Legal Question in Family Law in California

Stock options and reality fees with out selling

My 35 yr old daughter has been married for 5 years, lives in San Jose, CA and has recently separated from her husband. They lived together for 3 or 4 years prior to getting married. They both have good jobs, two children and live in a home worth 1.5M. Contrary to my advice she feels they can go through the process without legal advice. Splitting of assets is the biggest issue. Questions:

1. She has mutiple stock options obtained during the marriage but not all have vested. Is her husband entitled to 1/2 of the options that have not vested. If so, what if she leaves the company and they never vest? Must they exercise options to split them?

2. Her spouse plans to keep the house and give her cash for her half of the equity. He claims that he should deduct from her 1/2 of the equity the cost of reality fees and closing costs since someday he may choose to sell. Given that the house will not be sold, should she agree to this proposal? They are assuming total fees would be 8% of the 1.5M.

3. She believes that an attorney would be too expensive and upset her husband. What might a reasonable attorney fee be to handle the division of assets for her and could she negotiate a flat fee rather than hourly?

Thanks for your help.

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