Limited-scope representation, also known as “unbundling” or “discrete task representation,” occurs when you hire a lawyer to help you with some aspects of your case while you handle the other aspects on your own (usually for the purpose of saving money). Limited-scope representation is particularly common in separation and divorce proceedings.
An ex parte motion is a request for a court to do something without consulting the other side of the dispute or allowing the other side sufficient time to oppose the request. Judges don’t like ex parte motions very much, but they will grant them under limited circumstances. The same general considerations apply to ex parte motions in a divorce case.
Joint custody is popular because it shares the inevitable burdens of parenthood between both parents, and because it allows the child to grow up in a healthier and more stable psychological environment. There is a difference between legal and physical custody, and the parents may be awarded joint custody with respect to one or both of these.
The general rule is that you cannot use texts and emails as evidence unless the opposing party consents. Nevertheless, because there are numerous exceptions to the general rule, texts and email are commonly used as evidence at trials and in depositions. The point is that, in order to use them as evidence, you must rely on an exception to the general rule against hearsay.
A subpoena is a court order that requires someone to appear in court or at a hearing. You can also use it to force someone to produce evidence needed by a party to the case. Someone who refuses to honor a subpoena can be charged with contempt of court and jailed. A subpoena might be used for a variety of purposes in a family law case – to uncover hidden marital assets, for example.
An understanding of California community property law and popular asset concealment strategies can help you identify and locate marital assets that your spouse has hidden in an attempt to cheat you. Asset concealment strategies tend to take advantage of cracks in the system, and a highly skilled lawyer will know where to look for them.
“Gray divorce,” which refers to the increasing tendency of older couples to divorce after a long marriage, carries with it significant potential financial, lifestyle, and social consequences – most of which are at least potentially negative. An understanding of these potential consequences can help you mitigate their harshness and even avoid some of them altogether.
A divorce decree can be modified in two ways: by appealing an adverse decision to the California District Courts of Appeal, and by filing a motion to modify the decree. An appeal is filed with the appropriate District Courts of Appeal, and a motion to modify is filed with the the court that issued the decree in the first place.
Adoption is the establishment of a legal parent-child relationship between people who do not share a biological parent/child relationship. California has established specific rules for adoptions, and they vary depending on what type of adoption you are considering.
There is a reason for these rules. Once an adoption is finalized, you will have full parental rights over the child (except in the case of adult adoption). This new legal relationship is permanent, and it carries with it all the legal rights of parenthood.
A domestic violence restraining order is issued by a court and is enforceable with criminal sanctions. It is issued when someone is accused of abusing or committing violence against a current or former intimate partner or close relative. The order typically prohibits the person against whom it is filed from contacting the person who filed the order, and it prohibits certain other activities as well.
