Family Law Blog

There is a degree of certainty for married parents. Children of the marriage are, for example, legally presumed to be the biological children of the parents (at least with heterosexual couples). In the absence of a premarital agreement or other special arrangement, when a California marital relationship ends, assets divide according to state community property standards and child custody arrangements move forward per the children's best interests.

Pew Research shows that one of out every four parents living with a child in 2018 is unmarried. If unmarried parents separate, things are a bit more complicated. The complication extends not only to the division of property that the couple may have shared in their time together - which can itself be very difficult to divide depending on how long the relationship was and how commingled the assets are - but also to custody arrangements.

As a general rule, the courts of law anywhere in the world conduct the proceedings of a divorce litigation in a way that a suitable decision can be reached without conflict. Although the California courts try to streamline the divorce litigation process as much as possible, there are instances wherein the divorcing parties are not ready to give up without a fight.

In many cases, when one spouse is more financially adept than the other, they might try to employ unethical tactics of using their resources to drive up the overall costs of the lawsuit. The party might do this in a number of ways, including denying cooperation, filing irrelevant motions, and basically trying to delay the court ruling as long as possible. Needless to say, this takes up a lot of the valuable time of the court, and considerably increases the expenses involved in paying off the attorney fees, court costs, and so on.

For many divorcing couples, one of the big things a divorce involves is negotiating a parenting plan. Such plans can set out what the custody arrangement will be regarding a divorcing couple’s children moving forward.

When people think of what is addressed in parenting plans, their minds may go straight to who the kids will live with and who gets time with the kids when. This is called physical custody. While this is a very important aspect of child custody, it is crucial to note that it is not the only one, and thus not the only thing parenting plans should typically address.

Child custody cases can be complicated, confusing, and highly stressful to everyone involved, especially the child in question. Older children may have a say in which parent they live with, but that can further add to their stress as they have to choose one parent over another. The confusion and stress can escalate, especially when the parents reside in different states and apply for custody. What are the rules for interstate child custody cases in California?