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Bay Area Divorce Lawyer Blog

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Revising Spousal Support Awards in California Divorce Cases – In re Marriage of Gartman

A person seeking to increase or decrease spousal support payments in California generally has to show that the circumstances have significantly changed since the support award was initially ordered. In a recent case, the state’s Third District Court of Appeals explained that a court can’t modify a support award if…

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Valuing a Spouse’s Business in California Divorce Cases – Doig v. Doig

Under California’s community property system, any property obtained by one or both spouses during the course of a marriage and up until they separate is generally split evenly upon divorce. As the state’s Second District Court of Appeals recently explained, the value of community property is usually based on the property’s…

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Why Divorcing Spouses Should Consider Avoiding the California Court System, an Example – In re Marriage of Ma

If you’ve previously read this blog, you may already know that we generally advise divorcing spouses to avoid the court system as much as possible and to strongly consider alternatives to traditional divorce litigation, including mediation and collaborative divorce. A recent case out of California’s Fourth District Court of Appeals…

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Court: No Spousal Support for Domestic Abusers – In re Marriage of Kelkar

California law allows a family court judge to deny or reduce spousal support payments in a divorce case when the spouse requesting or receiving the support has been convicted of domestic violence against the other spouse during the last five years. The law, set out in Section 4325 of the…

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Earning Capacity and Immigration Status in California Child Support Calculations – In re Marriage of Parker

Decisions about whether and how much child support a divorcing spouse or co-parent should pay often depend on both how much money he or she makes or could make. The latter factor, usually referred to as “earning capacity,” can be difficult to quantify in many cases, and even more so…

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Appeals in California Divorce Cases – In re Marriage of Shimpi and Sonawane

Sometimes courts get it wrong. If you’re unhappy with the outcome of a divorce case, you have the legal right to file an appeal. As California’s First District Court of Appeals recently explained in In re Marriage of Shimpi and Sonawane, however, a party filing an appeal bears the burden…

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California Child Support and “Unclean Hands” – In re the Marriage of Boswell

“These are some of the dirtiest hands we have seen.”California’s Second District Court of Appeals wasn’t talking about in In re the Marriage of Boswell was not referring to literal dirty hands, but about the family law doctrine of “unclean hands,” a principle that in this case cost a divorced…

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Reconciliation and the Five-Year Dismissal Rule – In re Marriage of Honarkar

Spouses considering a divorce often have second thoughts, and many choose to give the marriage another chance before calling it quits. For those who try to reconcile after a petition for divorce has been filed in court, it’s important to keep in mind how this may affect the case from…

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When to Value Community Property in California Divorce Cases? In re Marriage of Charles

As the Fourth District Court of Appeals explains in In re Marriage of Charles, community property, including a couple’s shared interest in a business, is usually valued at a time as close as possible to the time of trial, unless there is a good reason for valuing the property at the…

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