Daniel Curtis McCammon

I am a Certified Family Law Specialist and represent clients in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and select matters in the Central Coast and Sacramento area. I work with clients of all background, including business owners, homemakers, those with 7/8 figure wealth, attorneys, doctors, therapists, teachers, and military servicemembers and veterans. I also work with forensic accountants, therapists, mediators, loan officers, real estate agents, and attorneys in other fields to holistically resolve your family law issues.  I have a lot of experience in high conflict custody matters, including domestic and international move away, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues. While I litigate, I settle many of my cases because I maintain good relationships with my fellow family law attorneys, the Court, and other professionals, and work hard to know the facts of your matter so I can quickly work to resolve the matter with your partner/spouse. I strongly believe in the principal of informed consent. You will know where you stand and what decisions you can make so you can make the best choice for yourself and your family.  

I love the practice of family law. I know it's an unwanted service, but one that is necessary. People often come to me when they have been victims of abuse, made personal mistakes that have caused an end of a marriage or relationship, or simply have grown apart. It's hard for many people to let go of the past and the end of the relationship and move forward. That is why I work with a variety of family law related experts (financial planners, forensic accountants, life coaches, real estate professionals and therapists) to help you divide assets, heal, and take control of your future and the legacy you want to leave your loved ones.  

In my spare time, I enjoy the beach, cooking, hiking, reading, travel, and writing.

5/7/26: Faith:

The most common definitions of faith either are “confidence in one’s ability” or “belief that is not based on proof.” One definition focused on the individual, teamwork, politics, or the collective good, and the other is spiritual/religious. The journey of faith can ebb and flow throughout your life. This week, I confronted both aspects of these types of faith.

I grew up a converted Latter-Day Saint (LDS) family. I lived in Argentina when I was a young adult and completed a service mission. I was quite involved in that community until my early thirties. Then, I had a couple of years in my mid-to-late thirties where I tried to get involved again, and since the pandemic, I haven’t gone to church or been active in the LDS community at all. My faith journey has a been a personal dilemma, as it is for many people. I have younger kids who are inquisitive of faith, even though they do not attend any church. As a parent, I try to help them figure out their own faith as I can, but because of my own uncertainty with faith, it’s not easy. It’s not easy to live by faith, to live up to rules, and to pass those off to your children without feeling like it’s being forced. It’s easy to feel hopeless when you feel like you cannot endure to the end. I nearly gave up my LDS membership recently. Why? I do not feel connected to the community like I used to. I have experienced losses in life that have been difficult to reconcile with. Those losses feel tied to faith somehow. I have never really been good at practicing all the rules, either. It’s also been difficult to have faith in the legal and political system. Our political system is broken. Legal fees cost people so much money to get through their divorce cases. It’s easy to be cynical about the world, your role in it, and faith. But it’s also not healthy to feel that way.

This week, I decided to attend an LDS temple open house. This time, as an outsider. I haven’t focused on temples in many years. But we have a history. My grandmother was a temple worker in LA for many years. I used to go often as a youth and up until my mid-twenties. For people of the LDS faith, temples are considered sacred, where you can baptize your dead ancestors and seal them to your family. Couples can get married there and seal themselves together for eternity. The temples are beautiful inside. The sealing room has two mirrors that you can look into and see your reflection at an infinite number of times, signifying eternity. Being an open house, anyone can go in. My last opportunity probably in my life to go inside.

I felt doubt at first when I was standing at the entrance of the temple. Should I be here? Do I have permission to do this? If there is a god, what does he think of me? Does he love me? Do I deserve to be loved? Am I good father? I barely held back my tears.

I went on a tour to each room. The baptismal font. Remembering the times that I would get baptized a dozen times, thanks to my grandmother who would give me the names of ancestors to preserve our family line. The sealing room. I remembered my sister Rachel getting married to Jake in San Diego. Then, the Celestial room. The remembrance of peace and quiet, and prayer. And there, for the time in twenty years, I prayed silently. Just for a minute. What did I pray for? Faith and personal peace. Surrounded by folks who are LDS, Catholic, Muslim, Atheist, just people. All sitting around for a couple of minutes in silence.

Being in that room, and afterwards, I felt at peace with myself. I left with the feeling that everything will be okay. Nothing life changing, but still important for a soul that needed some more peace of mind.

I still probably won’t ever go to church. I had a margarita on Cinco De Mayo and a glass of white wine yesterday. I’ll curse when my Dodgers, Lakers, and Cougars lose. I don’t know what the rest of my life will bring. But I believe in myself. I believe in what I do for work. I believe in the people that I serve. I believe in the causes that I support. The changes that I see in people as I help them get through difficult life changes. I believe in service to others, charity and loving one another, and that is what builds up our communities. And now, I get to tell my 86-year-old grandmother, who because of declining health can no longer work in temples, that I was there, one last time. For my grandmother, myself, and you.

5/11/2026: Already had a great start to the week. Negotiated a move away for a client to a different state with some kids without having to go to Court. Was prepared to do so, but with some good negotiation/strategy, it all worked out without having to have a trial. Attended a training on 1031 Exchanges as well and got to meet some fellow family law attorney's I haven't seen in quite a while. Really good learning experience in how to minimize tax consequences for client's with high net worth that own multiple properties. 

I also want to reaffirm how to communicate with me. Someone tried to send me a Telegram link through Google Voice. I do not use Telegram. Thank you for thinking of that, but it's not an app I would use to communicate with anyone. The best ways to get in touch with me are through my office line, email, WhatsApp (International client's) or my Google Voice number where you can also text me. I am very easy to get ahold of, and look forward to speaking with you.

5/12/2026: 1031 Exchanges and Real Property:

If you have held real estate in a long term marriage and facing divorce, you have likely observed the property values increase dramatically. I've had cases where property values have increased from $500k to $3million. And that's wonderful, right? But, you sell that home, you are going to be facing major tax consequences. This is because both the IRS and California tax the gain of the sale of the house as long term capital gains. The IRS/State does exclude $500k of the gain for married couples, as well as proven improvements. 

So, if you sell that home for $3,000,000, have $200,000 of improvements, $1,800,000 of the gain will be taxed. That could be around $450,000 to the IRS and around $180,000 to the state. Not to mention costs of sale which is probably 5% to 8% of the value of the property.

If avoiding tax consequences is a priority for you, and you wish to preserve as much of your wealth as possible for your children, then you could consider renting the property out for two years, and then conducing a 1031 exchange. This would allow you to potentially transfer the property into two different 1031 properties without paying any taxes! You can roll those new assets into a trust, and if you pass away, your heirs could receive the benefit of your tax planning and may possibly not have to pay any estate taxes. 

There are a lot of rules regarding these exchanges. So, it's important to have a team of financial and tax experts that can guide you and me to right ways to avoid tax consequences. And it may not be easy for you to make these decisions conjointly with a spouse you are divorcing. But if you have the assets, care about both your financial future, along with your heirs, then you should consider it.

Happy to have a conversation about your family issues and can be contacted at my office by phone, email, in person meetings at the office, Zoom/Google Meet, WhatsApp for my prospective foreign clients at 714. 335. 463 , and Google Voice at 949. 287. 8301.