For divorcing spouses who have kids, a Divorcesupport.com blog provides advice on how to best meet your children’s emotional needs during a divorce.  It cautions that you shouldn’t be the only one providing your kids with emotional support.  When family and friends aren’t enough, then look for counseling options.  You’re also encouraged to get emotional support for yourself, such as through a local support group, family, and friends.

Even if you don’t have children, there are many essential temporary court orders you can ask for while a divorce is pending.  The long divorce process can give spouses a window of opportunity to do a lot of damage to your finances, assets, and family concerns.  You can either try to deal with the results of a spouse’s harmful actions after the fact, or you can get temporary court orders to help prevent the harm from happening in the first place.  The automatic restraining orders explained in Part One usually can’t meet all of your worries.  Fortunately, we can request additional protections for you in court. 

As you know, a divorce brings about many changes to your day-to-day life.  We’ll seek temporary orders on your behalf to deal with these changes. 

Family-related orders

     ●  If you have minor children with your spouse, you don’t have to wait for the divorce to become final to obtain temporary child custody, visitation, and support orders. 

     ●  A temporary order can also give one spouse exclusive use of property (like the family home or car) while the divorce is pending. 

Financial security-related orders

     ●  You may need to request attorney’s fees during the divorce.

     ●  It may be appropriate to ask for temporary spousal support (or “alimony”) for the lower income spouse.

Businesses and investment-related orders

     ●  When spouses own or partially own a business, a spouse’s wrongful actions can damage your business interests.  A restraining order can help prevent dishonest deals between your spouse and another business partner. 

     ●  Also prevent business assets from being wasted and misused. 

Threats to your personal safety, or your children’s safety

     ●  If there is domestic violence or you are threatened with domestic violence, you can ask for protection through a restraining order that prohibits your spouse from contacting you or coming within a certain distance from you. 

As you can see, your request for a temporary order can cover almost any issue, and violation of these orders can result in serious consequences.  These orders are not automatically granted, but you can get our help early on so we can prepare your requests during the divorce.  This can go a long way in reducing the risk of harm to you, your family, and your financial interests.  If you disagree with an inappropriate request, then contact us right away to oppose it. 

Many problems can be avoided with temporary court orders, minimizing stress and expense for you down the road.  Speak with our divorce attorneys about how we can help you meet your goals and get through the divorce process.  Call San Diego Law Firm at (619) 794-0243.

Even if there aren’t any financial battles in your household, you may have other reasons for wanting a postnup.  Here are a few common reasons why couples get a marital agreement:

• To change the terms of a prenuptial agreement created before getting married
• To prevent your ownership in assets from being controlled by California’s community property laws
• To gift property to your spouse that would otherwise be only yours or shared by both of you
• If one or both of you has children from a prior marriage, to resolve inheritance concerns
• To account for significant changes in finances post-marriage, e.g. a spouse earned a degree, or put his or her career on hold to raise the kids

Not all marital agreements are created equal, and not all are valid under the law.  First and foremost, under California law, spouses are held to be in a fiduciary relationship with each other.  To be enforceable, a marital agreement will have to meet stricter standards than will a prenuptial (or premarital) agreement, as California’s family laws expressly prohibit a spouse from taking any unfair advantage of the other.  Among your many obligations is the duty to fully disclose all assets and their value, as well as to disclose all income, liabilities, and any rights that will be given up if a marital agreement is signed. 

As with any contract, a marital agreement can’t violate public policy, such as by taking away the family court’s ultimate authority to decide child support and custody matters.  Forcing a spouse to sign under duress, or as a result of fraud or undue influence are other clear examples of conduct that will make the contract unenforceable.  Also note that different California and federal laws apply to different types of transactions that may be covered by your marital agreement (e.g. changing rights to pension benefits or to inheritance and similar rights).  These laws must be complied with in order for your plans to be enforceable.  When writing your marital agreement, we’ll take precautions throughout the process to strengthen the contract, and to help ensure that your interests have been handled fairly.  Get your financial goals in order with a marital agreement by contacting San Diego Law Firm’s family law attorneys at (619) 794-0243.

As part of Brazil’s online divorce, you’d be able to divide assets.  While this seems like it should be simple enough, many of the most difficult issues in a divorce come up when figuring out who gets what.  For example, under California law, do you know what happens if one spouse started a business before getting married (making it separate property), and continued working in the business during the marriage?  As a general rule, separate property stays with the spouse it belongs to and isn’t divided when divorcing.  So does the other spouse have an interest in the business?  Well, assuming there was never an agreement to change the ownership of the business, the business is generally still that spouse’s separate property…but that’s not the end of the story.  If the business has grown during the marriage, part of that increased value is often shared by both spouses.  This is because under California’s community property system, once you’re married, each spouse’s labor is considered a community effort.  After all, had that spouse not spent the community’s time improving his or her own business, and instead had earned a salary by working for someone else, then that salary would have been community property. 

Once it’s determined that at least part of the business is community property, then you have to figure out what the business’s value is, and how much the community is owed.  Depending on the circumstances, it may be that the business earned well over what’s considered to be a fair return on the investment, and so any earnings beyond a “fair return” could be considered a community asset to be divided upon divorce.  While at other times, a better approach may be to set a reasonable value on the services of the spouse who worked in the business, and this salary would be the community’s interest in the business.  The community may have already received part of this value during the marriage, such as when the money earned is used to pay family expenses.  Those payments would be deducted from the salary, and whatever amount remains would be divided at divorce.

Every divorce is different, and many more factors need to be evaluated to fully determine a business’s value.  We’ll assess these factors to determine how to fairly value and divide a business and other marital property.  Valuation methods vary, and we’ll always work to protect your interests as assets are divided.  It may be true that at first glance, a do-it-yourself divorce is tempting for obvious reasons, e.g. speed and cost.  But even when couples are on good terms with each other, tough questions come up.  You need to know your rights under California law to help ensure you get a fair divorce, and you must fully understand what you’re agreeing to.  Otherwise, you may wind up having to deal with dreaded surprises later on if mistakes were unknowingly made during the divorce.  Instead, consider cost-effective alternatives such as collaborative divorce and mediation.  We’ll discuss your options with you and help you get through the complex property division and divorce process.  Reach San Diego Law Firm’s experienced divorce attorneys at (619) 794-0243.

Hollywood prenups aside, a premarital agreement is a smart idea for many engaged San Diego couples, including professionals or people who have been married previously.  With a premarital agreement, you (instead of the State of California) decide together how you’ll want to divide assets in the event of divorce, and also identify who can sell or encumber property during the marriage.  In his Nola.com blog, certified financial planner John Gin advises that couples get off to a strong start by discussing current and future finances before getting married, and cautions on the added importance of this talk if either of you have been married before or have kids.  In these cases, a premarital agreement not only protects your assets, but helps you to better provide for your children’s future.

As experienced San Diego attorneys, we’re able to create a premarital agreement that is fair and reflects your financial planning goals, and carefully abides by California law to help ensure your wishes will be upheld in court.  Also be sure to create or update your will and living trust to fit the new circumstances.  Take the right steps now as you get ready to begin your marriage, and contact San Diego Law Firm at (619) 794-0243.