Recognizing that upon entering the family or civil court system, survivors of domestic violence often face litigation abuse when seeking protection from the court, the Legislature enacted SB 741 with the intention of curbing such abuse. Litigation abuse is defined in new Family Code Section 6309 as “the…
A parent actively restricting or attempting to restrict the other parent’s access to a child to protect the child from harm may be acting appropriately. A fairly obvious example of why one parent may want the other parent to have limited access to a child could be a history of child abuse or exposure to domestic violence. In the most extreme cases, appropriate gate-keeping may result in the non-custodial parent having no contact with a child because of the harm that such contact might cause.
People v. Sanchez represents a potentially significant evidentiary problem in the context of custody and visitation cases involving a custody evaluation and report. Under the holding in Sanchez, which is a criminal law case, case-specific, out-of-court statements that are relied upon by an expert to form his or…
In New York, a judge recently ruled that you can serve your spouse with divorce papers via Facebook. The ruling is here. (Please note that this ruling applies to one New York case, and it is not a binding rule regarding service in California.) What is service? Filing your dissolution…
One might find it odd for a family law (aka divorce) blog to post a link to a study that highlights the positives of staying married. But family law attorneys are not there to make someone get divorced; they are there to help guide a party through the process and…
Surrogacy is defined as “the practice by which a woman (called a surrogate mother) becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby in order to give it to someone who cannot have children” (Merriam-Webster). Laws vary state to state as noted in this recent New York Times article….
Family law is usually considered a state law issue – removed from federal and constitutional issues. However, gay marriage and even grandparent visitation rights are two family law issues impacted by the U.S. Constitution. Is there a constitutional right to gay marriage? Can a parent deny visitation to a grandparent? The Constitution has…
Domestic violence has reared its ugly head in the news recently. There are resources for victims of domestic violence. For resources in Alameda County, click here; Contra Costa County, click here. The legal system also addresses domestic violence in the family law court system. Victims can request Domestic…
The New York Times recently published an opinion piece entitled “Beyond Marriage“. The author discusses the reduction in the number of marriages (and possible causes), but cites studies that say: 40% of children are born outside of marriage. The author suggests a number of ways to assist these mothers…
Certain marriages are void at the start; it’s as if they never happened. Incestuous and bigamous marriages are void at the outset. Family Code §§ 2200, 2201. But just because the marriage “never happened”, it’s still possible that the parties may have acquired the rights of a putative spouse…