Joseph Battle Carnohan

Joe and Michele Carnohan helped me with the most difficult time in my life. My divorce was quite traumatic and they were extremely kind and patient to help me solve such difficult situation. One of the things that I liked the most about Joe is the fact that he is not your typical "aggressive" lawyer.... He is soft spoken and very calm, but do not let that fool you, when it is time for business, he will be in your corner. I would recommend his services to anyone without hesitation. I am happy with the legal services they provided for me. Thank you!

Mr. Carnohan is an exceptional advocate. He genuinely cares for his clients and is an expert in the field of family law. Mr. Carnohan is honest, very ethical, and would never mistreat a client or opponent. Any statements to the contrary are either the ramblings of the insane or terminally bitter. I'm... grateful for all the help he gave me during my divorce.

My then boyfriend (now husband) and I were dating for about a year before he got orders to Okinawa. Unfortunately, he was still married to his ex-wife (they had been separated for over 4 years). The ex had moved to another state and had taken their daughter. They were living with her boyfriend and... the ex now had another child with him (4 years old at the time). Needless to say, a divorce was way over due. My husband tried to be amicable and get a quick divorce without any fighting. Sadly, that did not happen. We had gone to one of those places where they file the paper work for you, but you have to have a friend mail the order for divorce (certified mail). We thought it would be fine, but she quickly hired a very aggressive (bills out for everything) lawyer. We had no choice but to hire a lawyer. So with the limited time we had together, we interviewed many lawyers in the Oceanside area. They all had the same story and agreed with everything we had to say. They would fight for my husband and they would get everything he wanted. They all sounded too good to be true. Then we met Joe Carnohan and he told us the ugly truth about my husband case. He told us that even though the ex was cohabitating, we had to prove it. He told us that because she was a high-school drop-out and didn’t want to work, he was the more “solvent” party, therefore, would probably have to pay her lawyer fees. He told us that he may have to pay child support for the son she had with another man as well as his own daughter because he hadn’t disputed the paternity (for the son) even though he never signed the birth certificate. He also informed us that because he had been married for 15 years, she could get half of his retirement and alimony! My husband had to prove that they had been legally separated for over 4 years. He was a sitting duck! So, we went with my gut feeling and hired Joe Carnohan and we are so happy we did. The ex filed her response to my husband’s motion for divorce the day he flew out to Okinawa. I think she thought he was too far away to be able to fight back. Her motion was full of lies and accusations and we were able to prove EVERY accusation a lie. I did some surveillance (all legal with the advice of legal counsel) and was able to prove that she was cohabitating (along with some trash digging & FB). Joe and Michele were there every step of the way. They were so accommodating and worked with my husband’s 14 hour time difference and they worked with me! I mean, they didn’t judge our situation and were always super pleasant. My husband does have to give up part of his retirement, but because we were informed we were able to prove the date of separation to be at the 10 year, 5 month mark. So instead of getting half of his retirement, her percentage decreases the longer he stays in the military. Of course, my husband pays child support each month, but only for his child, which he was never trying to dispute. Lastly, because we were able to prove cohabitation, she does not get alimony. My husband did have to pay $1,000 towards her $14,000 lawyer fees. Joe was very honest and told us that he could go in and argue it in front of the judge, (that alone would cost about $1,000.00) or we can just make an offer of whatever we thought we wanted to do and see if she agreed (she did). At the end of the day, Joe didn’t tell us what we wanted to hear. He told us the reality of our case and what we needed to do to come out as clean as possible. We weren’t looking to screw anyone over; we just didn’t want be to screwed in the process. I know if we had gone with one of those (fight for everything lawyer) we would still be paying lawyer fees today. P.s., If you want reference, please feel free to call the office of Joe Carnohan. I will be more than happy to speak to anyone.