Common Family Law Issues
Family courts can deal with a variety of issues. Examples include division of marital assets and retirement benefits, determination of residence of children, and assignment of property.
Family court caseloads remain large for reasons like these. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 672,502 divorces and annulments in 45 states plus D.C. in 2023. This figure comes with a rate of 2.4 per 1,000 population. Provisional data from the CDC also lists 2,041,926 marriages in the country for 2023.
Divorce accounts for only part of what these courts handle. Other family cases deal with paternity, guardianship, modification, restraining orders, and adoptions.
Custody Fights Turn On Wording That Parents Skim Past
California’s courts provide a custody guide that details the two distinct components of child custody. Legal custody grants the right to make decisions regarding the child’s healthcare, education, and welfare. Physical custody defines which parent the child will reside with and how much time each parent will spend with the child.
Many people think joint custody means an even division of time with the child between each parent. That belief does not always hold. Legal custody describes the right to make decisions for a child. But this can be shared between parents. Parents may also share physical custody. This means they split the amount of time the child lives with them.
This arrangement is not necessarily divided equally. If legal custody is shared, it is possible for physical custody to not be.
In California, parents who contest custody or visitation attend mediation before the hearing. Mediation gives them a chance to create their own arrangement before a court order is made.
For California families facing paternity, juvenile dependency, stepparent adoption, or post-judgment modification issues on top of a divorce or custody case, a Santa Rosa family law attorney offers representation across all of them.
Many Cases End Without a Judge Ruling
Contested custody cases often end without a trial.
Mediation skills matter well beyond California, and credentials on this side of the practice look different from trial credentials.
According to the Godley Law Firm website https://www.godleylaw.com/, the mediation aims to reach agreement outside the courtroom.
Money Questions Outlast The Decree
Once a divorce is finalized, the marriage ends. Issues of support may remain open for much longer. Orders can be changed over time depending on each party’s financial situation, their involvement with the children, and any other relevant changes in the children’s needs. Meanwhile, property division often moves faster. Dividing retirement plans, businesses, and anything acquired through mixed funds can still take years.
There are many state-level variations in how property is divided. According to the IRS, nine states follow community property rules, which are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Most remaining states use equitable distribution instead. The rules of community property can be complex. Even with these differences, most states distinguish between marital and premarital assets. In some states, such as Texas, there is even provision for unequal property distribution. Unlike some other community property states, California requires an equal division of community property.
An unambiguous court order can serve to avoid future disagreements. Take parenting orders, for example, where there is likely to be disagreement over the interpretation of “reasonable” holiday sharing. More precise orders regarding the sharing of holidays, parenting time, and other arrangements can provide better guidance and are easier to enforce.
Most people do this without a lawyer
Self-representation is the norm in family court rather than the exception. Judicial Council of California reports put the share of family law cases with at least one self-represented party at roughly 70 to 80 percent. California’s court self-help centers helped more than one million court users in 2019.
That share helps explain why paperwork problems are common. Forms can be filed in the wrong sequence, and income declarations can arrive incomplete. Without enough supporting paperwork, the hearing may not accomplish what the parties wanted to achieve.
The agreement should be clearly and precisely drafted to be enforceable in a court of law. This matters across family law. Many family court orders are not permanent. Circumstances can change over time. When a substantial change in circumstances makes an order unworkable, a party can ask the court to modify it.