Q. Tell us about yourself and your practice.
A. I am a Certified Family Law Specialist, which means that I am certified by the State Bar of California as a specialist in the area of family law. I have been in practice for 10 years. I am a partner in a boutique law firm in San Francisco and we practice exclusively in the area of family law. My law partner, Esther Lerner has almost 30 years of experience and my paralegal has been in this field for more than 25 years. I always encourage my clients to try to settle their issues outside of the courtroom, in the interest of saving on attorney’s fees and costs, but certainly have no problem appearing in court to aggressively represent clients in litigation, if necessary. Issues involved in a divorce include child custody, child and spousal support and division of assets. I also work on parentage actions, whereby the parents were never married but have a child and there are issues of child custody and child support. We also prepare pre nuptial agreements for the wary entering a marriage.
Q. What are your practice hours and office locations?
A. Our main office is located at 535 Pacific Avenue, second floor, San Francisco in the historic Jackson Square area. We practice in San Francisco county as well as San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties. We generally meet with clients during normal business hours 9-5. Early or late appointments may be arranged as a convenience to potential clients, if warranted.
Q. I have engaged your services what happens next?
A. When I first meet with a client, I assess their situation and determine what action needs to be taken. If neither party has filed for a dissolution of marriage, I will start the process by filing a Petition with the court and serving the documents on the other party. If a client has already been served with divorce papers, I will make sure that he or she timely responds to the Petition. If my client is in need of child and/or spousal support or child custody/visitation orders, I will file a motion with the court seeking the necessary relief, if the other party is not in agreement with my client’ s requests. Most parents foremost concern is about their children and how this will affect them. Therefore, if appropriate I will recommend that the parents commence co-parenting counseling or co-parenting mediation to work out a parenting plan and/or solving parenting issues. If the parties are amicable or don’ t have any immediate issues to present to the court, I will discuss with the opposing counsel what issues can be resolved and what actions need to be taken to settle the entire case. For example, if one of the spouses owns a business, we may have to engage a forensic accountant to determine the value of the business and the income generated from that business that is available for support. If the parties do not agree on the value of the family home, we can hire a real estate appraiser to determine the fair market value. I will try very hard to keep the case moving forward so that the issues can be resolved in a timely fashion, as it is generally in everyone’ s best interest to resolve the case as quickly and amicably as possible.
Q. How much will it cost to file for divorce?
A. The San Francisco Superior Court has a filing fee of $365 per party to file or respond to a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. I would encourage most parties to retain an attorney and fees may vary depending on the work required of the attorney. Most attorneys will request a retainer or deposit. Attorney’ s fees will be considerably less if both parties cooperate to act in a reasonable manner and have realistic expectations of the outcome. This can be difficult, considering the emotions involved in a divorce and you cannot control how the other party reacts, so if he or she takes an unreasonable position attorney’ s fees may be higher than anticipated. We cannot give an estimate of the cost of services, as the facts and circumstances vary with each client. We do provide very detailed billings, so that the client can track all charges.
Q. Who will have to pay alimony in a divorce?
A. Generally, the party earning more at the time of the divorce may be required to pay alimony or spousal support. The amount and duration of spousal support will depend on the length of the marriage, the disparity in the parties’ incomes, the age, education and health of each party, how long a party has been out of the work force to raise children and the marital standard of living. With regard to child support, California has a mandatory guideline that sets the support amount to be paid. The primary factors in determining the guideline support is the income of each parent and the amount of time, each parent spends with the child(ren).
Q. How does divorce mediation work?
A. Mediation is a wonderful alternative for couples, who want to try and resolve their differences between themselves and stay out of court. The parties mutually select a mediator (I would recommend they work with a mediator who specializes in family law) and the mediator will attempt to help the couple reach solutions that best fit their situation. Even if a party goes through mediation, I would still advise him or her to have a “ reviewing attorney” that he or she could ask questions during the mediation and have a review of any agreements reached as a result of the mediation. The mediator does not represent either party and is not supposed to give legal advice. Mediation works best when the parties are open-minded, motivated to settle and dedicated to staying out of court. I am also a trained mediator and enjoy working with couples in this capacity. The parties are generally more satisfied with the result in mediation and it is much more cost-effective than traditional litigation. Before the court can make any decisions or orders regarding child custody and visitation, parents are required to attend mediation with Family Court Services.
Q. How are divorce settlements agreed upon?
A. Settlements are reached as a result of negotiation between the parties and their respective attorneys. Often, the attorneys will conduct discovery (the exchange of certain documents) to determine the nature and true value of the assets and debts. Also both parties have to complete disclosure forms regarding their income, expenses, assets and debts before any settlement can be reached. The attorneys will use these disclosure forms to assess the case and determine what a fair settlement would be. Generally, in order to settle a case both parties will have to give up some potential right, with the understanding that if they were to proceed with court and allow a judge to make decisions as to the division of assets and support they may end up in a better or a worse situation, but will spend a lot of time energy and money in attorney’ s fees to get to that point. If settlement cannot be reached the court will set the case for trial. However, the court does require the parties to attend a mandatory settlement conference prior to trial. At a mandatory settlement conference the parties and their attorneys will meet with a judge or experienced family law attorneys, who will assess the case and let each party know the strengths and weaknesses of his or her situation. The settlement conference can be very helpful by providing another perspective from a person, who has no stake or interest in the case. The good news is that approximately 98% of all cases eventually settle and do not have to go through a trial.
Q. How long does it take for a divorce to become final?
A. Parties cannot be divorced for six months from the date on which the Respondent is served with divorce papers. However, during this time parties conduct the discovery and complete the disclosure forms so that they can come up with a settlement agreement and a Marital Settlement Agreement can be finalized prior to the six month waiting period. I have had situations, where the couple has reached an agreement within two weeks, and other cases where it has taken years to resolve the case. It just depends on the number of issues to be resolved, the complexity of the issues and the position taken by each party.
Q. How long do you have to be married before you can file for a divorce?
A. There is no rule as to how long you have to be married. You could marry and file for divorce the very next day. In certain cases, if there was fraud involved in inducing someone to marry, a party may be eligible for an annulment of the marriage. That is yet another interesting topic in this complex but very human aspect of the law.
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