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Law Offices of

Stella Espinoza Browne

A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

99 N. San Antonio Ave.

Suite 340

Upland, California 91786

Phone: 909-949-1340

 

Divorce and Legal Separation

 

The Law Offices of Stella Espinoza Browne focuses is practice primarily to the area of family law. We are dedicated to personalizing legal strategy  and achieving quality legal solutions based on your particular set of circumstances.

Deciding to end a marriage is difficult, particularly when children are involved. We have helped hundreds of clients through the difficult process of divorce.  In addition to aggressively representing our client’s interests, we understand the pressure felt by our clients going through the divorce process and we strive to address their particular concerns.

 

 

 

Grounds For Divorce

In California, a divorce is generally granted on the grounds of “irreconcilable differences.” California is a “no-fault divorce” state. Essentially, this allows one person to terminate the marriage, even if the other person does not want to end the marriage.  A marriage may also dissolved on grounds of incurable insanity.

California’s “no-fault” system acknowledges recognizes that both parties have played a role in the breakdown of the marriage and neither party is “punished” or held solely to blame regarding the marriage’s failure.  One of the advantages of the “no-fault” system is that neither party has to spend time and money to prove grounds. It reduces litigation costs and time and allows the parties to focus on other issues that need resolutions, such as support, custody, and division of assets and debts.

Fault does not enter into how spousal support is calculated. In California,  a Court will consider the length of the marriage, the couple’s ages, the standard of living during the marriage, the marketable skills of each party, each party’s health, financial obligations to children of other relationships, and a custodial parent’s need to stay at home with the child(ren).

 

Summary Dissolution

In California,  Summary Dissolution is a quick way to get a divorce.  However, Summary Dissolution is only possible for you and your spouse if you:

¨ Have no children together;

¨ Have been married for less than five (5) years;

¨ Do not own or have an interest in any real estate;

¨ Do not owe more than $4,000.00 in debts; and

¨ Have no disagreement about how your belongings and debts are going to be divided once you are no longer married to each other.

 

Contested  Divorce

Before a divorce can be completely finalized, certain issues must be resolved. These issues can include child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, and division of property and debts. 

If there is disagreement on any of these, or other issues, there will be a “contested divorce.”  When a divorce is contested, the parties will proceed through all of the phases of litigation including trial before a family court judge.

 

Divorce Litigation

A litigated divorce can be a lengthy and complex process. Some of the general steps involved in preparing a contested divorce for trial, include:

¨ Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and Summons  - this serves as formal notice to the Court and your spouse that you are seeking a divorce

¨ Response to the Petitioner for Dissolution—this is the other spouse’s acknowledgement and response to the Petition

¨ Motions or Order to Show Cause  - These are formal request to the Court for some type of relief or action. These requests can be for temporary orders, for a restraining order, or for any other type of pre-trial relief

¨ Discovery—This is the phase of litigation where each party gathers information in support of their legal arguments. This phase is particularly important if your spouse is self-employed or if you believe he/she is hiding income and assets. This phase can include written discovery or depositions.

¨ Hearings and Temporary Orders—hearing will be held to resolve issues that must be addressed prior to trial or entry of Judgment

¨ Mandatory Settlement Conferences

¨ Trial—This is a court appearance before a family law judge where your case will be decided. The trial may include witnesses, financial experts, psychologists, or other evidence including financial records.

¨ Judgment—The Judgment is the final decision in your case. It is a legal statement of the judge’s rulings on all the issues in question during he trial such as custody, visitation, support, and division of assets and debts.

 

 

 

A legal separation  has similarity to the divorce process, but it also has major differences. A legal separation does not end a marriage or domestic partnership and it does not entitle the parties to remarry.  A legal separation is for couples that do not want to get divorces but want to live apart and decide on issues such as custody and visitation, support, money and property.

A  major advantage to legal separation, however, is that there are no residency requirements.  A legal separation is not required in order to obtain a divorce. If you file for a legal separation, you may later be able to file an amended petition to ask the court for a divorce after the residency requirements are met.

In a legal separation case, a judge can make orders including child support, spousal support, custody and visitation, domestic violence restraining orders and other similar orders that can also be obtained through divorce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The materials contained in this web site have been prepared by the Law Offices of Stella Espinoza Browne for informational purposes only.  The information contained herein is general in nature and may not have application to your particular factual or legal circumstances. These materials do not constitute legal advice or opinions and should not be relied upon as such. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Visitors to this website should not act upon any information in this web site without seeking professional counsel. The contents of this website may be an "Advertisement" as defined by The Rules of Professional Conduct and California Business and Professions Code. All rights reserved.

Law Offices of Stella Espinoza Browne

A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION

 

 

 

 Personalized,  Professional, and Aggressive Representation

Serving all of san Bernardino, los angeles, and riverside counties