Family Law

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What Is Family Law?

Family law encompasses divorce, custody, support and separation issues. Whatever you may be going through, Elisabeth A. Lord has been dedicated to these types of cases in Riverside and San Bernardino counties for decades and will help you navigate these difficult matters.

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Custody & Visitation

Who your child or children will live with, who will make important decisions for them, and how you will share time with the other parent.

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Child Support

These are payments made to support your minor child or children to help cover their basic needs and living expenses.

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Spousal Support

Payments made to your spouse to support their living expenses after a divorce or separation, for a specific period of time.

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Division of Property

The equal splitting of assets and debts acquired during a marriage, or before, between the each spouse; it is not necessarily 50/50.

Custody & Visitation

Child Support

Spousal Support

Division of Property

More Information Coming Soon

 

 

 

Child support is ordered in nearly every case where there are minor children involved.  In California, child support is determined based upon a guideline formula that considers each parent’s income, the amount of time the minor children spend with each parent and some other factors such as health insurance premiums paid by a parent.  The number generated by the guideline formula is presumed to be correct except in a very limited number of circumstances.  Inability to pay the amount determined by the guideline formula is not a basis to change it in most cases.  Knowing how much you will have to pay or receive for child support is necessary information you will need to determine several other issues in your case such as whether you can afford to stay in the marital residence or sell it.  At your very first consult, we will calculate what you might pay or receive depending on your circumstances.   We will advise you if any of the exceptions to the guideline formula apply in your case.  

 In addition to ordering child support per the guideline formula, the court can also order that each parent pay one-half of all uninsured medical expenses and one-half of a parent’s work-related daycare.  It is important that your attorney asks for this at the beginning of your case when child support is first being ordered.

 Collection of child support can done through a wage assignment (garnishment) of the parent’s paycheck.  This way payments are automatically received by the parent receiving the support.  The benefit to the party paying support is that the support payments are easily verified if there is ever a dispute as to whether the support was received.

 It is important for both parents to know that once ordered, support can only be modified by a court order or a writing signed by both parents and  filed with the court.  Oral agreements to modify the support are rarely enforceable if the parent receiving support changes their mind and tries to enforce the original order in court.

 As an experienced attorney with more than twenty years of experience, Elisabeth can guide you and advise you to make sure you are receiving what you are entitled to and not paying more than you should.

Spousal Support is determined differently then child support.  The primary considerations are the need of the supported party, the ability to pay of the supporting party and the standard of living during the marriage.  You can only receive spousal support if you were married.  Spousal support cannot be ordered in an action to determine parentage.  There are two types of spousal support that the court can issue, Temporary Spousal Support and Permanent Spousal Support.

 
Temporary Spousal Support is typically ordered early in the case after the party seeking support files a Request for Order (RFO) asking the court to make an order.  This order is typically based on a computer program calculation called X-Spouse.  The court will input into the program both parties’ income and other relevant information such as health care premium expenses and order that the higher earner pay the lower earner the amount of support determined by the program.  An skilled attorney can try to convince the court that the amount is either too low or too high.   Temporary spousal support will typically remain in place until a final judgment is entered in your matter.

Permanent spousal support refers to the spousal support ordered in your final judgment.  Unless you and your spouse agree otherwise, it is not based on the X-spouse calculation.  There are several different factors the court needs to consider in making a permanent spousal support award.  These include the health of both parties and whether one spouse stayed at home to care for the children while the other spouse worked and advanced their career.  The court will also consider what the supported spouse may need to do in order to become self-supporting.

Despite its name, permanent spousal support is not intended to be permanent.  The length of time the order will be paid also depends on several factors.   Under California Law, it is required for the party receiving spousal support to make efforts to become self-supporting within a reasonable period of time.  A reasonable period of time is typically half the length of time you were married, unless the marriage was more than ten years.  A marriage of more than ten years is considered a long-term marriage and the rules are different.

Whether you are paying spousal support or receiving spousal support, the assistance of an experienced and knowledgeable attorney is invaluable when trying to navigate this complicated area of Family Law.  In her more than twenty years of experience, Elisabeth has assisted thousands of clients.  Her knowledge and expertise on both sides of this issue will benefit your case whether you are defending against an unfair order or trying to make sure you receive what you are entitled to. 

Community Property

Community property is any property or debt that is acquired during the marriage. The marriage is defined as the time between the date the parties were married and date of separation listed on the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or the Response to Request for Dissolution of Marriage. It does not matter if the property is titled in only one spouse’s name unless the spouse signed a document waiving any interest in the piece of property. For example, a car titled in one spouse’s name is still community property. A credit card debt incurred by one spouse during the marriage is a community debt except in a very limited number of circumstances. Retirement benefits, including IRAS, pensions and 401ks are also community property.
Each spouse is entitled to receive one-half of the community property acquired during the marriage. Unless the parties have a “negative estate”, each spouse is obligated to pay one-half of the community debt. This is most often accomplished by assigning property and debt to each spouse. If the result is an unequal division, then the court will order the spouse with more property to pay the other spouse a cash equalization payment. If the parties cannot agree how to divide the property then the court will typically order that the property be sold and any proceeds divided.
Although it sounds straightforward it often is not. There are many factors that can determine a spouse’s interest in property or their obligation to pay a debt. For example, a home purchased during the marriage with a down payment from a spouse’s inheritance impacts the other spouse’s community property interest in the home. A debt incurred for a non-community purpose such as gambling can impact the obligation of the other spouse to pay half at time of divorce. A business started before the marriage can have both community property value and separate property value.
An experienced attorney is necessary to navigate you through this sometimes complicated area. Elisabeth A. Lord has been assisting parties for more than twenty years to make sure they receive their fair share of the community estate as well as ensure their interests in their separate property is protected.

Separate Property

Separate property is any property that a spouse owned prior to marriage. Separate property also includes any property acquired by a spouse during the marriage that was acquired by gift or inheritance. Further, the rents and profits of your separate property, even if received during the marriage, are also your separate property. For example, if a spouse inherits a home from a grandparent and rents it out, the rents received are the spouse’s separate property.
It is very important to keep your separate property separate. If a spouse transfers title of their separate property into joint title during the marriage, then the separate property becomes community property. For example, if the spouse who inherited the home refinanced the home and allowed their spouse to be put on title during the refinance the inherited home would now be community property. This is called a transmutation. Depending on the circumstances, the spouse that did the transmutation may still have some separate property interest in the home’s value. It is important that you have an experienced attorney that can guide you through the process to identify and preserve your separate property interests.

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