The Petition – Parts 7 (d), (e), (f)/(g), and (h); Part 8

The Petition breakdown wraps up today.  The Judicial Council updated the Petition and Response as of January 1, 2015.  The information contained in the pre- and post-updated forms are (for the most part) the same.   However, in seeking to complete the task at hand (a walk-through of the Petition), the final components are briefly discussed below.

Part 7(d) (Parentage)

If a child is born after marriage, the child is considered of the marriage and the child of the two parents.  Fam. Code § 7541.  If a child is born prior to the marriage (to the parents), the Petitioner (or Respondent) can request that the court find the pre-marriage child a child of both parties.  This is in lieu of a separate parentage action.

Part 7(e) (attorney’s fees)

Payment of attorney’s fees in conjunction with a family law matter is governed by Family Code Sections 2030-2034.  The Court looks at a number of factors including the requesting party’s need and the other party’s ability to pay.  These are not the only factors, and the Court is also required to review the level of difficulty of the case as well as the spousal support factors (discussed below) as they relate to the payment of fees.

Parts 7(f), (g) (spousal support)

Temporary and long-term (or permanent) spousal support will be discussed in a separate blog post.  The Court is required to review a number of factors in determining post-judgment support.

Part 7(h) (property)

Previous blog posts described the difference between community property and separate property.  The Petitioner and Respondent can ask the Court to award community property to him/her and confirm his/her separate property to him/her.

 Part 8 (child support)

Child support will be addressed in a separate blog post.

Continue to check back to this blog for further information on support (child and spousal) as well as other news and updates as they relate to family law in California.