What Happens After You File for Dissolution or Legal Separation?
Following the retention of Nathan James of SEIFER, MURKEN, DESPINA, JAMES and
TEICHMAN ALC and the filing of your California divorce petition, you can expect the following:
• A California divorce takes time. There is a minimum waiting period of six months from the time you file your Petition for Dissolution to the time a court can enter Judgment of Dissolution. There will likely be the need to obtain documents from your spouse and possibly from third parties, such as banks and other deposit account holders, stock portfolio managers, employers, and other third parties. All of this takes time. Further, there may be a need to obtain experts including business valuation experts, real estate appraisers, accountants and other experts to render opinions relating to various issues your California divorce or separation proceeding raise.
Your California divorce or separation proceeding will likely not resolve quickly, if property was acquired during marriage; or there are assets that need to be characterized or valued or divided; or there are child custody or visitation issues. The process is more like a marathon in that you have to be ready for the long run. It is not a sprint. That being said however if there are two motivated parties who are completely honest with one another and the attorneys are able to work together, then a California divorce or separation can be resolved within six months.
• While your California divorce proceeds through court, expect to work closely with Nathan James and the staff of SEIFER, MURKEN, DESPINA, JAMES and TEICHMAN ALC. It is important to stay in touch with Nathan James and respond in a timely fashion to his and his staff member’s emails and phone calls and provide requested information and documentation in a timely fashion. This will likely provide and allow him to present your case and obtain all information necessary so that he can represent you to the best of his ability.
• As your California divorce proceeds through court, you are required to produce and disclose significant financial information. You will need to accurately state your income through pay stubs or profit and loss statements or income statements, if self-employed. You will need to produce bank statements and at least two years of tax returns. You will have to identify and value all of your assets and debts. If your California divorce or separation is financially complicated because there are numerous assets, or assets were acquired both before and during marriage or it involves stock options or other employee benefits or executive compensation or any combination thereof, you will likely need to produce even more financial information. Nathan James will keep you fully apprised of what you will need to produce. He will create a plan on how to produce those documents so that you are compliant with all of the disclosure requirements during the pendency of your California divorce or separation.
• Once a Petition for a California divorce is filed by you, or you are served with your spouse’s Petition for Dissolution and Summons, you and your spouse will be bound by what are known as the Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders that are contained in the Summons. These Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders are otherwise known as “ATROs” and expressly prohibit you and your spouse from among other things--taking your children out of the state of California without the other parent’s consent; accessing community funds from community bank and other deposit accounts unless you are using such funds for necessities of life or to retain legal counsel; changing beneficiaries in non-testamentary instruments; canceling insurance; and other prohibitions. In your California divorce or separation, you should expect that community property financial accounts will be inaccessible and you will be prohibited from taking action that might deplete, withdraw, transfer, or conceal any asset of your marriage, no matter how large or how small.
• As mentioned above, it takes time to complete all the required disclosure documents. These disclosure documents are necessary to prepare your California divorce for trial and more importantly for meaningful negotiations in an attempt to resolve your case without trial. While you are busy compiling the disclosure documents or obtaining the disclosure documents from your spouse, there may be a need to seek court intervention with regard to various issues that need immediate attention. Those issues include, but are not limited to, the need for one spouse to support the other spouse; the need to determine where the children might live; the need to determine who will pay the ongoing debts of the community; the need to determine whether or not child or spousal support should be paid. These “interim” issues and decisions thereon, if not agreed upon between the parties, and if made by the court, are commonly known as temporary orders.
In order to obtain a temporary order in a California divorce or separation, one of the spouses needs to file and serve on the other party what is commonly known as a Request for Order, and in that request seek certain specified relief, such as temporary child support, temporary spousal support, temporary child custody or temporary child visitation. Depending on your California divorce or separation, and the issues it presents, you may have to go to court prior to there being any final determination of the issues raised in your petition for a California divorce or separation.
• If you and your spouse in a California divorce have minor children, and both of you want child custody and visitation and are unable to agree upon either or both, and one of you files a Request for Order seeking temporary child custody or temporary child visitation, before you can go to court and have a judge hear you on those issues you will be required to go to court ordered mediation. Court ordered mediation is a session where you and your spouse meet with a mental health professional i.e. psychologist, marriage family therapist counselor, licensed clinical social worker, who is in the Family Court services division of the Family Law Superior Court and who will attempt to get you and your spouse to come to an agreement regarding temporary child custody and temporary child visitation. That is, he or she will attempt to mediate your California divorce or separation child custody or child visitation issues by attempting to get you and your spouse to come to an agreement. In San Francisco, the California divorce child custody or child visitation mediation session is confidential and the mediator does not provide any recommendation to the judge, whereas in some counties such as Alameda County, San Mateo County and Marin County, the Family Court services mediator, after meeting with you and your spouse and/or the mediator interviews other knowledgeable 3rd parties, provides a written recommendation to the court. These are known as recommending jurisdictions. In a California divorce or separation with child custody and visitation disputes where mediation occurs, the mediator, in order to support his or her recommendation, may also interview relevant collateral sources, such as your child, his or her teachers, his or her or your friends, and his or her or your relatives and other collateral sources.
Again, you and your spouse will have the opportunity to try to agree upon a custody and visitation schedule that is in your children's best interests. If you cannot agree, then the court will make orders, but only after you engage in mediation. If your
California divorce or separation proceeding has child custody and visitation issues, the court may order the retention of a child custody evaluation expert. These child custody evaluations can be costly (starting at $20,000 and much more expensive depending upon who he or she must interview and the nature of the allegations), invasive, and at times can be negative with regard to a parent’s fitness to care for his or her children.
• Depending on the financial complexity and/or the child custody dispute in your California divorce or separation, you may need to hire experts to opine as to character of property, that is whether property is separate or community; to value property; to value a business; to determine executive compensation; and many other issues beyond the common knowledge of laypeople. This is especially so if your California divorce or separation has a large community property estate, that includes stock options, investments, valuable real or personal property or if child custody becomes a disputed issue. Depending on the facts and circumstances your California divorce or separation matter entails, you may need to retain certified public accountants, appraisers, licensed psychiatrists or family therapists, or other such experts. These experts can add additional cost above and beyond attorney fees. You should discuss the need for experts with your attorneys early on, and plan for these additional costs.
• Nathan James and his staff at SEIFER, MURKEN, DESPINA, JAMES andTEICHMAN ALC will diligently attempt to move your California divorce or separation proceeding forward and get it resolved or in front of the judge to decide the disputed issues as quickly as possible. Although this may be difficult, you will need to endeavor to be patient. Many times it is impossible to determine the conduct of your former spouse and/or his or her attorney and depending on that conduct, your case can take even more time to resolve. Honesty, forthrightness and truthfulness is extremely important in California divorce and separation matters especially when certain issues are disputed. Often times, many pieces of the puzzle need to be located and put in place in order to move your California divorce or separation proceeding forward. Often times, delays are inevitable despite best efforts. These delays could also be caused by a crowded court calendar that can only hear your matter for limited periods of time.
Suggestions to Move Your Case Forward
In the event there are urgent matters your California divorce or separation proceeding raise, such as the need for spousal or child support or the need to obtain a domestic violence restraining order, or your need to move away with your children or any other urgent issue, please be sure to bring that up to Nathan James or the staff at SEIFER, MURKEN, DESPINA, JAMES and TEICHMAN ALC at your earliest opportunity, so that these issues may be brought up to your spouse or opposing counsel or the court immediately.
2. Because financial and asset disclosure is required in your California divorce or separation case, you should attempt to obtain and provide to Nathan James several years of tax returns and bank statements. If you are unable to obtain those documents, please so advise him so that a request can be made for those documents from your spouse or other appropriate entities. The sooner those documents can be provided the more likely the financial and property issue disputes in your California divorce or separation may be resolved.
3. More than likely, before you meet with Nathan James to discuss your California divorce case, Nathan James will provide you with the disclosure forms (Income for your completion and Expense Declaration—FL-150 and the Schedule of Assets and Debts— FL-142) for your attempted completion. Your attempted completion of these forms may help reduce your attorney fees and costs while at the same time assist in moving your case forward. Of course, the firm will assist in completing these forms with you. Various backup documents are needed to fully complete these forms. You will need to obtain those backup documents.
4. You should have a plan that provides for payment of your attorney’s fees in your California divorce or separation. Start making plans for how you will pay for your legal representation. Many clients borrow to cover the costs of dissolution. Other times, in your California divorce and separation proceedings, attorney’s fees become an issue, and it is likely your spouse, if he or she earns more than you or has assets that are worth more than your assets, will be ordered to pay some or all of your attorney’s fees.
5. Often times in your California divorce or separation case, it is very difficult for you to be objective and pragmatic. It is extremely important to attempt to be objective and pragmatic because that will cause for a reduction in fees and costs. In a California divorce or separation, the main objective is to solve the community property disputes, divide the property, obtain a custody and visitation order that is in the best interests of your children and obtain child or spousal support, if appropriate. Although it appears your California divorce or separation proceeding is about winning, losing, and getting the best result is paramount, it is also about resolving the disputes and moving on with your life. There is value in having matters resolved.
6. If you have trusted friends and/or family members you should look to them and/or a therapist for emotional support. Nathan James will provide you with the necessary arsenal to help you with the legal issues and disputes your California divorce may raise. You however have a duty to yourself and to your loved ones to make sure you are taking care of yourself.
You Can Rely On Nathan James In Your California Divorce
And The Potential Difficult Process It May Entail
Nathan James practices in divorce and family law in San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and all the Bay Area counties. Contact him online or call 415- 749-5900 to schedule a confidential consultation.
This is intended to be a summary description and should not be relied upon as legal advice. More information may be obtained by consulting with Nathan James.
H. Nathan James
SEIFER, MURKEN, DESPINA, JAMES and TEICHMAN, ALC,
2135 Lombard St.| San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: 415-749-5900 | Fax: 415-749-0344 | San Francisco Law Office Map
Email: njames@smdjlaw.com