When Can a California Family Law Office Advise You?
What types of services do California family law offices provide? What kinds of cases would a Ontario, California family attorney take? This is a general overview of the types of services a family law office may take, though you should contact a given law office to find out what they can do for you.
Marriage and Partnership Agreements
Too many people think that the only thing a Ontario, California family law office can do is end your marriage. Yet they may be there before it is ever made official. For example, each side in a prenuptial agreement must have legal counsel for it to be valid. A California family lawyer can help you negotiate a partnership agreement, whether or not you want to get married later.
Divorce and Divorce-Related Case
Divorce is a six-month process at best. You can make it as painless as possible if both sides are willing to work things out via alternative dispute resolution. However, you may need to go to court to impose a solution. Furthermore, divorced couples can end up in court over ongoing issues like child custody, spousal support, claimed tax deductions and child visitation. Perhaps you’re arguing for an increase in child support because he didn’t pay for private school tuition. Or you want to adjust spousal support, because the child no longer requires full-time care once they start school.
While public attention is on women’s rights, father’s rights are a growing concern for family law cases. False allegations of spousal and child abuse to gain additional privileges in the legal system are common, and men must fight these charges if they don’t want to be shut out of their children’s lives. Too many women deny the father his visitation rights, while others think that they can refuse visitation even when he can’t afford to pay child support. In a surprising number of cases, the man finds out he isn’t the father of the child. This may trigger a separation or divorce, but you have to fight the assignment of paternity unless you want to be on the hook for child support until the child is 18.
Child Protective Services Cases
Have you been accused of child abuse or neglect? A California family law office can advise you when you’re under investigation. And given the impact of these cases, it is essential to have legal representation before you speak with social workers.
Children’s Rights
It is rare for a minor to legally become an emancipated adult. However, they can ask to stay with other relatives instead of their parents, especially during a separation or after a divorce. Family law attorneys can craft guardianship agreements so that someone taking care of your child has the legal right to seek medical attention or make day to day decisions. This is invaluable whether you’re letting the child stay with grandparents for the summer or sending them to stay with a family friend for six months while you serve time. Furthermore, visitation rights are not limited to biological parents. Other adults with a long-term relationship with the child can seek visitation rights, whether it is a step-parent who helped raise the child or an alienated grandparent.
Adoption is another type of case seen by family law experts. It isn’t just a matter of adopting a newborn, whether they’re born locally or overseas. A growing number of children are adopted by foster parents and step-parents.
Domestic Violence
A family law attorney can handle a domestic violence case, whether or not you want to end the marriage. Options range from restraining orders to separation agreements to criminal charges.
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Legal Forms You Didn’t Know You Needed To Change After A Divorce
A divorce decree dissolves your marriage. Many people know that they need to change the ownership of joint bank accounts and car titles to be able to eliminate the risk the other person interferes in their use of the property later on. However, there are a number of other legal documents you need to create or update after a divorce.
Power of Attorney Documents
Until you’re divorced, your spouse is generally considered the person qualified to make financial and medical decisions on your behalf. You can draft a medical power of attorney document that allows someone else to make medical decisions on your behalf. In California, not even your spouse could overrule your choices.
If you’re going through a divorce, update any POA documents you have. This includes medical power of attorney and financial power of attorney documents.
Wills & Trusts
Many people create a will when they get married or have children. Surprisingly few people update the will after a divorce. This can create all kinds of problems. You could end up with your partner in a second marriage fighting with the ex-spouse named in the will. Update your will after your divorce so that your property goes to your intended heirs.
After a divorce, you should update any trusts, as well. You can still have money go to your children but you may not want your ex to be the one responsible for managing the money anymore. Or you may want to change the beneficiary to your children instead of your ex. If you don’t have any close relatives, you could leave the money to charity instead.
Beneficiary Designations
Many accounts will pay out to the beneficiary listed on the account paperwork, not according to your will. For example, your 401K and IRA will pay out to your beneficiaries registered with the financial institution, not your will. The same is true of life insurance policies. If you don’t change the beneficiaries, your former spouse could get the money. And they don’t have to pass that money on to your children and grandchildren.
Talk to a Corona, California divorce attorney. Understand how you can structure a life insurance policy and related legal documents so that money will be used to benefit your children if you die. You’ll need to review other insurance policies. For example, you’ll both need to get car insurance in your own names.
Deeds and Loans
Your ex may have moved out of the house, but as long as their name is on the deed, they have some control over the property. They could prevent you from selling it by refusing to sign off on the transfer. Their bankruptcy could give creditors a stake in “your” home.
Many deeded assets like houses and cars were purchased with a loan. Never give up your right to property if you’re still legally obligated to pay the loan payments. In a community property state like California, you’re obligated to pay the mortgage payment if you took out the loan while married. This is true if you’ve moved out of the house and signed a quit claim deed. Your divorce agreement should require the other person to refinance the loan to remove you from it before you give up your rights to the property. Have contingency plans in case they can’t refinance the loan. This could include forcing the sale of the house to pay off the mortgage. Then you can divide the equity between you and both find a new place to live.
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Factors That Affect Custody & Visitation
California courts are supposed to make decisions about child custody and visitation with parents based on the best interests of the child. However, that’s a very complex and often subjective decision. What are the major factors that affect child custody and visitation?
Emotional Ties Between Child & Parent
The courts will typically grant primary custody to the parent the child has the closest relationship with. This means that a mostly absent parent isn’t going to get primary custody, unless there are overriding issues like mental illness or addiction at play. This tends to result in the primary caregiver getting primary custody, especially for younger children. Older children may be asked to alternate between two households. Older children and teens will be asked who they would prefer to live with.
Note that these feelings may change over time. This is why a boy who wants to spend more time with Dad as he gets older can ask to live with him full time.
Ability to Provide
While child support and spousal support reduce the importance of this to a degree, it is still something the courts will take into account. However, it is as much a question of the adult’s ability to provide for the day to day needs of the child as financial. For example, who is taking the child to school and taking care of them on a daily basis? Nor is the issue limited to special needs that the child may have.
For example, the courts rarely decide to give the child to Dad on the idea that his girlfriend will provide childcare while he’s working for long hours. However, a parent may be able to get extra points if they have other family members assisting them in the care of the child, especially if those individuals were already involved in the child’s life. On the other hand, this can hurt a mother who would put the child in childcare 60 hours a week while she returns to work.
Stability & Continuity
Divorce destroys the home in which the child lived. This is why the courts tend to favor a parent who can offer a stable living situation over an unstable one, and they’ll favor one where the rest of the child’s life is relatively unchanged. This means that you’ll lose points if you don’t have a fixed address. The courts will typically side against a parent who wants to move out of Corona, California, especially if this interferes in the other parent’s access to the child. It means that you should think twice about applying for a job on the other side of the country. And it means that you’ll hurt your case if you have a constant churn of roommates and lovers in and out of your home.
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Rules You Didn’t Know Applied To Child Support
Child support is a court-ordered payment intended to support the child until it reaches adulthood. That money is intended for the benefit of the child, though the custodial parent may benefit indirectly, such as when the money helps pay rent for the apartment they both live in. Here are a few of the rules you probably didn’t know applied to child support.
Termination & The Lack Thereof
While the government knows when your child turns 18, the courts don’t automatically terminate child support on that date. In fact, child support orders remain in effect unless and until you file a request to stop it. Furthermore, you’re legally obligated to pay the child support to the other parent until the support order terminates, barring a few limited circumstances. For example, you can ask the courts to allow you to pay child support in the form of payments directly to a care facility for a special needs child. However, you can’t pay the facility and then skip the currently court-ordered payments, unless you want to be penalized for non-payment.
Presumed Paternity
An admitted father must pay child support. Don’t sign the birth certificate or agree that you’re the father if you have any doubts. Hold off until a DNA test proves it, because once you say you’re the father, the courts hold you responsible. Suppose you get divorced and find out your seven-year-old isn’t your father. We’re sorry to say it, but the courts will still hold you liable for child support for the child until they’re an adult. If the couple was married when the child was born, the husband is presumed to be the father of the child. If you are documented as agreeing to support the child as your own though it wasn’t biologically yours, you can be held responsible for child support, as well.
Unmarried fathers have more options for challenging the paternity of a child. However, if you live with the mother and publicly present as the father of the child, whether or not you sign the birth certificate, the courts may hold you responsible for child support. Do not sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity if you have doubts, because it is a legally binding determination of paternity after sixty days. Furthermore, signing a VAP can waive your right to challenge paternity with a DNA test later.
Paternity fraud is a problem. For example, a woman may know that a bum is the biological father but may identify the stable ex-boyfriend as the father for the sake of child support. Then there are the cases where the state goes after a man with the same name but has never actually met the woman. Know that there are legal deadlines to when you can contest paternity, but the cost of failing to do so is high, so contact an attorney as soon as you’re incorrectly identified as the father of a child.
Child Support Versus Parental Rights
A divorcing father has far more rights than an unmarried father. Child custody is typically negotiated as part of the divorce agreement. An unmarried father who signs a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity is legally recognized as the father and can be pursued for child support immediately. However, the VAP doesn’t establish parental rights. You must initiate separate custody proceedings to guarantee parental or visitation rights, if you don’t live with the mother. Marrying the mother after the fact can establish these rights.
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Types of Court-Ordered Custody Mediation in California
As the name suggests, mandatory or court-ordered mediation is compulsory and ordered by the court. The mediation process lasts a few hours. Typically, court-ordered mediation takes one to two sessions.
Divorcing parents are guided by court employees (psychologists, family, and marriage counselors or social workers) through discussions on what is best for the children in regard to physical custody, legal custody, and parenting schedule. Mediators manage the process with the sole purpose of helping the parents come to an agreement.
It is better for parents to agree on custody matters on their own as opposed to letting a judge decide. Court-ordered mediation moves parents in this direction to ensure they maintain autonomy. Mandatory mediation also avoids court congestion.
Types Of Court-Ordered Mediation
1. Recommending mediation
Some California counties use the term “recommending mediation”. In such counties, mediators (popularly known as recommending counselors) keep the courts informed on what transpires during mediation sessions. Mediators share a report with the court, attorney, and parties (parents) before the next hearing.
Parents who agree on a custody plan during recommending mediation successfully settle the custody case within 10 days (after the judge signs the final order). If parents don’t agree, the report includes the mediator’s recommendations, which can vary from sole or joint physical custody to custody evaluation, child counsel, and restraining orders. Judges consider a mediator’s report and evidence when deciding such cases.
Recommending mediation is confidential since reports are only viewed by parents, their attorneys as well as persons affiliated with the family court. However, whatever is said by parents can be read by judges. It can also affect a mediator’s recommendation.
2. Non-recommending Mediation
In non-recommending mediation, which is applicable in some counties, details of whatever goes on in mediation sessions can’t be shared with courts. If parents don’t come up with a parenting plan, mediators notify the court. However, they don’t offer a recommendation or other additional information.
If the parents agree, mediators prepare a parenting plan using their mutual decisions and submit the plan to a judge. Parties have ten days to change their minds. If they don’t have any objections, the judge signs the plan declaring it the final order.
Preparing For Court-Ordered Mediation
It helps to learn how mediators located in your county make recommendations. Once you discover such information, avoid anything that can compromise your wishes. A mediation attorney will also come in handy. You should meet with your attorney before the sessions. You should also approach the process respectfully and responsibly. For instance, be punctual and avoid interrupting the other parent. You should avoid raising your voice and/or speaking negatively to/about the other parent.
It also helps to be honest, open-minded, and keep your child’s interests and needs first instead of your own. You should also be attentive, take notes, and find ways of negotiating beforehand. It’s always great to preempt the other party in a negotiation. Lastly, don’t be pressured to agreeing to anything.
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Common Misconceptions About Fathers Rights in California
Fathers must know the truth about father’s rights in California before they can take the necessary action. Before you do anything about custody or related issues, it’s important to know the following;
I. Fathers Rights Aren’t Favored In California Family Courts
Many fathers in California and other U.S. states assume that they will always be disadvantaged in custody battles. However, this isn’t truth in California. Family courts treat fathers and mothers equally.
California Family Code – 3040 explicitly states that judges aren’t supposed to give a parent custody just because of their gender. Instead, judges should begin with a neutral view and then consider the situation at hand without being gender-biased.
II. Fathers Are Entitled To Equal Custody
California Family law treats both parents equally. However, the law doesn’t give any parent automatic entitlement to custody. A father or mother can’t be granted custody automatically just because they are the parent.
California family courts consider what is best for children. For instance, how frequent does a father visit their child? How has the father maintained contact? What entails contact as per the family’s unique situation? While custody cases begin with both parents enjoying equal rights to custody and related rights, cases are decided based largely on the child/children’s best interests.
III. California Family Court Judges Aren’t Biased To Fathers
While the law explicitly states that judges should handle cases without bias, it is practically impossible for all judges to handle cases without bias. Even the most reputable, professional, and honorable family court judges in California can be biased. Every human has biases. To account for human nature and protect your rights as a father, hire an experienced fathers rights lawyer with background information on the possible biases of different preceding judges. A good attorney should be able to structure a case with facts that ensure biases aren’t the sole determining factor in that case.
IV. Being Stubborn Is Good
In the efforts to exercise fathers rights, many fathers are tempted to think that making things difficult for the mother is good. Well, as mentioned above, courts are more concerned about the interests of the kids. Being stubborn does more harm than good when attempting to enforce your rights as a father since courts can sanction (as per California Family Code: Section 271) a father who is trying drive up litigation expenses or act in any other way that makes it difficult to resolve a custody or related dispute.
What’s more, an unreasonable father can lose their credibility and force the court to take unfavorable discretionary action. Although custody and related cases are bitter, it’s not advisable for fathers to use this as an opportunity to punish the mother. Such actions compromise a fathers rights.
While the above information highlights common misconceptions, there is more to father’s rights in California than what is covered above. To make the best/most informed decision in a custody case, it’s advisable to hire an experienced fathers rights lawyer in California to guide you.
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Modification versus Termination of a Support Order
There are two main types of support orders: child support and spousal support. Spousal support is the gender neutral rebranding of what was called alimony, since California state law allows for the lower earning spouse of either sex to receive spousal support in some circumstances. Support orders will almost always initiate with a divorce, though in the case of child support orders, it may follow the birth of a child out of wedlock. It is a popular misconception that support orders are permanent. This isn’t true. They can be modified, and they can be terminated. And both actions are necessary, though the circumstances are very different.
Conditions For Support Order To Be Modified
You can ask for child support and spousal support order modification if your family’s living expenses have changed. If you are the payer and you have new children by a new partner, you can ask for child support to be lowered so that you can provide for the new addition. If you are the recipient of child support, you can ask for additional support if the child’s needs have increased. Know that the inverse is true, too. The other parent can ask for support to be lowered if the child’s childcare, education or healthcare costs have decreased.
Support orders can be modified when one party’s income has changed. The courts require the change to be at least fifty dollars a month or a 20 percent or greater change in income. This means you can file a modification request if their income has gone up or your income has gone down. If you have lost your job, you can ask for additional support. Note that these orders are based on potential income as well as actual income. That is why you can’t choose to quit your job or work part time rather than full time and be subsidized by your ex.
Conditions For A Support Order To Be Terminated
You can file a request for the child support or spousal support order to be terminated when the person dies. It isn’t fair to force someone to pay support for someone no longer living. And federal law has said that the estate of the deceased cannot come after you for any future support payments, though you can be forced to pay any arrears.
You can request that the support order be terminated when the person is no longer dependent on you. In the case of a child, you can file for the support order to be terminated when they finish high school or turn 18, though the courts will wait until the later of these two milestones to occur. You can also ask for the support order to be terminated if the child is married or joins the military, since that is equal to emancipation of the minor. You can ask for the spousal support order to end when your ex-partner has married someone else. Unfortunately, the person could keep receiving spousal support while living with someone else unless and until you force a review of their living expenses.
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Cohabitation & California Law
The marriage rate is down, leading to a declining divorce rate. However, this doesn’t mean many people are living alone. Instead, they’re cohabitating. This is the legal term for living together as a couple without the legal protection of marriage. When they separate, you don’t have to go through a divorce. However, there are often legal requirements to support the others involved in the now broken family.
Do I Have to Pay Child Support to My Child’s Other Parent?
Child support is owed whether you’re married or unmarried. For example, you can be required to pay child support for a child when you’ve never lived with the mother. However, you should always delay signing off on the birth certificate or a paternity affidavit if you have doubts about paternity. Get DNA testing / paternity testing. In fact, you should arrange for genetic testing if there is any child born outside of wedlock, because California courts can order you to pay child support even if the child isn’t yours if you acted as if the child was yours for at least two years. And once the court orders child support, it is almost impossible to end it. You can’t even terminate child support if you found out the child wasn’t really yours or she moved in with the biological father.
Do I Have to Pay Alimony to the Ex-Partner?
Alimony is the term used for court-ordered payments to an ex-spouse. Palimony is the term used for cohabitating couples that have split. It is a support payment that is similar to alimony. California law has allowed for palimony since 1976.
Palimony does not depend on a written support agreement. Nor does it depend on an explicit oral contract, a promise to support someone. However, the courts will defer to any written agreements and contracts regarding financial support. Furthermore, the courts will give additional weight to palimony requests if there were oral promises of financial support that can be substantiated by others. A promise to take care of someone forever isn’t going to make your case if it isn’t in writing, though this can include emails. The ideal solution is to have an explicit cohabitation agreement that spells out rights and obligations for each party, including support if you separate.
In other regards, palimony is similar to alimony. A partner who stayed at home and took care of the children for years can request alimony or palimony, because of that sacrifice. And the courts will consider the ability of the partner to support themselves. Differences in income and sacrifices they made to support the other partner will come into play.
Can I Adjust Alimony Payments Based on the Fact the Partner Is Cohabitating?
Suppose you’ve gone through a divorce. A fair number of divorce agreements state that the alimony will end if the other partner gets remarried. But what happens if they’re merely cohabitating with someone? The answer depends on the alimony agreement itself. If you have a non-modifiable spousal support agreement, you can’t request that it be reduced because they are living in a two income household now. Furthermore, you’ll need to be able to demonstrate that their living arrangement significantly reduces their cost of living so that you have a basis for paying less alimony.
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An Overview of Parental Rights and Obligations
In the United States, parents have several rights. One is physical custody. This refers to the right to have the child live with them. If the parents are separated or divorced, then the child may split their time between the two households. If one parent has primary custody, the other has visitation rights. Visitation rights include the right to physically meet with the child and have regular contact with the child.
Legal custody refers to the right parents have to make day-to-day decisions. What field trips can the child go on? Can the child go on an international trip? Where will they go to school? What extracurricular will they join, and who will pay for it? Legal custody includes more abstract concepts such as the child’s religion or philosophical upbringing, though parents may diverge in their beliefs upon divorce. This is why news stories where an atheist parent sues the other for having the child baptized originate.
Parents have the right to make medical choices about their children. The custodial parent at the time of the injury or illness can get the child the necessary medical treatment at that time. For example, you don’t have to get the other parent’s permission to have life-saving surgery done immediately after a car crash. However, the other parent must be informed in a timely manner. When there is time to have a discussion, you should or may be legally required to consult with them. Does the child get braces or a retainer? And who will pay for it? Will your child get surgery or chemotherapy or both if they are diagnosed with cancer? Note that a parent’s objections may be overruled if medical professionals think their desires put the child at risk. That’s true if the parents reject recommended medical treatment, too, but it is far more likely to occur if the parents are in conflict.
Parents have the right to direct the “care, teaching and education” of their children. There is certainly room for conflict, such as when parents disagree on whether or not the child will be in public or private school. Or they may be arguing over whether the child will be home-schooled. Parents may fight over who watches the child while they work. Which daycare will they enroll the child in, and who will pay for the childcare?
Parents’ Obligations
Parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children. California has a straightforward equation used to determine how much money each parent must contribute toward the upbringing of the child. The higher income earning parent will pay child support to the lower earning parent. The couple could agree to split expenses, or the court may determine how to divide expenses like unexpected medical bills.
Parents also have legal liability, because they are legally responsible for their children’s behavior. This is why parents can be fined for their children skipping school or forced to pay for the property damage their child causes. Child do not have the right to enter into a contract. This is why their parents have to sign the contract for the child’s cell phone or auto insurance. Parents are legally liable for car accidents their minor children may get into, too. Since minors cannot legally enter into a contract, the parents must consent for the child to enter an employment contract.
Parents can be found liable for the negligent or criminal actions of their minor children. This is why parents could be sued if their child shared music and movies online without their consent. And it is why parents could face civil or criminal penalties because their under-18 children had a drunken party in their home though they were away. These penalties are intended to ensure most parents prevent these things from happening.
Parents’ Responsibilities
Parents must provide essential medical care, housing, education and food. There are often misconceptions regarding what is considered “essential”. For example, far too many poor parents are charged with parental neglect when the real issue is poverty. Parents living in a bad neighborhood because it is all they can afford shouldn’t lose their kids. Crowded living quarters may be less than ideal, but the children have shelter. Children require care, but it isn’t child neglect to have a family member watching the children instead of sending them to a daycare center. Yet these issues may be used to argue why the poorer parent shouldn’t have primary visitation or why the child shouldn’t visit the parent where they live.
Parents sometimes try to outdo each other in giving the children toys or paying for activities. Their love or devotion as parents is not proportional to how much they spend, though children may not understand this. However, parents are not legally nor morally obligated to pay for two thousand dollars for the child to join a sports team or commit to years of music lessons.
If you are not fulfilling your responsibilities as a parent, you could be charged with neglect or abuse, depending on the situation. If your partner is also guilty, the child could be placed in foster care. If you’ve failed to do your duty as a parent and you’re divorced, the child could be given full-time to the other parent.
How Divorce Affects Parental Rights
You don’t lose your parental rights because of a divorce. You will have to come to a compromise with your child’s other parent and have the child custody agreement approved by the courts. If the child is sent to live with one parent most of the time, you will have visitation rights unless your parental rights were terminated.
Know that child custody agreements and parenting plans are not forever. You can ask for the agreement to be modified. If the court approves it, then it is the new, enforceable plan. This is similar to how child support orders continue until their modification or termination. Both child support orders and child custody agreements can be revised periodically, though California courts won’t accept changes to child support orders if it isn’t a change of at least 50 dollars or 20 percent.
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The Differences between Premarital Agreements & Post-Marital Agreements
Premarital agreements and post-marital agreements are both private contracts that address family law issues. There are many similarities between them such as the requirement to not be pressured to sign and having ample time and legal counsel to review it with. Let’s look at some of the differences between premarital agreements and post-marital agreements.
Timing
The obvious difference between a premarital agreement and post-marital agreement is timing. The first takes place before the wedding, while the second takes place after the wedding. A prenup will probably be thrown out if it is signed within a week of the wedding. People need two weeks or more to not feel pressured into signing it. This means the earlier you present it, the better. Post-marital agreements can be signed at almost any time, though presenting it right after the wedding may get it invalidated for the same reasons a premarital agreement shown to a groom or bride in their wedding finery would. A postmarital agreement presented after someone has gone through a major trauma like surgery or the loss of a child will typically be thrown out, too. But a post-nup could be signed five months or fifteen years after the marriage. On the other hand, a post-nup signed right before the divorce might be invalidated by the courts.
What the Agreements Can Address
Premartial and post-marital agreements can cover most of the same subjects such as decision-making regarding money and the raising of the children. Neither type of agreement should address child support or alimony, since those are determined by the laws of the state you get divorced in. You can specify in a prenup what state’s laws apply when you get a divorce, if you marry in one state and divorce in another, though there are limits. For example, California will use the formulas spelled out in state law to set child support levels and determine if alimony should be granted. A prenup or premarital agreement can promise more than the state minimum, but that may not stand up in court if your situation has dramatically changed.
The biggest issue post-nups can address that premarital agreements can address is the rights someone has to an ERISA retirement account. Federal law says only a current spouse can waive their rights to someone’s ERISA compliant retirement account. Note that you can’t make them sign a prenup agreeing to waive these rights in a post-nup, just as you can’t make them sign a prenup that gives up any other rights they have.
Both prenups and post-nups could have one party waiving their rights to gifts or inheritances by the other partner. When you have a post-nup, it is much more likely to spell out the exact amount of money or the nature of the property given rather than a generic “you give up rights to whatever I get from my family trust fund” provision. Know that full financial disclosure is legally required in either case for the agreement to be valid, and the division of property should be roughly fair if someone waives their rights. A prenup or post-nup may stand if it becomes a 60-40 split instead of the 50-50 split that normally results in California’s community property laws.
Only a post-nup could realistically relate to children born inside of the marriage, since your prenup isn’t valid if it spells out terms and conditions regarding future children that don’t exist yet. You could agree to send them to a given school or draft a schedule for the household, but the courts won’t enforce these private matters unless you separate. Then the issues are handled via a separation agreement including child support and child visitation. And the laws of the state where the divorce petition is first filed will determine these things.
The Relationship to Other Legal Documents
A prenup should be drafted if this is your second marriage, especially if you have assets you want to ensure go to your children. This means the prenup should be written so that it is integrated with the rest of your estate plan. A post-nup is often part of an estate plan if each of you had children by prior relationships. A pre-nup can say the house or certain assets go to your children rather than your spouse. A post-nup can say the same, but it is more likely to be detailed and well thought out. You could create a post-nup to spell out inheritance rights, claims and waivers to simplify your estate when you have children by your current and prior partners.
Post-nups and pre-nups cannot specify who will take custody of your children when you die. The default answer is “the other parent” unless there is an overriding reason why they should not get the children like physical abuse or addiction. Your will can name guardians you want to take the children if both you and the child’s other parent die.
Enforceability
Both prenups and postnups can be thrown out if there are provisions in the contract that are not legally enforceable. However, prenups are legal in every state, though the rules regarding them vary. (The UPAA signed by 28 states including California reduced the potential conflict between these states.) However, not every state recognizes the concept of a post-nup. For example, a couple moving from California to Ohio may find their postnup is invalid because Ohio only recognizes prenups. This reflects the historic idea that a married couple is a single legal entity, and you cannot contract with yourself. That makes the postnup unenforceable.
If the prenup or post-nup is not enforceable, then the laws of the state where you’re getting divorced will apply. This means that California’s community property laws make you liable for half of their credit card debt, even if you were married in a state that didn’t have community property law, unless you had a valid prenup.
Public Perception
Prenups are often considered necessary if you have significant assets or want to protect yourself from your future partner’s significant debts. The discussions over money and future plans can be considered a form of premarital counseling. You’re setting expectations, and if there is too much of a mismatch, you decide to separate rather than get divorced later on. In contrast, a postnup without having had a prior prenup can be considered insulting. You’ve entered the marriage, and the person is now asking you to agree to a new set of expectations. This is in contrast to a post-nup that ties into the prenup the person already agreed to such as giving up inheritance rights they’ve already waived in general.
Prenup Lawyer – Always Backing You Up Whenever You Need Us
The City Of Ontario In CA
If you’re looking for a city that is a bit more remote from the bright lights of downtown L.A., then Ontario might just be the place for you. It is located in the expansive San Bernardino and has the honour of being one of the most desirable property areas in California. There are many reasons for this enduring popularity. One factor may be the proximity to Ontario International airport, which is a real hub for both domestic and international travel. The travel options locally are very impressive as well, with a well-equipped bus service as well as plenty of trainline and tram options. In recent years the city has also tried to encourage residents to get on their bikes more, and so a number of walking and cycle paths are available throughout the region.
Don’t confuse this with the state of Ontario in Canada, although there is a link between the two places. The town was actually founded as Ontario Model Colony by two prodigious Canadian engineers, who decided to name it after their home province. Like Ontario, Canada, this is a region of friendly people and outstanding natural beauty. However, the climates are wildly different!
Ontario is home to a population of almost 200,000 people. In the immediate post-war period, a boom in manufacturing jobs in the area attracted a lot of people to the town. The town still has a moderate manufacturing presence, but other industries such as the service and warehousing industry have become more important. The city was originally founded as a health resort, and it has retained some of the reputation and facilities that came along with this, including a large visitor centre.
Sports are also very important to the city, with the recently opened Toyota centre being the premier centre for hosting sporting events in the city.
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