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Dianna Gould-Saltman's Answers
- 453 Legal Answers
- 6 Legal Guides
6
Attorney answers:
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What is the difference between a legal separation and a divorce in California
The ONLY difference between a legal separation and a divorce (marital dissolution) in CA is that, at the end of a legal separation you are not free to remarry (or enter into a domestic partnership) and at the end of a divorce you are. All the other aspects of the divorce process are the same in a legal separation. That should not be confused with having a "date of separation," which is a measuring point for certain rights and responsibilities, it is not a "legal status," as having a judgment...
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What happens if you dont acknowledge a supoena.
Most likely someone is trying to serve you with a summons, not a subpoena. The summons is issued along with the petition to start the divorce process. Once you've been handed the papers by someone over 18 who is not your husband, you're served. There is no requirement that you "accept" them in any way or sign anything for the process to be commenced. If they are unable to serve you after making diligent effort they can deliver the papers to any adult at your home and then mail the papers to...
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In CA, who decides which parent claims the children as dependents?
If requested the court may decide which parent may claim the children (or any particular ones of them) as exemptions for tax purposes AND/OR which parent may file head of household. Absent such a decision from the court the parent who has more than 50% of the physical custody responsibility is entitled to the exemption. The exemption may be transferred to the other parent, for one year at a time or for the minority of the child, by filing a particular form with the IRS. The right to file "head...
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I live in Pomona and my ex lives in San Diego with my son, do I have to file where she lives?
When you say your "ex," does that mean you were married? If you were married, did you get divorced already? Wherever the divorce happened, the case is still there. If there has been no divorce, or if you were not married, any action regarding the custody of a child should be filed in the county where the child primarily lives. This makes sense, when you think about it, because any information, witnesses, etc. likely to be useful to a judge who would make a decision about this child is going...
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I'm moving to my dad's and my stepfather wants me to write a contract.
What does your mom and dad say about this? They are your parents and it's really up to them, not your stepfather. They should be having that conversation about what the conditions should be, if any, to change the existing arrangement. The things your stepfather wants you to agree to do (keep a B average, finish driving school) all sound pretty reasonable, don't you think? If he wants that commitment from you so that you will have advantages when you're older it sounds like he cares about...
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Judge's Discretion in Timeshare Calculation for Child Support
A judicial officer has the duty to determine factual disputes. If the commissioner believed the mother and not the father on a disputed fact, that's within the commissioner's right to do. An appellate court will only overturn a trial court if no other judicial officer could have reasonably made that judgment call based on that evidence (and testimony is evidence). An appellate court will not substitute what it might have done if the judgment had been up to them. A motion for reconsideration...
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Does child support cover extra activities, such as sports?
Child support is for the basics: food, clothing, shelter. Extra curricular activities are not part of that. Often judgments include orders that the cost of agreed-upon activities will be shared in some fashion. The only thing that's enforceable, of course, is that which has been ordered. If it wasn't included in your court orders, then it's a matter of trusting that both parents will want to share the cost of activities in which they value their child participating.
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What do judges consider "the best interests of the child?" when determining primary physical custody in a move away case?
With all due respect to Mr. Fink, I would make no such assumptions based on this limited information. This depends on the existing custody orders, the nature of the relationship with each parent and the child, the nature of the relationship between the parents, the opportunities for the child in each location, and a lot of other factors you haven't addressed. To really get a good idea of the probabilities you should meet with a family law attorney, preferrably a Certified Family Law...
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I had a death in family sent a letter to the judge requesting a continuance of my child custody mediation and she was given ful
You need to take action immediately to even have a possibility of a better result than this. Judges will almost never read letters sent to them, since that would be an impermissible communication with one party. If you didn't hire an attorney to appear to explain the emergency or find a way to appear telephonically to avoid this result, you need to hire an attorney now to undo that damage.
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How do present evidence in an Family Law Ex-Parte hearing properly?
An ex parte requires an emergency. If the incidents about which the police reports were made just happened (within the last day or so), it might be an ex parte. Otherwise it's not. If the child abuse reports have resulted in a case being filed in dependency court you don't need to do anything in family court, since family court loses jurisdiction to address custody issues while a dependency case is pending. Otherwise, they are not admissible evidence, since they are hearsay of allegations....
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