Divorce is an individual and multifaceted event. Understanding what to anticipate can assist and lessen the pressure and generate a feeling of confidence with the help of the right divorce attorneys.
Even though individuals are not obliged to have a lawyer to get a divorce in California, having a knowledgeable family law attorney is essential in understanding the difficult and confusing divorce process.
Reliable Support For Divorce in California
A good divorce attorney will foster sound legal tactics for the dissolution. The attorney must effectively use the law to successfully advocate for the clients. Most important when children are involved, their best interest is paramount.
The attorney must protect the parental rights, and ensure the community property is correctly divided. Discovery will tackle the multipart financial topics that result from the division of pensions, businesses, pensions, retirement plans, stock portfolios and real estate.
How do I begin my divorce action?
For a divorce in California, one must be a resident of California for a minimum of six months and be a resident of the county in which one will file, for three months. In California, the parties must wait six months before the divorce is granted.
California is a “no-fault” divorce state. In other words, neither party is required to prove that the other is “at fault”.
Filing the Divorce Petition
To start an action for a divorce, a petition, for dissolution of marriage needs to be filed. Next, the other party needs to be served with documents.
Here are the possible scenarios
- Default: Respondent failed to respond; therefore, proceeding continues without Respondent.
- Uncontested: Parties are in agreement with all issues; therefore, the parties may enter into a written agreement.
- Contested: Parties are incapable of resolving the issues; therefore, a hearing/trial is held at which the Judge decides all the issues.
What issues can Influence the cost of a divorce
There are several things that can influence the cost of a divorce.
- When children are involved and the parties do not agree on issues such as custody, visitation, and support, this will tend to drive the cost of the divorce.
- When community property is involved a fair division may not be feasible for all parties. Therefore a compromise may be the best solution.
- Client control by the attorney will help avoid unforeseen costly situations.
- Complex divorces may entail third-party experts such as accounts, 730 evaluators for highly contested custody cases.
- The caliber of the family law attorney retained. For instance, a Certified Family Law Specialist may be more expensive than a family attorney.