People say lawyers are unscrupulous in their billing. A hospital bills a couple $40 for allowing them to hold their own newborn child.
“Honestly we both laughed about it,” Ryan Grassley tells PEOPLE of paying to hold his baby
University of Washington sociologists have found what is believed to be the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of divorce filings. The researchers analyzed filings in Washington state over a 14-year period and found that filing consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays.
This is an interesting study by U-Dub, which has motivated us from our long silence to make some observations.
Our experiences are similar to those shown in the study, with some notable differences: We have seen that people come to us seasonally, with divorces coming during January and February, child custody disputes showing up about April or May, and another, smaller swell of divorces and support cases about fall. Our observations of these seasonal phenomenon are:
What makes our experience different from the data studied at the University of Washington? Possibly their weather?
From both sides — the paying party and the receiving party — one of the most controversial and confusing topics in all of California family law is the issue of spousal support. This article is only one observer’s views about the deep-seated questions about the subject.
So why the confusion? Why the widely varying outcomes? What is going on?
The answer, unfortunately, is that spousal support outcomes vary widely because, unlike child support, the issue of spousal support is extremely discretionary, and has no hard-set rules.
Child Support in California
So we have something to compare against, I will first show you how courts calculate child support in California.
Child support in California is determined by a formula that compares after-tax income against the relative custody of the parties. The formula is right in Family Code section 4055. The formula looks like this:
CS = K[HN – (H%)(TN)]
With the above variables defined as follows:
CS is Child Support.
K is the amount of both parents’ income to be allocated for child support.
HN = high earner’s net monthly disposable income.
H% = approximate percentage of time that the high earner has or will have primary physical responsibility for the children
TN = total net monthly disposable income of both parties.
That TN variable is further defined as follows:
| Total Net Disposable Income Per Month |
K |
| $0–800 | 0.20 + TN/16,000 |
| $801–6,666 | 0.25 |
| $6,667–10,000 | 0.10 + 1,000/TN |
| Over $10,000 | 0.12 + 800/TN |
For two people who have a set child custody schedule, and both work at regular jobs, this is pretty easy to calculate.
Temporary Spousal Support
The first thing I must do is back-pedal a little. Here in northern California, most courts actually have a formula for calculating “temporary” or “pendente lite” spousal support. The courts have mostly done this to allow a sum of money to flow from the higher wage earner to the lower wage earner on a temporary basis without having to conduct a time and money consuming trial. In Sacramento County, the formula works like this:
This is pretty simple, and Sacramento County Courts set temporary spousal support orders using this formula every day.
Long Term or “Permanent” Spousal Support
It is when divorcing parties are looking to set long-term spousal support that parties tend to run into the most variation in outcome. This is because (a) the court has a lot of discretion, (b) the statute providing for long-term support has a 13 point balancing test that the court uses to determine support (see Family Code § 4320).
That’s right. A financial issue in family court is determined by a discretionary, subjective, and unequally applied multi-point balancing test. The worst part is that the court usually does not typically tell the parties in advance which of the 13 points of the test will weigh most heavily. Trials on the issue of long-term spousal support are often long, arduous, filled with experts, and expensive. People usually find some amount that is equally displeasing and settling the case. Desperation often determines the limits of support, rather than a math problem.
What are some of those points in the balancing test, you ask? Here are a few:
There are others, of course. It seems obvious that any trial asking a court to juggle all of these issues would be gruelling.
Non-Trial Means of Resolving Spousal Support Disputes.
There are ways to avoid the financial and emotional drain that a spousal support trial will cost you, though it always takes to willing parties to negotiate a settlement. Find a lawyer to help you make the best decisions about seeking/resisting and determining spousal support in your case.
One quote from this news report is just astounding to me:
“He allegedly fathered dozens of children.”
I don’t know if he could ever earn enough money to pay realistic child support to any of these women.
Terry Turnage appears in court for not paying child support | WREG.com.
Same-sex marriage is a fact in California. If you are married here, you can get a divorce here whether married to a person of the same or of the opposite sex.
Interesting conflicts of law arise when people marry in one state and divorce in another. Legal truths that we all presume in California change significantly when you move to another state before seeking a divorce. For example, if you purchase a community property home in California before leaving the state and seeking a divorce in a non-community property state, the means and calculations used to divide the spouses’ relative ownership interests in that property may change drastically.
This case has been pending a long time in Ohi0. A same-sex couple married in California, but then apparently took up residence in Ohio, where one of the two sought a divorce. The courts there are now caught in a dilemma: if the state hosting the divorce proceedings does not recognize same-sex marriage at the time of the divorce, does that state have an obligation to recognize the marriage (legal in California) under the “full faith and credit” clause?
The judge on this case is taking a second look.
Judge to take second look at divorce granted to same-sex couple – The Athens Messenger: News.
I have kids. Young ones. They exemplify the term, “This is why we can’t have nice things.” Our art is mostly made by them, or from a local housewares store.
In my career, I have run across several couples with collections of valuable fine art. Every time, the fine art collection has posed a problem in the division of property. Here are some examples of the real arguments I have heard about art and other collections:
There are two problems with any collection of valuable items, including art, while you are dividing them in a divorce:
The simple advice in this article from the Wall Street Journal is excellent, but only really works if at least one party comes to terms with the second of these two issues: the emotional attachment to the art or collection. The toughest part often is in finding an appraiser who can place a reliable value on the collection. The internet is a great resource to find appraisers for just about any collection.
When you are dividing items from the household, emotional distance is key. The more intrinsic value you place in an object, the more power you give to the other side. Find your Zen, find an appraiser, and divide your community property.
Getting a divorce started is one of the simplest parts of the process. Here is what you need, and how to get it done.
Forms:
The forms required to start your divorce in California are available online for free, and are relatively simple to fill out. The forms include these:
Download all four to your computer first, because they will not save with the portions you will need to type in later.
Prep Work:
Make an inventory of the things you know you bought while you were married. While making that list, try to estimate what everything is worth. For things like furniture, use “Craigslist” or “garage sale” values. For cars, use Private Party value from kbb.com.
Filling Out the Paperwork:
The Summons.
Start with the easiest one: the Summons. To fill out the Summons, put your spouse’s name in the “Notice to” line at the top. Then fill out your name at “Petitioner’s name” line. The court will provide the case number when you file everything.
Fill out the bottom of the first page with the address of the courthouse, and the your own name, address, and telephone number at the very bottom. The second page does not need to be filled out.
Make three copies, or two copies and a scan. Set the original and the copies aside.
The Property Declaration.
The series of boxes at the top of the first page is the “caption.” It needs the following information: (a) your name, address, and telephone number; (b) the court’s address; and (c) the names of you (as Petitioner) and your spouse (as Respondent). As before, the court will provide the case number when you file your documents.
The Property Declaration has instructions on the last page. This is where your inventory of property comes into play. Fill it out the best you can. Your list of property does not need to be exhaustive, so long as you hit the most important things, like the house, cars, investments. Also, you can lump certain things, like collections, together in one line, like “gun collection” or “women’s jewelry.”
Make three copies, or two and a sacn. Set the original and the copies aside.
The Petition.
The Petition is pretty straightforward, too. Fill out the caption like you did in the Property Declaration. Check the box for “Dissolution of Marriage,” “Legal Separation,” or “Nullity of Marriage.” (I will discuss the difference in a separate article.)
Check the box next to Petitioner for paragraph 1, “Residence.”
Fill out the date you were married for line 2(a).
Fill out the date you and your spouse stopped living as a married couple for line 2(b). (I will discuss date of separation in a separate article.)
Fill out the total duration of your marriage in line 2(c).
If you have no children with your spouse, check the box for 3(a). If you have children, check the box for 3(b), and list their names, birthdates, ages, and sexes. At this point, you will also need to fill out your Declaration under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act if you have kids.
If any of your kids were born before you were married, and you have a voluntary declaration of paternity, then check the box for 3(d).
Under Part 4, check the box marked “below.” In the space under “Item” write this:
“All property obtained before marriage, after separation, or by gift devise, or bequeath; and any property purchased using the proceeds of the sale of any such property.”
In the space under “Confirm to” write “Petitioner.”
Under Part 5, check the box next to part 5b, and the box next to “in Property Declaration (form FL-160)
Ninety-nine point nine percent of divorces and legal separations are based upon irreconcilable differences. If that is what is motivating you to get a divorce, then check the box under 6(a)(1) for divorces, or 6(b)(1) for legal separations. If you are asking for annulment, call a lawyer to talk about your case.
Paragraph 7 is where the trickiest parts of the Petition are located.
Sign and date the Petition. Make three copies, or a scan and two copies. Set them aside.
Declaration under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act.
If you have minor children with the other party, you must fill this form out. The caption is filled out just like the other two documents. If you have domestic violence, child neglect charges, a contested adoption issue, or any other legal problems regarding your children, call a lawyer because things will get confusing while filling out this form.
List your oldest child first in Box 3a. Put all prior addresses going back five years.
Assuming all your children lived with you together at the same address, write the name of your other child in box 3b, and then check the box under his or her name stating the address information is the same for all other children.
On the second page read through everything carefully. If you can honestly answer “No” to everything under part 4, then check “No.” If you must answer yes, then call a lawyer. Same thing about paragraph 5. If there is an existing Domestic Violence Restraining Order, then call a lawyer. And same thing with paragraph 6. If you must answer “Yes,” call a lawyer.
Sign and date this form, too. As before, make three copies, or one scan and two copies. Set it aside.
Assembling the final product.
Take the original Petition. Behind that, add the Property Declaration and then the UCCJEA form. Staple them together. Make the other two (or three) copies look the same. Many courthouses require you to punch two holes in the top edge of the document so they can be affixed to the court’s file. Punch all three copies.
Then staple the summons and use the two-hole punch on it.
Going to Court.
As of the date this article was written, the filing fee is $435. Bring a check, the originals, and two copies with you down to the family law courthouse. Go to the clerk’s office. Wait in line. File your documents, and pay your filing fee.
You just started your divorce process!
Many years ago, when I first started working as a family law attorney, home school was presumed to be a haven for the fringes of society. People who had unusually strong religious beliefs, or who were sailing around the world with their kids, or who were living in communes, all home-schooled their kids. In those days, home schooled kids struggled to be accepted into four-year colleges, and were seen as poorly educated, possibly indoctrinated, and socially backward.
Courts back then echoed this sentiment. They frequently would custody of the children to the parent who wanted to put the kids into a mainstream public or private school, and express openly that the reasons for doing so were exactly as listed above: home schooled kids were weird and didn’t learn to standards.
This is all changing now. This article has a nice collection of opinions from around the nation showing the growing trend away from the previous negative presumptions about home school.
My own experience with home school has varied, but I have generally found the courts to be much more accepting nowadays. The one big exception I have encountered was a case where the child’s pro-home-school parent was engaging in severe parental “gatekeeping,” and was using home school as a means of isolating the child from the other parent. The child admitted during child custody recommending counseling that home school included repeated severely negative references to the non-home-school parent as mean and psychologically unstable (both untrue statements).
This is generally how home school works in conjunction with child custody nowadays. Home school is increasingly looked at as any other school choice, unless it is causing some harm to the children that would not be experienced in other circumstances.
Here is a link to the Washington Post article:
People ask me about divorce statistics all the time. This article provides most of the answers you could ever need.
5 Divorce Facts That Might Change Your Idea of Splitting Up | World of Psychology.
I will occasionally post stories like these, which show the upside-down logic of family court.
In this case, a 14 year old boy had sex with a 20 year old woman. Under Arizona law, the boy was too young to consent to the sexual encounter, making him a victim of statutory rape.
The relationship produced a child, but the boy did not know this fact.
The boy grew up, trained for a career, and started his own life. He did not find out about the child until eight years later, when the state started proceedings against him for child support.