Divorce

The decision to divorce is a difficult one to make, particularly if children are involved. It creates profound stress and often precipitates many other life changes.

In California, a divorce is called a “Dissolution of Marriage” and neither spouse is considered responsible for the breakup of the marriage and neither spouse has to prove that the other spouse did something wrong.  

The Law Offices of Ripley & Associates understand the pressure felt by those involved in the divorce process and work to address each of their concerns.

Spousal Support

The court has a broad discretion in ascertaining the amount of spousal support as well as its duration. Each county in California has adopted a guideline formula, which suggests the appropriate range of spousal support on a temporary basis. Many counties do not allow the guideline to be the sole indicator of the amount of permanent spousal support. The California legislature has enacted a statute, which indicates that when permanent support is established at the time of trial, it is an abuse of discretion for the court to set a future termination date if the marriage is of lengthy duration. The statute goes on to indicate that any marriage of ten years in duration is considered a lengthy marriage. In marriages of less than ten years, the statute provides a presumption that spousal support should be granted for half the length of the marriage. Moreover, permanent spousal support is determined by a careful review of a numerous factors.

Child Custody

As a parent, either the parties or the court will decide who gets legal and physical custody of your child or children.  Legal custody means you are charged with your children’s health care, education, religion, etc. Physical custody is the actual hands-on care of your children, i.e. who the children will live with primarily. In general, a court will take into account the best interest of the child when determining who gets custody. In deciding upon custody issues, courts take into account several factors, including the age and mental/physical health of the child, the lifestyle and habits of the parents, the love and emotional ties between child and parent, the mental/physical health of the parent, the child’s established living pattern, the child’s preference, the quality of available schools, and the ability of the parent to provide food, water, shelter.

When one parent gets sole custody of a child, the court will usually grant “reasonable visitation” to the other parent. What reasonable visitation constitutes is often at the discretion of the custodial parent, and where this may lead to disputes, it is often best to work out a detailed visitation plan with a court.

Child Support

Child Support is payment from one parent to another for support of the children after a divorce or separation. Generally, child support is paid by the noncustodial parent, as the custodial parent’s obligations and responsibilities are fulfilled by having custody. Moreover, an unmarried father acknowledged as the biological father will also be responsible for paying child support.

Normally, child support stops when a child turns 18 years old, unless the child is still a full-time student. If the child is a full-time student, the child support can continue until the child turns 21 years old. Child support cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and is not considered as income by the receiving parent or as a tax deduction by the paying parent.

Restraining Order

A domestic violence restraining order prohibits an abuser from contacting or coming near you. A domestic violence restraining order can order an abuser not to contact you, to stay a specified distance from you, your home, school, work or your children's school, to move out of your home, and to return items of your personal property to you.

In general, you can qualify for a domestic violence restraining order if the abuser caused or attempted to cause injury to you or to sexually assault you or if the abuser threatened to harm you and there is reason to believe that he or she will carry out those threats.