Legal Question in Family Law in California

A divorce is started with a Petition ,filed in the appropriate court. Then, it is served on your husband, and he must respond. If he does not, you may have a default entered and proceed, without him. If he responds, there are, generally, four issues to resolve, in most divorces. First, there is the issue of "status." That is, getting you divorced. It's really the simplest issue because, in California, you can get a divorce, without proving any type of fault, on your partner's part. (Some states require proving some type of misconduct. California has "no fault divorce.") Second, there is the issue of property division. Don't worry about your husband having control of the joint accounts. You are entitled to 1/2 of all the community property, regardless of whose name is on an account or who controls the money. Third, there is the issue of custody. In your case, you don't need to worry about this issue because your kids are grown (assuming none of your kids have special needs). Fourth, there is the issue of support - child support and spousal support. Assuming your kids are grown and do not have special needs, you won't need to worry about child support. Spousal support is, usually, pretty simple. There is a computer program, called "Dissomaster." It is available at most courthouses. You or your attorney, simply, enters financial information about you and your husband, push the enter button, and the computer figures out who pays what to whom. That's pretty much a divorce.

Of course, there are many issues which can arise, if there is a dispute about any of the issues. For example, the parties may dispute the amount of income, each spouse earns. They may dispute whether a piece of property is community property of separate property. They may dispute whether a piece of property may be allocated to one spouse or sold off, with the proceeds divided. In theory, there is a never-ending list of issues that could arise.

It appears that, based on your zip code of 90008, you will, likely be filing the case in the downtown L.A. courthouse. I suggest you contact an attorney to discuss your matter. If you prefer to handle the matter yourself, the downtown courthouse has a self-help office, for family law. You can also get information, on-line, at www.lacourt.org.

My office handles divorces. If you would like to speak with me, please let me know.