Magazine Archive
Inside: Happy Families
Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” opens with one of the great lines in literature: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” Anyone who has braved the stormy waters of family law has lived the truth of that wise pronouncement. No two cases are alike. The particular misery of one family...
Read ArticleMEDIATION: Pros & Cons
California rises like the mythical Phoenix from the ashes of summer’s blazing wildfires[1] only to face even bigger challenges. The rising Covid death toll across our nine Bay Area counties[2] totaled 3,061 on January 11, 2021, at least triple the 1,000 lives lost in this area by late August[3] 2020. Data from various county health...
Read ArticleThe Importance of Disclosure and Financial Consistency in Divorce and Tax
For most of their lives, individuals guide their financial decisions with two primary goals: Goal number one: to make as much money as possible. Once an individual has had a taste of success with this first goal, then goal number two becomes very clear: to pay as little of this income as possible toward taxes....
Read ArticleWho Has Authority to Act if You, Your Spouse or Domestic Partner Becomes Incapacitated by Illness or Injury?
There is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof that all persons have the capacity to make decisions and are responsible for their acts or decisions. Probate Code Section 810. A patient is presumed to have the capacity to make a health care decision, to give or revoke an advance health care directive, and...
Read ArticleDo Child Support Orders Survive the Death of the Payor?
When first encountering this issue, you might assume that the payment of child support should no longer be required if the supporting party has died. After all, if the supporting party has passed, they are no longer working, so why should child support be required if the payor has no income to pay child support?...
Read ArticleThe Doctrine of Implied What?
From the Memorandum of Intended Decision to the Statement of Decision and Appeal The long, drawn-out process of completing a hearing on property division, domestic violence, permanent spousal and child support under Family Code § 217(a) is complete. The matter is submitted. The parties await the decision from the trial court. While, after all the...
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