When the estate is complex,
the counsel must be.

A dissolution begins with a petition filed in Orange County Superior Court and service on the other spouse. Both sides exchange preliminary declarations of disclosure listing income, assets and debts. From there the case resolves by agreement, mediation or trial. California imposes a six-month minimum waiting period from the date of service before the marriage can legally end, so no divorce is final sooner than that, even when both people agree on everything.

Custody has two parts: legal custody, meaning who makes decisions about health, education and welfare, and physical custody, meaning where the child lives. Courts decide both under the best-interest-of-the-child standard, weighing the child's health, safety and welfare and the nature of each parent's relationship with the child. Most Orange County cases go through Family Court Services mediation before a judge rules.

Child support follows a statewide guideline formula driven mainly by each parent's income and the percentage of time the child spends with each. Temporary spousal support is often set with a local guideline while the case is pending. Long-term spousal support is different: the judge weighs the factors in Family Code section 4320, including the marital standard of living, each spouse's earning capacity and the length of the marriage.

California is a community property state. Property and debt acquired during the marriage is generally community and divided equally, while property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance is generally separate. The difficulty is usually not the rule but the tracing: a separate-property down payment on a home held jointly, a business started before the marriage, or a retirement account funded across both periods.

Not always, but the disclosure requirements and the judgment paperwork are the same whether or not you agree. Most of the problems we are asked to fix later come from judgments that were signed without anyone valuing a pension, addressing a tax consequence, or writing a custody schedule specific enough to enforce. A consultation before you sign is far cheaper than a set-aside motion afterward.

We work on an hourly basis against an initial retainer, with the rate and expected scope set out in a written fee agreement before we begin. The retainer varies with the complexity of the matter, and a straightforward custody or support case is not priced like a contested business valuation. We will tell you in the consultation what we think your matter will require.