I have less money than my husband, will he have to pay for my attorneys fees?

Experienced Bay Area family law attorneys will tell their clients that, yes, if your spouse has access to more resources than you that they may have to pay for your attorneys fees.

Under Marriage of Morton, decided in 2018, if one spouse has more assets than the other Family Code 2030 provides that the Court SHALL make an order awarding fees and costs.

If you are concerned about costs because your spouse has limited your access to financial resources, family law attorneys can help identify sources of funds that can help you hire an attorney. Contact Amanda at Amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com to learn more information.

Has your ex disappeared when they were supposed to sign a QDRO or the interspousal deed to your house?

Now that your divorce is finalized, many clients think the work is over. Unfortunately, there are typically a few loose ends about ownership documents for property and retirement.  Sometimes the other party does not want to cooperate in signing these documents because they are tired, angry, or just difficult. 

You may need to ask the Court for help in getting the documents signed.  

If the Court has already made an order for the documents to be signed (in the divorce judgment) and your ex has disappeared, the next step is to ask for an Elisor to be appointed. An Elisor is authorized by California Civil Code Section 128 to act as the party and sign on their behalf.  The Elisor is typically the Clerk of the Court. 

To get the Court to make an Elisor order, you must first attempt to contact your ex spouse and ask them to sign the required documents. If they ignore you or say “NO” despite a court order that says they must sign the documents, then you can proceed by filing a Request for Order that asks the Court to sign on their behalf.

Since this will likely be a post-judgment motion, you must properly serve your Ex in person.  If you have trouble locating your ex you can ask the Court to allow you to serve by publication or post.

After you obtain an order appointing the Clerk to sign on behalf of your Ex, you must then provide the document to the Court for signature and bring with you a notary so that the document has an official record.

If you are looking for help with signing an order after judgment, please feel free to reach out to amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com. 

Can my ex force the sale of our house during the middle of our divorce?

The sale of a family home is typically an issue reserved for trial. However, in some limited cases the court may permit the sale of an asset to avoid unreasonable market or investment risks to the community estate (Family Code 2108).

If you are seeking to sell the house before a trial date (meaning that you want to sell the house in the middle of the dissolution process), we encourage you to seek out expert advice to determine whether a court would be likely to grant that motion.

Can a foreign domestic partnership be dissolved in California?

Unfortunately, no. A foreign domestic partnership which is not "substantially equivalent" to a CA domestic partnership cannot be dissolved in CA and is not recognized for purposes of property and support. 

Will support be reduced when my ex retires at age 65?

Experienced Bay Area Family Law clients will tell their clients that retirement constitutes a change in circumstances. 

A supporting spouse's attainment of retirement age typically constitutes a material change of circumstances for purposes of a motion to modify a spousal support order, depending on the circumstances of a given case..

It has been found that there is no material change in circumstances occurred when the obligee became old enough to access a retirement fund without penalty, where the accessibility and possible increase in value of the obligee's share of the retirement accounts were part of the parties' expressed reasonable expectations in entering the stipulated judgment, the retirement accounts were divided equally between obligor and obligee, and by the time of the hearing the obligor was also old enough to access his account without penalty; since the marital settlement agreement, the obligee had become unable to work due to illness, and the obligor's income had increased. In re Marriage of Dietz, 176 Cal. App. 4th 387, 97 Cal. Rptr. 3d 616 (4th Dist. 2009), as modified, (Sept. 2, 2009)