Redwood City, California Family Law Blog

Absent issues of abuse or neglect, it is important that fathers in California are given the chance to bond and care for their child. However, if the child's parents are unmarried and are no longer in a relationship with one another, fathers could face challenges in obtaining the parenting time they need to develop a meaningful relationship with their child. In part, this is because in order for an unmarried father to seek parenting time, paternity must be established.

Sometimes parents will choose to establish paternity voluntarily. Other times a father must go to court to have a DNA test ordered and a decision made. Once a man is deemed to be the child's biological father, he can begin the process of seeking parenting time with his child, if it is in his child's best interests. However, in order to protect his rights, he may want to seek legal advice both in paternity or custody actions and beyond.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that around 3.7 million businesses in the nation are owned by a married couple. Couples in California may put a lot of effort into seeing their family business grow and thrive, but sometimes the same can't be said for their marriage. When that happens, they may decide that they are best off getting a divorce. However, how will a divorce affect the business they own together?

One option that might be available in some situations is to have the business valued, and then one spouse can buy the other spouse out. For example, during the property division process, one spouse's share of the business for can be exchanged for marital property of equal value, or if the spouse retaining the business has the financial resources to do so, they can pay for their ex's share in the business in cash or in installments if appropriate. This may work well if the couple knows they cannot maintain a professional relationship with one another, or if one spouse simply has no interest in remaining a part of the family business once their marriage is over while the other spouse wishes to keep running the business.

California couples maintain a vast array of marital living situations. Some choose to live in large, expensive homes while others find peace in a reasonable rent apartment. In some marriages one spouse works while the other stays home to take care of the children. In others, both spouses may work high demand jobs with substantial salaries. Regardless of living arrangements, in the event of a divorce, a Judge will take it all into consideration when the topic of alimony arises.

For example, consider a couple who have been married 20 years, with four children. They live in a large home in a gated community, for which they pay a hefty monthly mortgage payment. This lifestyle is all the children have ever known. The husband is a successful real estate agent who works constantly. When his work hours increased, both spouses agreed that it would be best if the wife did not work in order to allow her more time to attentively take care of the children and manage the home. This decision left the family solely dependent upon the husband's income. Three years later, the couple have grown apart and decide to divorce and go their separate ways. However, the wife has no income of her own, and no way to support herself. This is where alimony comes in and the marital standard of living matters. One spouse cannot simply be "tossed out" without means of support. In addition, the standard of living for children should be maintained as closely as possible so as to avoid disruption.

Children deserve the support of both of their parents -- both emotional support and financial support. For this reason, if a child's parents are divorced, one parent will usually be ordered to pay child support to the other parent. These payments are very important, as they are meant to help with the child's many financial needs, from everyday expenses, to school fees, to health care expenses and more.

The state of California has a formula for calculating how much child support is owed. Referred to as a "guideline," this formula is what a judge will use to determine how much child support to award a parent. The guideline takes into account numerous factors to determine how much child support is appropriate.