Orange County Divorce Lawyer Blog

After weeks of rumors, Orange County resident Sandra Bullock has confirmed that she and husband Jesse James have filed for divorce. The couple's split has been a hot topic in the celebrity press almost since the moment when Bullock picked up an Oscar for her film The Blind Side last February. Until this week, however, neither Bullock nor James had confirmed that they are splitting up.

Bullock made the remarks in an interview with People Magazine, which was also granted exclusive access to the baby she adopted earlier this year. Bullock and James have been in Orange County family court recently. James, a reality TV star, spent much of last year engaged in a bitter Orange County custody fight with an ex-wife who is also a former porn star. As I wrote about in an earlier post, he and Bullock won their Orange County child custody case concerning James' five year old daughter shortly before Christmas.

According to celebrity news site TMZ, even though the couple live in Orange County their divorce papers were filed in Austin, Texas, Bullock's hometown. In an effort to conceal the couple's identity, TMZ reports that the papers identify Bullock and James only by their initials, which are reversed (i.e. B.A.S. for Sandra Annette Bullock instead of S.A.B.).

The public collapse of the Bullock-James marriage began shortly after their Orange County child custody court victory as word of serial infidelities by James, 41, surfaced earlier this year. He later entered rehab and issued a public apology to Bullock, 45, who, until now, has remained silent about the state of her marriage.

Few marriages, of course, end in as public and as messy a way as has been the case for Bullock and James. Still, their split holds lessons for the rest of us. Anyone considering an Orange County divorce could do well to emulate the careful, methodical way that Bullock has, according to numerous media reports, approached the dissolution of her marriage. An experienced and compassionate Orange County divorce lawyer can be your most important ally as you seek to navigate the family court system while protecting both your assets and your family.

LifeLineLive: Sandra Bullock divorce papers discovered in Austin

People: EXCLUSIVE: Sandra Bullock has Filed for Divorce

The Orange County divorce of actress Jodie Sweetin and now-former husband Cody Herpin became final last week, according to media reports. Sweetin rose to fame as a child star on the late 80s/early 90s TV series "Full House". In recent years she has admitted to struggling with drug and alcohol problems, according to a report by television station WBGH.

According to E! Online, the couple married three years ago, after dating for just two months. Their daughter turned two this month. Media reports indicate the actress has been ordered to pay her former husband $600 per month in Orange County child support. According to E!, the couple have also agreed to Orange County joint custody of their child, a request granted last week by the judge at their hearing in Orange County Superior Court.

"Cody and I try to get along the best we can for Zoie's sake," Sweeten recently told E! News in a remark that was difficult to square with some of the accusations leveled against her during the proceedings. The successful divorce settlement followed a period of bitter legal conflict between the two during which Herpin sought sole custody and claimed Sweetin had driven drunk with the child in her car, according to WBGH.

Sweetin's Orange County divorce offers a reminder of a number of issues other couples considering an Orange County divorce would do well to consider. Child custody and visitation questions can often become the subject of heated disputes. Having an experienced Orange County divorce attorney in your corner is the best way to guarantee that your rights are protected throughout the process. It is an unfortunate fact of life that California divorce is an adversarial process that can often become difficult and emotional. An Orange County divorce lawyer can be your best defense against unfair accusations designed to drive a wedge between you and your children.

E! Online: Jodie Sweetin's Sour Marriage in the Books

WBGH TV.com: Sweetin's Divorce Finalized

A recent Washington Post article detailed a shocking father's rights and custody case that is attracting nationwide attention by pitting Utah and Virginia courts against one another. At its most basic level this tragic story is a reminder to California and Orange County fathers of the need for strong representation when they seek to assert their parental rights.

According to the Post, John Wyatt was stunned to find that his girlfriend, after giving birth, had given their baby girl up for adoption without telling him. In trying to stop the procedure Wyatt ran into trouble at the hospital. Officials there allegedly lied when Wyatt and his mother made it to the hospital and enquired about the child. The hospital allegedly denied that the mother and baby were at the facility although hospital records show they were. The child, named Baby Emma in court documents, is now 14 months old. She was adopted by a couple in Utah a few days after being born and taken there when she was approximately two weeks old.

As the newspaper notes, Utah's family laws are strongly stacked against unmarried fathers. "Lawyers cite at least 10 recent cases in which babies were taken to or born in Utah and adopted without an out-of-state father's consent," the Post reports. In Baby Emma's case, a Virginia court (Wyatt's home state) has awarded him custody of the girl (whom he has never seen), but Virginia officials say they are unable to enforce the decree. A Utah court ignored the Virginia ruling and gave temporary custody to the adoptive parents. Wyatt is appealing. The Utah Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in the case next month.

Baby Emma's case is a reminder of how important it is for fathers to move aggressively to protect their rights in Orange County child custody cases. An Orange County child custody and adoption attorney can offer valuable advice on father's rights and how they vary from state to state. Custody and father's rights cases can often be complicated by the vastly different ways in which different states treat these issues. An experienced and detail-oriented California father's rights attorney can be your most important ally in your effort to maintain a deep and substantive relationship with your child.

Washington Post: 'Baby Emma' case puts state adoption laws between father, child

A recent news item from Utah presents one of the odder cases of child custody fraud in recent memory. According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, a couple are in custody after allegedly forging documents to gain legal custody of their two grandchildren: a two year old and an infant, aged only four months.

According to the Tribune, the children's parents are separated. The accused couple are the paternal grandparents. The case began to unfold in mid-February when the children left home for what their mother thought would be an overnight visit to the grandparents. She could not, however, reach them the following day. Upon contacting the police she discovered that, unbeknownst to her, a court had awarded custody of her children to the grandparents. The children continued to live with the grandparents for the next several weeks. During that time the grandparents did not allow the mother to see them. Reviewing court papers associated with the child custody decision, the mother's attorney found a document supposedly signed by the mother in which she relinquished her parental rights to the grandparents. The document was a forgery and the paper reports that the court then moved swiftly to reverse its earlier decision. In the meantime, the grandparents took the children, closed up their house and left Utah, telling neighbors they were moving to California.

Police eventually located the couple in Las Vegas where, the newspaper says, the grandmother "told investigators they would not return the children." Police eventually convinced her to reveal her location, after which Nevada child services took custody of the kids. The grandparents returned to Utah and turned themselves in.

Aside from a number of obvious How-Could-This-Have-Happened questions (such as: how did the Utah court wind up accepting a forged document concerning something as serious and unusual as a mother surrendering her parental rights to two small children?) this case - though highly unusual - is a useful reminder for all of us here in California of the importance of careful, detail-oriented representation by an Orange County child custody lawyer at the earliest stages of any Southern California child visitation and custody dispute.

An Orange County custody and visitation attorney can help you make a clear-eyed assessment of your circumstances, determining whether a developing separation or California divorce runs the risk of child abduction or California parental alienation. The earlier in the process you seek legal advice, the better the chances are that potential problems can be identified and addressed before they reach a critical stage.

Salt Lake City Tribune: Grandparents accused of forging papers to get custody of grandkids

Shortly after a happy day, as he received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, actor Dennis Hopper's increasingly bitter divorce case was back in court last week. As my colleague Winiviere Sy has previously noted, the Hopper case is as contentious as it is complex. In the latest twist, a Los Angeles family court judge has awarded spousal and child support, ruled the star's wife and daughter can keep living in the family compound and urged everyone involved to speed things up, according to the CBC.

Hopper is suffering from cancer, and his attorney has described the actor as "terminally ill". The 73-year old Hopper filed for a Southern California divorce from his wife of 14 years in January. The latest ruling by a Los Angeles divorce court judge allows his estranged wife to continue living in a family compound along with the couple's 7 year old daughter, and required the actor to pay her $12,000 per month in support, according to the television network.

Hopper's contentious California divorce is a reminder of how important it is to have an experienced Orange County divorce attorney in your corner from the very beginning of any Los Angeles or Orange County divorce and child custody proceeding.

Judges in California child custody disputes are required to act "in the best interests of the child." It was precisely this standard that the judge in the Hopper case invoked last week when noting that, for the 7 year old, "having her extended family in a war with her mother is not in her best interests." This, and the advanced state of the actor's illness, prompted the judge's admonition to all sides, calling for a speedier, less combative, proceeding.

An Orange County divorce attorney can offer invaluable advice, working to see that your case never reaches so contentious a stage - or that if it does, that your interests are aggressively defended. Protecting your relationship with your children should be a key element of any California divorce and custody settlement. In many respects, Dennis Hopper's story is an example of the sort of proceeding most divorcing couples hope to avoid. An experienced Southern California divorce lawyer will do everything possible to spare you that sort of trauma.

CBC: Hopper, family urged to settle divorce quickly

A ruling is expected Tuesday in a contentious case testing the role of religion in divorce and child custody disputes, and the extent to which courts can involve themselves in religious observances, according to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune.

The divorce of Joseph and Rebecca Reyes began receiving national attention last year after Joseph, the father, violated a court order by having the couple's daughter baptized in a Roman Catholic church. Rebecca Reyes is Jewish, has full custody of their 3 year old, and says that prior to their break-up Joseph had converted to Judaism and agreed that the child would be raised in the Jewish faith. According to the Los Angeles Times, a judge hearing their case refused last month to issue a temporary injunction that would have allowed Joseph Reyes to take the girl to church on Easter Sunday.

By all accounts the Reyes case has become particularly bitter. Joseph Reyes claims that Rebecca has only made religion an issue out of spite. Rebecca Reyes' attorneys, speaking to the Times, accused Joseph Reyes of using religion "to deflect attention from the father's lack of financial support and parenting skills."

All of which places the courts in a difficult situation. Joseph Reyes contends that America's traditional separation of church and state makes any court ruling on his daughter's religion unconstitutional. Scholars studying the case are not as certain. Eugene Volokh, a first amendment expert at the University of California, told the Tribune that courts, as a rule, can only intervene in a child's religious upbringing if "the religious conflict" between the two parents "puts that child at risk." How risk is determined - especially when it concerns the emotional, as opposed to physical, well-being of the child is a complex matter and is subject to wide interpretation.

California and Orange County child custody cases are emotionally charged under the best of circumstances, making a situation such as the one in which the Reyes' find themselves difficult for outsiders even to imagine. An Orange County divorce attorney with extensive experience in California child custody disputes can be your most important ally if you find yourself facing a difficult and contentious custody situation. Parents - even non-custodial parents - have the right to a significant role in their children's upbringing. A Los Angeles or Orange County custody and visitation attorney can help you protect those rights.

Chicago Tribune: Religion used as a weapon in divorce

Los Angeles Times: Child custody and religion

The Los Angeles Dodgers 2010 season got off to a rocky start yesterday with an 11-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates (here in Orange County, the Anaheim Angels had a better opening Day - winning 6-3). As the players settle in for a long summer of baseball, however, uncertainty hangs over the team in the form of the California divorce proceedings of owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie.

News of the couple's impending Southern California divorce broke just as the 2009 season was winding down, and has been an unfortunate feature of California baseball talk throughout the winter. As the players prepared for Opening Day, Los Angeles divorce court officials say a date has been set for the divorce trial. According to ABC News, the couple's case is scheduled to be heard in a California divorce court beginning August 30. The network, quoting a court official, reports that the trial is expected to last 11 days.

According to the Associated Press, Jamie McCourt is seeking temporary spousal support of $1 million per month. Frank McCourt's lawyers say he can't afford that because much of his money is tied up in real estate (and, therefore, is relatively illiquid). They have reportedly offered Jamie $150,000 per month.

According to media reports the Dodgers are likely to be a key issue in the McCourt divorce. Frank McCourt says a marital agreement signed in 2004 gives him sole ownership of the team. His lawyers contend that takes the franchise out of the mix in any computation of California community property. Baseball fans have spent the winter wondering if the struggle over ownership will leave the Dodgers front office essentially adrift as the 2010 season progresses - particularly if the divorce proceeding lead, one way or another, to the team being put up for sale.

On a more mundane level, debate over the marital agreement highlights the complexities that accompany any California divorce - complexities that underscore the need for an experienced and detail-oriented Los Angeles or Orange County divorce lawyer. This is true regardless of how large or small a settlement you hope to negotiate. Navigating the California family court system is never easy. Having a skilled Orange County divorce attorney on your side can, however, smooth the journey, even as it helps assure that you get everything you deserve as part of the negotiation of an Orange County divorce settlement.

ABC News.com: August trial slated in McCourt divorce case

AP at Huffington Post: McCourt divorce: Jamie McCourt seeks nearly $1 million per month

It is not an aspect of health care reform one heard debated endlessly on cable news or in the blogosphere, but some experts believe the legislation recently signed into law by President Barack Obama will make it easier for some couples to get divorced. This unexpected development is a reminder of the important role an Orange County divorce attorney can play in guiding you through a complex and confusing system, one many are forced to navigate at a vulnerable time in life.

A recent article at The Huffington Post told the story of a couple who, though separated for years, have avoided getting a California divorce for insurance reasons. The pair split up in 2004, but have remained legally married because the wife has health issues that would make her uninsurable in the private market. By keeping the marriage alive, at least on paper, she has been able to remain on her 'husband's' insurance, though the situation has denied her the opportunity to move on with her life.

She, and others like her, may be able to benefit from an interim high risk insurance pool that the legislation requires the federal Department of Health and Human Services to set up within three months, according to Huffington Post. The key word there is 'may'. Like many aspects of the sweeping bills signed into law late last month it remains unclear how the federal interim high risk pool may work in practice (it is intended as a stopgap measure until state high risk pools are fully up and running). If the pool does not work out for the California couple cited by the article they might have to remain nominally together until 2014, when the legislation's ban on denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions comes into full effect.

Every case, of course is unique (in recent months other media reports have touched on couples who were forced into divorce because of medical bills). More than anything else this story is a reminder of the complexities of California divorce law, and the importance of having an experienced Orange County divorce lawyer on your side to help guide you through what can sometimes seem like a legal maze. In addition to standing up for you during Orange County divorce settlement and child custody negotiations your Southern California divorce attorney can offer valuable advice regarding the effect your divorce will have on financial and other personal affairs.

Huffington Post: Will health care reform finally let us get that divorce?