’s now been 46 years since California Governor Ronald Reagan signed into law a measure, the Family Law Act of 1969, making California the nation’s first no-fault dissolution state. Prior to 1969, in all fifty states, one spouse essentially “sued” the other for divorce, claiming that one or more acts constituted “grounds” for annulment. No-fault divorce changes all of that. Under no-fault dissolution laws, if one spouse wants a dissolution, nothing has to be proven, and there’s ultimately no way the other spouse can prevent the dissolution. Divorce is never easy, but the Family Law Act made divorce proceedings somewhat less contentious, because it’s no longer necessary to prove that one spouse did anything providing “grounds” for annulment.

No-fault dissolution is not a perfect system, but no one really wants to return to forcing people to remain married against their will. Since California pioneered no-fault dissolution in 1969, every state in the nation now allows for it. In any dissolution settlement, your future is genuinely at stake, so you must ensure that your legal rights and your long-term best interests are protected. Let an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer handle your dissolution and advocate aggressively on your behalf. If you are divorcing in southern California, now or in the future, make the call and obtain the help you need.

Champion boxer Shane Mosley is trying to collect a $6 million purse from his ostensible ex-spouse. The boxing champ is asking courts in New York to help him prove that his wife was a bigamist when she married him, which would mean she is not entitled to the $6 million she received in their divorce settlement. Mosley, 43, charges in court papers that Jin Mosley, 39, never told him when they married in 2002 that she had already tied the knot with a man named Sanjay Dwivedi. Jin Mosley’s lawyer denied the boxer’s allegations. “She was never married simultaneously to anyone while she was married to Mosley,” the attorney stated.

Mosley says he hired a private investigator who discovered that Jin C. Mosley – originally Jin C. Sheehan – had married Sanjay Dwivedi in 1995 and had divorced him in Manhattan in 2006. Mosley says that means his ex-wife was married to both men for four years. In California, if you discover that the person you’ve married is already married to someone else, you don’t have to go through an entire divorce procedure. You can have the marriage annulled. Before you decide on an annulment or a divorce, discuss your personal circumstances, your rights, and your options with an experienced Orange County divorce attorney.

Annulment ends a marriage in cases where the marriage was never actually “valid” from the beginning. Not every state offers annulment, and California courts will not grant every annulment request – but the courts will grant annulments for bigamy, if you can prove it. An experienced Orange County divorce attorney can help you decide if annulment is right in your situation. If you are considering annulment or divorce, or if you need legal advice and services regarding any other matter of family law, don’t hesitate to acquire the legal help you need. Contact an experienced Orange County divorce attorney as quickly as possible.

Life seems to get more complicated every day, and those who adapt to changing conditions are those who succeed. The failure to adapt, however, can put you out of business. Take the law, for example. Even the world’s best attorney just fifty years ago would be entirely lost in a California courtroom today. The courtroom doesn’t look different, but the law – especially in the realm of family law – has changed dramatically in just half-a-century. If you are divorcing in southern California, you need an attorney who strives to stay up-to-date and current, and not only with the laws themselves, but with the ways that lawyers now assist their clients. You’ll need the advice and services of a knowledgeable and experienced Orange County divorce lawyer.

Some family law attorneys are not successfully adapting to the need to collaborate more with other professionals to help clients through the distress of a dissolution, according to new research by the British law firm Mills & Reeve. These would be the attorneys who insist on doing things the old-fashioned way and doing it themselves. It may be more of a problem in locations other than California, which is always on the legal cutting edge. Arbitration, mediated divorce, and collaborative dissolution are growing in popularity in California, and most California divorce attorneys are quick to seek help from medical, financial, and mental health experts when it’s needed.

The goal in divorce mediation is the resolution of key issues in a dissolution without the need for a trial. In mediation, both parties work through dissolution issues with a neutral mediator. Not only is mediation a cost-effective method of resolving a dissolution, but it offers the chance for a fair resolution of issues that are crucial to both spouses. If you want or need a divorce in southern California resolved quickly and reasonably, contact an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer as quickly as possible and ask about alternatives to traditional divorce.

Everyone agrees that parents should support their minor children, but spousal support after a divorce – commonly known as “alimony” – has always been and remains one of the most controversial aspects of family law. Alimony, as you probably know, is a regular payment made by one ex-spouse to the other after a divorce. Some believe that if a marriage has lasted for a number of years, provision should be permanent. Others would abolish provision entirely. If you are currently divorcing or if you are anticipating an imminent divorce in southern California, and if you believe that alimony will be an issue, get the legal help that you’re going to need by contacting an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer immediately.

When one spouse has stayed home or has only worked part-time and has been dedicated to raising children and/or to supporting the other spouse’s career, that spouse has the right to seek provision from the full-time income-earning spouse. The amount of alimony that a California court awards will depend on each couple’s particular circumstances, history, and current incomes. If divorcing spouses can come to their own mutual agreement regarding alimony, the court will almost always sign off on that agreement. If there’s an alimony dispute, the court will make a final alimony determination.

When either ex-spouse’s circumstances change after a divorce, either spouse can seek a modification of the provision arrangement, but you’ll need an attorney’s help, and any modification must be approved by the court. The most important concern regarding provision is that it’s fair to both ex-spouses. Make certain that if you are divorcing, the provision arrangement treats you fairly and justly. You can help to ensure that fairness by working from the beginning with an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer. If you are divorcing in southern California, make the call as quickly as possible.