Los Angeles Divorce Help

A 50 year old Israelie man has just set the world record when he was granted his 11th divorce.

He plans on trying again.

Normally, after a divorce and after the parties divide their property, a person is not liable for the other spouse’s debts incurred during marriage.  However, if the other spouse’s debts are assigned to a person in the division of property pursuant to a dissolution, that person is personally liable for debt, and his or her separate property and any commpunty property he or she receives in the division is liable for the other spouse’s debt.

If a money judgment for the debt is entered after the division, the property is not subject to enforcement of the judgment, and the judgment may not be enforced against the formerly married person unless the person is made a party to the judgment for that purpose.

On the other hand, if the property became subject to a lien during the marriage, it remains subject to the lien even if the nondebtor spouse is awarded the property subject to the lien and the other spouse is awarded the debt.

In some states, you can get sued for having an affair with a married man or woman.  Its unknown as an “alienation of affection” lawsuit where an outsider interferes with a marriage.  These suit are allowed in Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.

Suit are usually filed for two reasons: (1) money and (2) revenge.  In North Carolina, a spouse was awareded over one million dollars.

Here is where it gets interesting.  You don’t have to reside in the states that allow such a lawsuit.  It only requires that an encounter or an affair took place in one of those states.  You and your spouse can live any where but if your significant other had an affair or sex with another person in Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah then you can sue the person interfering in any of those states.

So this creates the potential maybe Tiger Wood’s wife could sue one of the girls that are out there who are allegedly having an affair with her husband.  Especially if the encounters took place in the allowable states.  Sometimes it doesn’t pay to be a jet setter.

New York lawmakers in a surprising move rejected a bill that would have made their state the 6th to allow gay marriages.  The bill needed 32 votes.  It only mustered 24 votes.

Many thought the bill would pass since the Governor of New York had pledge to sign it.

Supporters had been hopeful they could eek out a narrow win, or a much closer vote. But afterward, they said private assurances were broken. In the end, a half-dozen Democrats opposed the measure when it was expected only two or three would vote no. While no Republicans supported the bill, most advocates expected it would attract as many as four or five GOP senators.

The process of getting a divorce begins with filing a petition for disolution.  Once an action is filed by a Petitioner, the other party, Respondent, must be personally served with the petition.  The Respondent then has 30 days to file responding papers with the Court.  If they fail to do so, the Petition can ask for an entry of default.  Once default is entered, the Petitioner can complete the divorce proceeding without the participation of the Respondent.

If the Respondent files the necessary responding papers, the case will then proceed as either a contest or uncontested matter.  The case is considered contested if the parties are not able to agree on all the issues and the Court is needed to resolved the unresolved issues.  The matter is considered uncontested if the parties are able to resolve all their issues and the matter can proceed to its conclusion by submitting the necessary signed papers for the Court’s signature.

The California Protection of Marriage Act 2010 obtained approval from the Secretary of State of California to get signatures to put the Act on the ballot next November 2010.  The California Protection of Marriage Act 2010 seeks to eliminate the right to divorce in the State of California.

Remember, this Act is not on the ballet.  The organizer of the Act are trying to get enough signatures to put it on the ballot.  Inspired by Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, the grassroots campaign seeks to protect the tradition of marriage.

PARIS – The city of romance got a lesson in love’s hard knocks Sunday, as thousands flocked to the French capital’s first divorce fair.

In France, nearly one out of two marriages ends in divorce, according to the country’s National Institute of Demographic Studies. More than 130,000 divorces were registered in 2007, as compared to just 50,000 three decades ago.

The “New Start” trade fair aimed to tap into that booming market by bringing together 60 stands offering up both services obviously related to separation — law firms and counselors — and also more obscure disciplines aimed at helping people get back on their feet, like tarot card readers, makeover specialists and self-esteem coaches.

Conferences held throughout the two-day-long fair included talks entitled “Plastic surgery‘s role in re-conquering your image” and “How to re-seduce your partner using the Gestalt method,” as well as “Meeting on the Web” and “Separation: What does a lawyer do?”

The fair’s organizer, Brigitte Gaumet, said she had the idea for the event after President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his second wife months after taking office in 2007.

“For me, that crystalized that divorce has lost its stigma and is really a commonplace thing,” Gaumet told The Associated Press. “Lots of people going through divorces — and also people getting separated or who are widowed — are looking for information on how to bounce back and how to reconstruct.”

“We have long had the Marriage Fair,” a massive annual trade fair in Paris catering to brides-to-be, “and I thought, ‘why not a fair for people going through separations?,’” said Gaumet, adding that some 4,000 people visited the event over the weekend. “That’s a real success for a first-time exhibition.”

At the fair, held at a conference hall in northwestern Paris, the stands offering legal advice attracted the biggest crowds.

Charles Rene and Verena Carlo were among the rare couples waiting in a long line to talk to a lawyer. Married — but not to one another — both were about to leave their long-term partners and were seeking to make the process as painless as possible.

“Choosing a lawyer can be really complicated and this isn’t the kind of thing you just want to pick someone randomly out of the yellow pages for,” said Rene, a 46-year-old father of two.

Carlo hailed the fair, which she said they’d heard about on the radio, as a “good initiative to help people going through a hard time” but said she was put off by some of the services on offer.

“Just because you’re going to a divorce doesn’t mean you need to get laser hair removal or your fortune told,” she said. “I think it’s a bit weird, to be honest.”

Other visitors appeared to disagree. The line at several of the makeover specialists snaked out of their stand and down the corridor, as dozens of women waited for advice on which haircuts would better suit them or tips on how to apply more seductive makeup.

At the Instutut Cellusionic, a stand offering weight-loss solutions, a young woman in a black bikini underwent an extensive ultrasonic anti-cellulite massage while a small crowd gathered to watch.

“The clients here are mostly women, which is the same as at the Wedding Fair,” stand manager Sidonie Morlet said. “Except that there, they’re mostly trying to squeeze into a wedding gown, whereas here, they want to look good to seduce others and, in a deeper sense, please themselves.”

Under California law, property acquired during a marriage is generally considered community property, which generally gets divided on a 50-50 basis.  However, the parties can agree otherwise in writing, signed by both parties, that certain piece of property or assets are to be the sole property of the other and not considered community property.

For example, Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt, the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for divorce.  Each claim ownership rights to the team.  However, Frank McCourt has an agreement, which was signed by him and his wife, stating that “all assets of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team” is his sole property.

The agreement provided that Frank McCourt would be sole owner of the Dodgers and other business interests and Jamie McCourt would be sole owner of eight residences, jewelry, artwork, cars and boats.

In court papers, Frank McCourt said he signed the agreement “to honor the request of my wife” and to ensure the residences would remain out of reach of any creditors.

For Jamie McCourt to persuade the court to override that agreement, she would have to show she was unaware of what she was signing, was unaware of what the effect would be and did not sign voluntarily.  That is going to be hard to show because she has a law degree from the University of Maryland, her master’s in business adminstration from MIT and her experience practicing family law.

So not only can you agree to circumvent community property law in California but, you must also better think wisely about what you are agreeing to because later on in time, those agreements can come back to haunt you when you go through divorce.  Decision to protect yourself as a couple can be your worse nightmare when it comes time to disolve your marriage.  The McCourt divorce proceeding is a prime example if you are looking at it from Jamie McCourts’s eyes.

Preparing and filing your own divorce papers is something seen more today than in years past. In part, this is due to the easy accessibility of so much information.  However, oftentimes it is done out of necessity because of financial considerations.   While handling your own divorce may be right for some, especially those with simple and amiable situations, we realize that it is not for everyone.  If your divorce falls under any of the following categories then maybe hiring a competent law firm should be your choice:

-There are children involved.

-A large amount of community property assets are being divided.

-Your divorce is contentious and you want to ensure that there is a knowledgeable person between you and your former spouse.

-Your former spouse has an attorney and you feel as though you need an experienced negotiator on your side.

-You have the financial ability to hire an attorney and would rather not spend the time and effort managing the paperwork yourself.

Should you choose to hire an attorney we recommend The Law Offices of Sakaida & Bui.  They have years of experience in civil litigation and have been willing to work with people who may have financial restraints.  They have a reputation of being personable with their clients yet tough in negotiations.  If you feel that this combination is for you, you can call them at 310-473-9153 or via e-mail as long@sakaidabui dot com.

One of the first things that you might want to do after getting a divorce is changing your last name to the name you held prior to the marriage.  This is a fairly simple task.  Here are the steps:

1. Fill out the Petition for Change of Name (Form NC-100), including the Attachment to Petition (Form NC-110) and make 2 copies of each.
2. Fill out the Order to Show Cause for Change of Name (Form NC-120) and make 2 copies.
3. Some courts require you to fill out local forms to ask for a name change, like a Criminal Background Information Form. Ask your local court if there are local forms you have to fill out.
4. Fill out the Civil Case Cover Sheet (Form CSM-010)
5. File all your papers with the copies in the court in the county where you live.
6. Publish the Order to Show Cause in a newspaper of general circulation once per week for 4 weeks in a row—ask your court for a list of newspapers. Not all newspapers are valid, and the fees they charge are different, so call around.
7. Go to your court date and take the proof of publication from the newspaper. You will also need the Decree Changing Name (Form NC-130) for the judge to sign.
8. Once you get your Decree Changing Name, get a certified copy from the court. You will need this to change all your legal documents, including your birth certificate, social security card, and other papers like passport.

You will have to pay the filing fee for the petition to change your name along with the cost to publish your petition in a local newspaper.  And that is it.