In California, the law assumes that two married persons are a child's legal parents, so parentage is automatically established in most cases. But for unmarried parents, parentage of their children needs to be established legally. Married couples who separate can request custody orders through th...
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What is Supervised Visitation? Is it Right for My Children?
In general, California family courts want to encourage children to have a relationship with both their parents to the extent that it can be done safely and is in the best interest of the child/children. That may involve having some protections in place that are written into your custody orders be...
Do I Need An Attorney For My Divorce or Parentage Case? What if I Can't Afford One?
In California, does a party need to hire an attorney for their divorce or parentage case? The short answer: It depends. A party in a family law case is not required to hire an attorney at any point in their case, and is allowed to represent themselves. But is it a good idea? Some people may be...
Can I Change My Child Support Order?
Can You Modify An Existing Child Support Order? Courts in California use a guideline formula to calculate the amount of child support, and it is based primarily on the income of each party and the percentage of time each party spends with the child or children (plus some other factors such as he...
How is Spousal Support/Alimony Calculated?
There are two points in a California divorce where the court may be asked to award spousal support to a spouse: (1) During the pendency of the divorce, and (2) Upon final judgment. The first is usually called Temporary Spousal Support or pendente lite spousal support, while the latter is often re...
Who Keeps the House in a Divorce?
One of the main issues in a California divorce is property division. For those who don't own any substantial assets, dividing property may be as simple as deciding who will keep the couch and who gets the fridge. But when spouses own a home together, who gets it in the divorce? There are two ...
Are you entitled to 50/50 custody of your child in California?
You and your child's other parent have just split up. Are you automatically entitled to have 50% custody of your child? The short answer: No. Neither parent is entitled to any particular custody schedule or timeshare of a minor child. Instead, the court will look at what is in the “best interest...