When you are going through a divorce, there is a kind of tunnel vision that can occur where you only see the outcome that you want and are closed to other available options. Maybe you are focused solely on retaining physical custody or keeping the home and refuse to...
Year: 2020
In California, grandparents can have rights to visitiation
Without a doubt, grandparents and grandchildren form close bonds. But things can happen both within and outside of the family that can strain those bonds.Fortunately, California is a state with one of the more liberal sets of grandparents' rights. Exercising these...
What happens if I don’t want to get divorced?
When you got home from work the other night, you heard those dreaded words from your spouse: "We need to talk." While that phrase rarely signifies any good news, in this case, the news was particularly bad. Your spouse wants a divorce.While the news blindsided you,...
Is altervative dispute resolution right for you?
In recent months, it became apparent that you and your spouse had, in the words of Lionel Richie, "reached the end of your rainbow." Both of you are sure that divorce is the right course, yet you dread the public process that will lay bare all of your family's private...
Get on the same page when the kids start back to school
While this school year will definitely be different than the others, some commonalities remain. One thing that divorced co-parents need to do is to have a united front about school and any extracurricular activities their kids in which their kids will be...
How is intellectual property divided in divorce?
If you are divorcing your spouse, one of the biggest areas of contention besides determining child custody matters is how to split the community property. But if you think that it is difficult to divide tangible property and assets, it's even harder to determine which...
What do I do if I can’t afford to pay my child support?
You're a divorced parent who shares custody of the kids with your ex. Their other parent is their primary custodian, and as such, receives monthly support payments from you. Or they did until recently.Your recent lay-off at work has caused you to get behind on your...
Why mediating your divorce can leave you in a better place
In the final weeks and months of your marriage, it may have seemed as if the two of you couldn't agree on anything together. Ultimately, this intransigence and refusal to meet each other halfway took its toll on the union between you and led to your marriage's...
Child custody and the antivax movement
When you and your spouse got married, it seemed like you shared the same views on most of the important issues in life. You were both conservative about money matters but socially liberal and plugged into the happenings in your Pleasanton community.So you were very...
Why you should mediate your custody case
If you are divorcing your child's other parent, you should first consider the value of mediating your custody case. This approach also works well with unmarried parents who are ending their relationship with one another but want to stay firmly involved in their...