A Summary Dissolution is a shorter and easier way to get divorced in California. However, only some couples qualify. A Summary Dissolution may be an option if:

• You have no children together;
• You have been married for 5 years or less;
• Neither of you own very much (your community property is not worth more than $41,000 and/or neither of you has separate property worth more than $41,000 (not including vehicles);
• Neither of you owe very much (total community property debt is $6,000 or less (not including vehicles);
• Neither of you want spousal support; and
• You have no disagreements about how the property will be divided.

For more information on the process and forms required, visit: http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl810.pdf.

The quickest you can be divorced is six months from the day your spouse (the Respondent) is served with the Petition. If a judgment packet is submitted to the Court prior to the six month mark, the Court will post date your divorce date to the six month date. If you and your spouse are unable to reach an agreement and the six month mark passes, you can request to bifurcate the issue of marital status from all other issues. The Court has several requirements before they will bifurcate marital status so it’s best to consult with Boros Law Firm before making such a request.

Fees for a divorce depend on how quickly you and your spouse can reach an agreement, the complexity of your assets and debts and whether or not minor children are involved. There is no “average” cost of a divorce, as all cases are different – some people may have a limited amount of assets that are complex while some may have a large amount of simple assets.

The best way to keep your attorney fees manageable is to maintain regular contact with your attorney, provide information requested by your attorney in a timely manner, and make every effort to be reasonable with your requests to the other party.

California law does not require the consent of both spouses. If you file a Petition and have your spouse properly served, they have thirty days to file a Response. If they do not file a Response, you can submit a request to the Court to proceed without your spouse. The Court does not automatically default your spouse on the 31st day – you have to make an affirmative request to the Court for the default to be entered. Once the Court approves your request, you can submit a default judgment packet for the Court to review and enter. However, there are certain requirements that the Court must follow on a default request, including how property will be divided. Contact Boros Law Firm, APC to discuss how your default request is likely to be viewed by the Court.

If you and your spouse have a full agreement on all issues involving your divorce you will save yourself a tremendous amount of time and money. You are also that much closer to moving on with your new life.

The most common mistake we see is spouses who try to submit the divorce paperwork on their own and then receive a rejection notice from the Court. It may be something very minor that you need to fix or you may have completely missed a form or legal clause that is required by the Court. This will cause a delay in finalizing your divorce, during which time your spouse can change his or her mind on the terms you thought you resolved.

Take the advice of those clients that have been through this “rejection” process before – have an experienced attorney prepare the paperwork from start to finish. Boros Law Firm will prepare all of the required court paperwork and memorialize, in the terms required by the Court, your full agreement.

A divorce petition allows you to deal with child custody, visitation, child support, spousal support and property division issues. Some issues may require the Court’s immediate attention, in which case you can direct the Court to your immediate needs. For example, if parents of a child begin to live separately from one another, a visitation plan may need to be addressed. Additionally, one spouse may need immediate financial assistance while the divorce is pending. Boros Law Firm, APC can assist you with your immediate needs and prepare a plan on how best to present your pressing issues to the Court.

Either party is allowed to obtain a divorce, regardless if the other spouse agrees. Thus, if you file for legal separation and your spouse wants a divorce, you cannot contest the divorce. The Court will proceed with the divorce request.

Yes, during the legal separation proceeding, you can amend your Petition and request a dissolution of marriage.

A legal separation does not terminate your marital status. A legal separation also does not require that the parties meet the residency requirement as outlined in a divorce action. Typically, spouses file for legal separation for religious reasons or to protect their health insurance benefits.

No! This is a common misconception among support payors. If you lose your job or have a decrease in income, you should consider filing a motion to modify the support order immediately. The Court only has the ability to make the modified support retroactive to the date you filed your motion. Thus, if you have a change in income, consult with an attorney about whether other factors have changed and then file your motion to modify, if appropriate.

Spousal support will not automatically terminate unless your court order specifically states that it will terminate upon the supported spouse cohabiting with a significant other. If your order does not include that specific language, you may still be able to terminate spousal support.

It is important to keep in mind that terminating spousal support under these circumstances creates a rebuttable presumption, not an automatic termination, that spousal support is no longer needed. If facts are presented to the Court that show that, despite cohabitating, your spouse still needs your financial support, the Court may deny the request to terminate spousal support.

An increase in spousal support will depend on several different factors. For example, the Court will consider whether you contributed to your spouse’s success at work. The Court will also assess your monthly needs and your income. Contact Boros Law Firm today to discuss the facts specific to your case.

The two main factors for child support are income and timeshare. For income, the Court will look at the current gross monthly income of both parents. For timeshare, the Court will look at how much time each parent spends with the child. Other factors, such as deductions from pay (i.e. health insurance premiums, union dues, required retirement contributions), mortgage interest, property taxes and child support paid for a child from a different relationship, are also factored into the amount.

The Court looks at the current circumstances. However, if certain factors change in the future, child support can be modified. For example, if you obtain more time with your child or your income changes, child support will likely change as well. However, most importantly, child support does not automatically change. If your income changes, you must file a Request for Order immediately. This will allow the Court to make the order retroactive to the date you filed the Request for Order. The Court cannot go back any further.

For an estimate of child support, visit https://www.cse.ca.gov/ChildSupport/cse/guidelineCalculator.

The main factor for spousal support is whether there is a disparity between the incomes of both spouses. If so, the lower income spouse may be eligible for spousal support. Similar to child support, the Court looks at the gross monthly income of both spouses as well as deductions from both parties’ pay (i.e. health insurance premiums, union dues, property taxes, etc.).

When making an order for spousal support before a divorce judgment (known as a “temporary order” or “pendente lite order”), the Court only has to look at limited information. However, when considering how much to award in spousal support as a final order, the Court looks at the following:

1. Marketable skills of supported party, including job market, time and expense for education and training and possible need for re-training and education;
2. Impairment of supported party’s earning capacity due to periods of unemployment to attend to domestic duties;
3. Extent supported party contributed to supporting party’s education, training, license, etc.;
4. Supporting party’s ability to pay spousal support, considering earning capacity, income, assets and standard of living;
5. Needs of each party based on standard of living during marriage;
6. Assets and debts of both, including separate property;
7. Duration of marriage;
8. Ability of supported spouse to obtain employment without interfering with kids;
9. Age and health of both spouses;
10. Domestic violence history;
11. Tax consequences;
12. Balance of hardships;
13. Goal that the supported spouse be self-supporting;
14. Criminal conviction of abusive spouse (results in reduction or elimination); and
15. Any other factors deemed just and equitable.

If the other parent refuses to work, you can request that the Court impute income based on their ability to work. If you want the Court to impute income that is above minimum wage, specific information regarding the other parent’s skills and available jobs are needed and must be presented to the Court. The Court may order the other parent to make job contacts and report their efforts to you as well.

Yes, court ordered child support for a child of a different relationship can be considered in the California guideline child support calculations. However, it must be pursuant to a court order for child support. If you are paying child support voluntarily, the California court does not have to take that into consideration when calculating child support under the guideline formula.

Typically, the parent who has the children the majority of the time gets to claim the children as a tax exemption and receive the corresponding deductions. If the other parent claims the minor children and is not the primary caregiver, contact the IRS and find out what information they need to refute the other parent’s claim.

The Court prohibits a complete waiver of child support but you can agree to set child support at $0 temporarily.

No! This is a common misconception among support payors. If you lose your job or have a decrease in income, you should consider filing a motion to modify the support order immediately. The Court only has the ability to make the modified support retroactive to the date you filed your motion. Thus, if you have a change in income, consult with an attorney about whether other factors have changed and then file your motion to modify, if appropriate.

A wage garnishment is the best way to collect court ordered child support. This allows the child support payment to be deducted from the payor’s earnings. A separate form is required by the Court which then gets processed by the State Disbursement Unit. Other enforcement methods are available but it depends on the employment and assets of the payor. Contact Boros Law Firm, APC today to discuss your options.

The duty to support a minor child continues until the child completes the twelfth (12th) grade or attains the age of 19 years, whichever comes first. The parents can agree amongst themselves to extend child support for a longer period of time.

The general rule is to divide property equally between spouses. However, there are several exceptions to this rule depending on the type of property. Before agreeing to any type of property division, talk to any attorney.

There are three different approaches to division of property:

• In-Kind Division: Court divides each item, whereby each spouse is awarded one-half of the asset.
• Asset Distribution or Cash-Out Division: Court distributes one or more items to one spouse and items of equal value to the other spouse.
• Sale and Division of Proceeds: Court orders an asset to be sold and the proceeds are divided so that each party obtains an equal division of the overall community assets.

Any property acquired during the marriage will be addressed in your divorce action. This includes real property, vehicles, bank accounts, retirement accounts, credit cards, life insurance policies, investment accounts, businesses, loans, jewelry, furniture, etc. All property, regardless of what name it is under, is addressed. For example, if you have a bank account that is only in your name, that account will be included.

Separate property is any property acquired before marriage or after separation. It also includes any property acquired during marriage if received as a gift or inheritance. Your spouse has no interest in your separate property unless community funds were paid towards the property.

Community property is any property acquired during the marriage, by either party. Typically, even property acquired in one spouse’s name during the marriage is community property. For example, if you spouse opens a credit card during the marriage but only puts their name on the account, the account is community property.