Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Long term marriage questions

Assuming that the business sold by your husband was community property then the new business would have community property interest.

Filing for a divorce will require that the community property will be divided. Although the division will be equal, each of item of property does not have to be divided in half. The parties can agree to exchange certain items so that the division ise equal.

Re: Long term marriage questions

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, unless a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client. This communication contains general information only. Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client communication nor legal advice. There likely are deadlines and time-limits associated with your case; you should contact an attorney of your choice for legal advice specific to your personal situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

Contact an experienced Family Law attorney in the county where you live for specific advice and possible representation on your behalf NOW!! You probably are entitled to one-half of whatever the two of you earned, acquired, or accumulated during the marriage. Also, there seems to be a HUGE question as to your official "date of separation." It is possible that you still have a community property interest in "his" financial dealings. Further, because yours is a "marriage of long duration" the court will retain jurisdiction re spousal support forever, if asked to do so. Factors to be considered in ordering spousal support are set forth in Cal Fam Code � 4320-4325. Also, by the way, whoever files for divorce first establishes jurisdication. If he files first you could find yourself defending yourself in CT.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

Re: Long term marriage questions

You need to take some steps at this time to protect yourself. If the money from the business is equal or less than the equity in the house, you're probably okay. If it is worth more than the house equity, you need to file for divorce or legal sep and get orders tying up that money.

In either event, you should send him a certified letter informing him you do not want the money used for any investments and that he should immediately place 1/2 into an account in your name alone.

If there are other, joint, accounts, take your share out and put in an account in your name alone.

Don't worry about what's community prop and what isn't at this stage. First tie up the assets and figure out the nature later.

Reply: Long term marriage questions

You have a long term marriage and your husband owes you a fiduciary duty in his financial dealings. I think you should consult with an experienced family law lawyer and provide him or her with all of the details for analysis. You will find some useful information at my web site.

Experience is not expensive, it is priceless!

Good luck to you.

Brian Levy, Esq.

www.calattorney.net

Re: Long term marriage questions

thank you for your question, as you present some very valid, real and intelligent concerns regarding your situation. the answers to your questions are as follows:

1) as far as the business goes, i would need more information as to when the business was started, meaning was it his business before you two were married or was the business started after you two had been married? further, i would also need to know if the business "grew" due to your husband's "hands on" efforts in the business or whether or not it had a general manager doing all of the work or economic conditions alone basically contributed to the growth of the business. the reason these questions are important is because there is one of two legal "formulas" the court will use to determine your community property interest in this business. you DEFINITELY will have some interest in this business, as well as the capital generated by that business for your husband to invest in his new business. i just want to make sure we preserve your rights to these proceeds and/or new business to the maximum allowed by law. thus, your answers to these questions should help me do that for you.

2)if you get a large settlement in the divorce, you may STILL be entitled to spousal support regardless. please email me additional information as to whether or not you worked at all during the marriage, where, and how you were provided for financially during the entire marriage. this will help me further analyze your situation and offer you the best legal assistance possible. please email me directly at your earliest convenience and we can go from there with ALL of your MOST favorable options, as well as ensuring that you get complete justice in this matter. warmest regards.