With Your Family in Mind

Allocating your personal possessions can be one of the most difficult tasks when creating an estate plan. To avoid family feuds after you are gone, it is important to have a plan and make your wishes clear. When passing on possessions to your heirs, savings and investments are easy to divide...

For example, there is a rebuttable presumption that a spouse convicted of an act of domestic violence within five years prior to the filing of the dissolution proceeding, or at any time thereafter cannot be awarded spousal support. Family Code § 4325(a). However, the convicted spouse can rebut...

Spring is in the air! The new breath of life that enters with the change of season can apply in more ways than one. If you think you might be filing for divorce this year, I’m here to encourage you to put some of that springtime energy into getting yourself organized. Here are some tasks to put...

Nothing beats the feeling of safety, especially when it has been a while since we have experienced the opportunity to feel that way. After we received our 2nd dose of the vaccine at Oakmont Senior Living, I have to say that my heart began to relax a bit. The atmosphere lightened, and although...

Albert and his wife, Antoinette, own SCV Cleaners. Residents of Santa Clarita Valley for more than 30 years, the couple opened for business in 2007 and have become a go-to for anyone needing top-notch tailoring and dry cleaning, including scores of law enforcement and emergency personnel. In...

There are a large number of seniors that believe that their risk for heart disease is inevitable as they grow older. The truth is that there are a number of ways that the heart can be kept in great shape, which are highlighted here.What is Heart Disease?Heart disease is a term that has been...

One of the primary factors in determining the amount of child or spousal support is each party’s income. Unfortunately, there are times when a parent or spouse will do something intentional to reduce their income to try to dodge a support obligation. When that happens, the Courts have the power...

2021 marks my 30th year anniversary of becoming a lawyer. The diploma on the wall proves my admittance to the Bar in 1991. In some ways, time has flown by. In other ways, it seems like three lifetimes have passed. I remember clearly being a young attorney, researching legal issues by using REAL...

As a family law attorney, I frequently hear this from people the first time they walk into my office. The first thing I tell them is that people who spend a lot of time worrying about whether or not something is “fair” tend to have difficulties while going through a divorce. Divorce is a...

Allocating your personal possessions can be one of the most difficult tasks when creating an estate plan. To avoid family feuds after you are gone, it is important to have a plan and make your wishes clear. When passing on possessions to your heirs, savings and investments are easy to divide...

There are a large number of seniors that believe that their risk for heart disease is inevitable as they grow older. The truth is that there are a number of ways that the heart can be kept in great shape, which are highlighted here.What is Heart Disease?Heart disease is a term that has been...

California has amended the Domestic Violence Prevention Act to clarify that “disturbing the peace of the other party” as a basis for obtaining a Domestic Violence Restraining Order includes “coercive control.” Examples of coercive control include, but are not limited to, unreasonably engaging...

California voters recently passed Proposition 19. The new law goes into effect on February 16, 2021, and may impact your estate planning goals. Prior to Prop 19, a parent could leave their real estate (up to $1,000.000.00 in value) to a child or children, and there would be no property tax...

For those of you who follow my monthly columns, you know that most of my topics are related to Family Law practice and procedure. This month however, the topic is one which transcends Family Law practice. Legal papers submitted to the court are (and should be drafted by attorneys). In civil...

Revocable trusts are very popular and useful estate planning tools. But the trust will not be effective if you do not transfer title of your assets into the trust. Overall, revocable trusts are an effective way to avoid probate and provide for asset management in the event of incapacity. In...

Domestic violence can have a substantial and material effect upon the determination of child custody in a child custody hearing. When a party is found to have committed an act of domestic violence against the other party seeking child custody or against the child or siblings, a legal...