When two people are married in California, for all intents and purposes, they become one legal entity. Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage may be considered community property, and debts incurred during marriage are community as well. If you decide to divorce in California, those assets and debts will be equally divided. That’s not to say that everything will have to be sold, and each spouse gets half of the proceeds. Our Orange County family law attorney can negotiate with the other party’s attorneys until a fair solution is reached. For instance, one spouse may be able to keep all of the shares in a business by agreeing to allow the other to have a house or other assets in exchange.

While California law does allow sole custody, it’s by no means automatic. In general, both parents have rights to physically see their child, make decisions in the child’s life, and to spend time with the child. If the child’s other parent is unfit or irresponsible, it may be possible to get sole physical custody in which case the child would live with you. It may also be possible to win sole legal custody, which means you’re responsible for making important decisions for your child, such as medical, educational, and religious decisions. Our team of Orange County child custody lawyers can provide you strong legal representation to protect your rights and your child’s best interests.

Under California law, if you have the custody of your minor child or children and the other co-parent has had an improvement in financial circumstances, you may be entitled to more child support from them. This also applies if you have ended up caring for your child for more time than was originally agreed upon. Our child support lawyers in Orange County can petition the courts to increase the amount of support you’re receiving. This works both ways, however. If you are receiving child support but received a significant raise or have custody of your children for fewer days than anticipated, the other co-parent can file for a reduction in the support they’re paying.