San Francisco Family Law Blog

Living long-distance from their children can be challenging for some California parents who have gotten a divorce. However, they can still keep in touch through social media, text messages or email even if they only see their children infrequently. Regular postcards with positive messages let children know they are on their parents' minds, and parents can also make phone calls outside of the times scheduled. Parents may want to talk to their children about what their preferred method of staying in contact is.

Children may also have preferences about visiting their parents versus having their parents visit them. Parents should try to stay involved in their children's lives by getting to know their friends and their friends' parents. Friends can be invited on outings or even on vacations, but parents should also make sure they have plenty of time alone with their children. This applies even if the parent has a new partner, and it is usually best to only introduce new partners once the relationship is serious.

far too many people in San Francisco may currently be suffering from abuse at the hands of their spouses. For those hearing details of an abusive marriage from the outside, the solution to ending said abuse seems simple: the domestic violence victim simply needs to leave. Yet domestic abusers often exercise a great deal of control over their victims (especially when they are married). They may control the couple's finances and their other resources, leaving their victims completely dependent on them. As if control is not enough, many may also use fear as a method of ensuring that their spouses never leave. 

Those that are struggling with mustering the courage to leave their abusive spouses should know that there resources out there to protect. A recent update to a divorce case involving a Chinese woman and her American husband (who happened to make their marital home in Orange County) demonstrates this point. The woman claims that her ex-husband tried to compel her to satisfy his sexual desires, even going so far as to threaten her with deportation if she did not. Their tumultuous time together came to a conclusion when he reportedly broke two beer bottles and stabbed her in the shoulder with them. She pressed charges and he was subsequently convicted of assault. While he was able to avoid the five-year prison sentence he initially faced, he was forced to spend 180 days in jail, during which time she was able to leave him and return to China. 

If you and your spouse in California are getting a divorce, you know that dividing your assets and your debts will be something you need to do. Finding a way to agree on the value of different assets is an important part of this process and must be done before you make a final decision about who will receive what assets or who will be responsible for which debts. There are some situations in which the determination of asset value can be anything but straightforward. These are times when the use of a forensic accountant may be useful to you.

As explained by the Forensic CPA Society, a forensic accountant brings three distinct competencies to the table for you in your divorce. These include their accounting expertise, their audit capabilities and their ability to investigate sometimes complex financial matters or transactions.

California residents probably know that they live in a community property state. This means that marital property is divided equally when a couple gets divorced. There may be some exceptions to this, such as when a prenuptial agreement outlines other provisions. Student loan debt may also raise unique situations and might or might not fall under the need to be equally split.

As explained by NitroCollege.com, one of the big factors that a divorcing couple will need to identify in when the student loan debt was incurred relative to when the couple got married. In many situations, it is likely that debt incurred prior to the marriage remains the separate property of the person in whose name the loan was taken. If, however, loans were taken out after the date of the marriage, the debt might be deemed marital property.