Legal Question in Family Law in California
I am in desperate need of immediate help. I hired a firm who promised to protect me and assets from a husband who is a pathological gambler and liar who has gone as far as set me up for crimes and then ensure I serve time to get me out of his way to gamble with no reproach. On Feb 16th I hired the firm, desparate for support order and asset freeze. I signed a blank response to the divorce petition husband have made in 08 when they incarcerated me, but retracted one month later. The attorney made an error and listed my 11 year old daughter as the respondent and the court kicked it back. Bottom line, I was left with a household that cost approx 6,000 per month to maintain, 2 children and a negetive checking account. Because of the lawyers error, I was without support for five months which caused my son moved in with his father. Finally friday July 23, we went in front of a judge. The support is now for only one child and calucated after they took a chapter 13 payment off the top of hubands salary that was underreported. Doesnt support come before bankruptcy? Can they consider the bankrupcty payment a hardship deduction and do I have a case against the attorneys?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Child support should be based on income & timeshare unless the court finds the circumstances call for a non-guideline order. Bankruptcy does not come before child support. The chapter 13 plan, if it is the only way to maintain community assets, may be a reasonable expense. However, child support should not be reduced because of the payment. Hardship deductions are for extraordinary health expenses, uninsured catastrophic losses
and children the parent has the obligation to support who reside with the parent.
I don't know if you have a case against the attorney without more information, but I believe there must be more to it if something was kicked back because the Respondent's name was an error. That is an easily correctable error and should have caused no more than a few days of delay at most. You may want to consider a having the osc for support reconsidered or you can file a new osc/noticed motion. You should also speak to an attorney to figure out what guideline support should be calculated at to determine if the court's order deviates from guideline figures (or by how much the difference is).
Bottom line...at least consult with another attorney to discuss your specific numbers. Find an attorney who does free consults and make an appointment. If you are truly uncomfortable with your current attorney or lack confidence in them, it won't hurt to meet with someone else for comparison.
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