Legal Question in Family Law in California

HI,Ive been married for 2 years now and My wife and I recently had a baby. Before we got married in Dec 2007, I knew my wife's mother visited a lot from Indonesia however whats transpired since we've been married is something different then i expected.

Since we've been married my mother n law has stayed with us for 10 months give or take a week (And its been made known to me that she will stay her at least 6 months each year). I have expressed my concern with this excessive stay to my wife and well even though she understands its a bit much, she doesn't want to piss off her mother so she lets it slide. I have tried compromise and said maybe your mother could visit for 1 month a year however my wife just says "You tell my mother that and see what happens". Her mother is over 50 but has the mind of a 14 year old girl.

I cant unfortunately talk to my mother n law because she speaks little English and of course this complicates matters. I guess what i'm getting at here is there any grounds for dissolving the marriage based on the fact that another family member is essentially living with us and from my view my wife knew this was going to happen and didn't inform me of this prior to our wedding date.

Whats most sad is that i love my wife but my mother n law has no concern for our private life and thus i see no way of continuing this marriage if im going to have to share it with another person. Does this make sense?

Also We own no property and have no mutual assets. No loans have been acquired in any joint fashion and whatever expensive items we have were purchased prior to getting married. I don't want anything she has and she makes more money then i do. If i was to divorce i just want to leave and she can take everything. However I would like joint custody


Asked on 9/30/09, 5:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

California has had what is called "no fault" divorce for the longest of any state, since the 1960's. What it means is all you have to do is say you have "irreconcileable differences" and you can get a divorce. If you have no assets and no meaningful debt, it should be a fairly simple case unless you have a fight over custodial time and support. If she makes more money, and you get equal custodial time, she will owe you support which she will not like, I'm sure.

I suggest you start by picking up a copy of How To Do Your Own Divorce In Californa, by Nolo Press. It walks you through a simple divorce step by step, with tips on how to avoid disputes.

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Answered on 9/30/09, 7:24 pm


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