Cathleen Elisabeth Norton’s Answers

The short answer is, yes, an income you earn will be counted as part of a temporary spousal support order. However, since the purpose of temporary spousal support is to maintain the "marital standard of living," you could argue that the additional income does not reflect what your income was during the marriage and, thus, should not be included for the purposes of calculating temporary spousal support. Unlike child support, the judge has a lot of discretion in making temporary spousal support...

If there is still a legal basis to keep the restraining order in place, you can have it renewed for either 5 years or permanently. Look on your DV-130 form and make sure you file your request for the renewal 3 months before the expiration of the current restraining order. You will have to go to court, so you may want to hire a family law attorney to assist you. At the hearing, you do not need to show any "abuse" since the original restraining order was issued, but you do need to show a...

The short answer is you can't have your cake and eat it too. The law creates what is called a "rebuttable presumption" that you have a reduced "need" for spousal support even if you are cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex. So even now, your ex-husband can ask to modify or terminate spousal support if you are living with your boyfriend. I suggest you consult with an experienced family law attorney to explore your options. Good luck to you.

No, you cannot withhold visitation under the facts you describe. If you are concerned about the girlfriend watching your child in dad's absence, then the proper course of action is to file an OSC to modify the custody plan since the court intended the dad to spend time with his child, rather than have a third party babysit while he is at work. That said, you need to hire an attorney to defend you in the contempt action. The stakes are much higher in a contempt action since it can result...

Depending on the judge, you should probably keep issues of child support separate from issues of custody and visitation, unless you believe that the reason dad is requesting more custodial time is to reduce his child support obligation. Ideally, you should hire an experienced family law attorney who can represent you at the hearing. If that is not possible, I suggest that you begin educating yourself on the factors that the court will consider relevant on a custody and visitation request....

No. Your income is irrelevant to how much support your new spouse pays his/her ex. Family Code Section 4323(b) makes this point clear: "The income of a supporting spouse's subsequent spouse or nonmarital partner shall not be considered when determining or modifying spousal support." Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

No.

You are evading service and 1 of 2 things will happen: First, if you are eventually found and served, the judge will not be happy with your attempts to evade service. Don't be afraid. There is no reason to hide from the service--don't you want the court to know your side of the story? The only way that's going to happen is if you willingly accept service and tell the judge whatever you want to say. Second, if you are successful in your attempts to evade service, the result is no...

Yes, if the judge awards him 50/50 custody, then your child support will be reduced (assuming he checked the box on the OSC form and also requested a downward modification of his child support obligation, and included an Income and Expense Declaration with his request). If your hearing is on Tuesday, then I hope you already filed a Responsive Declaration with the Court explaining why he shouldn't have more time with your daughter. You may want to consider hiring an attorney on a...

Unfortunately, there is no easy do-it-yourself solution to this problem. If there are significant assets that he is transferring, then you need to hire an experienced family law attorney to assist you. There are certain automatic temporary restraining orders in place once the divorce case begins, which your soon-to-be ex spouse is violating. The bad news is that if you do not hire an attorney before all the property is transferred, then it may all be gone by the time you get to trial and it...