Custody Evaluation

July 26, 2020

How to handle the family law court system during the pandemic of Covid 19

In recent months the Orange County Court system has gone through some very drastic and revolutionary changes on how to manage Court hearings and trials. The old method of in person hearings in front of a Judge are a thing of the past for now. Orange County has implemented the video conference through the internet as the prime means of hearing cases for the parties. Judges can take evidence and testimony while the parties are online and on a video chat mode. There are several means of doing this already being used by the Orange County Court system. Primarily Judges use Webex. An alternative to Zoom meetings. In addition some judges use Microsoft meetings. If you find yourself unable to use any of these methods of communication used by the courts then there are alternatives to consider. Please read further for the non video way to resolve your family law case.

For those facing divorce, custody issues, post judgment issues, or any family matter, there are alternatives to consider.

Mediation is a process in which the parties hire a neutral individual who has been trained, and certified as a mediator to help them reach a resolution. In family law cases, the mediator is typically someone who has had significant experience practicing family law, or may be a retired family court judge. The mediator does not advocate for either party nor does the mediator give legal advice.. After the parties reach an agreement, the mediator typically prepares an agreement and advises the parties to seek their own separate lawyers to review the agreement, and make sure it is fair for both of them. Then, one of the parties will typically have their attorneys provide the agreement to the court, and in the case of the divorce, obtain the official judgment of divorce. In certain cases, such as ones in which there are complex issues, mediation will be conducted with each person having their own attorney participate as well.

March 18, 2020

Corona virus and the effect on child custody cases

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

people would still need to comply with court orders.

“Talk to the other party, and if you cannot talk to them, try and communicate via a third party to work out a sensible resolution,” Ms Beckhouse said. “These are really stressful, unusual times and children are under enormous stress, and the best thing people can do right now is keep things as conflict-free as possible.

September 17, 2019

ADELE DIVORCE

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Singer, Adele, has filed for divorce from her husband, Simon Konecki. She plans to co-parent their son, Angelo, age 6. This is a major child custody issue that is the forefront of their divorce.

The singer, who filed for divorce from her estranged husband in Los Angeles, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

Spousal support, as well as the separation of their assets and properties, will be determined in mediation, according to the documents. Support can be long term financial concern for parties during a long term marriage so hopefully that part of the divorce can be settled during the mediation process

According to several media outlets, it is believed that she and Konecki did not sign a Prenuptial Agreement prior to the marriage. This could mean any property acquired by the parties during the marriage will be divided through community property laws. One of the benefits of signing a Prenuptial Agreement prior to getting married is to protect your separate property assets. Another benefit is that if you plan to be married for a long time, you have the ability to set limitations on how much spousal support or alimony will be paid out depending on the length of the marriage. Usually people that have been successful will have a prenuptial agreement written prior to the marriage to ensure her long term royalties do not become split among the parties. Even so Adele could have attempted to draft a post nuptial agreement is she so wished to protected what she had made thus far from her lucrative career and protect all the royalties that she made and would make in the future.

According to California law, in the event of a divorce, in a marriage of ten years or less, the recipient of spousal support is entitled to spousal support for one-half of the length of the marriage. So, for instance, if a couple marries and divorces after 8 years of marriage, the recipient of spousal support will only be entitled to spousal support for a period of only 4 years.

Another interesting issue that has come up in Adele’s divorce filing is that she chose to file for divorce in California. Adele also is a British citizen so going back to England to file a divorce would not be out of the question. She could make things really difficult with custody issues as well by dividing the child between the two countries. However she did not do this. Apparently, the former couple own property in California and Konecki’s business is based out of California. This brings up residency issues. You cannot simply file a divorce petition based on the fact that you own property in that State. In order to obtain residence in California, you must have been a resident of the state for at least 6 months and in the county where you intend to for for at least 3 months. I believe Adele lives somewhere in Beverly Hills so if that is the case, she could file her Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in California and in Los Angeles County provided she meets the residency requirements.

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May 21, 2019

Mother of Nipsey Hussle’s 10-year-old daughter wants child ‘back in her life’ amid guardianship battle

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

nipsey-hussele-300x223 Nipsey Hussle sadly passed a few months ago from gun shot wounds. He left behind a daughter whom is now resides with the family of Nipsey Hussle. A Petition for guardianship has been filed in Court by Nipsey’s sister. A Guardianship works similarly like a child custody action in family law court. The Court uses the best interest standard to determine what is best for the child. It is similar to a family court proceeding.

Tanisha Foster is the biological mother of Nipsey’s child. Nipsey Hussle’s sister Samantha Smith filed a petition for guardianship over Nipsey’s daughter, was assigned to a different judge for an initial hearing Friday afternoon.

The judge cleared the courtroom and allowed the mother and daughter to spend 20 minutes together alone in the gallery. Foster wiped away tears as she left the emotional reunion.

April 28, 2019

Child Custody invesitgations are meant to be confidential even for Lawyers

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Psychological evaluations of children are confidential. A recent case has come down in California that enforces the idea of confidentialty and the importance of keeping information gotten from a investigation secret. All of this comes from the importances of keeping our children safe from attorneys and the divorcing parties or child custody litigants who are so angry with each other that they will do anything to destroy each others reputation and credibility.

Sadly child custody investigations are really a result of the vicious lawsuits that are filed blaming the other parent of atrocities worse than warfare. The lack of civility has created an area of family law that has become so often used and abused by litigants that we lose site of our children and their needs and concerns. We forget they are lost in the craziness of the parents and their vicious accusations upon one anther without any merit usually.

“Confidential information contained in a report prepared pursuant to Section 3111 that is disclosed to the licensing entity of a child custody evaluator pursuant to subdivision (a) shall remain confidential and shall only be used for purposes of investigating allegations of unprofessional conduct by the child custody evaluator.” This means that the legislature of the State of California takes the child custody investigation so serious that the actual evaluator is held up to a very high standard of confidence about their report. The protection of the children or child is so high that any release of any information will be dealt with as the utmost breach of trust by the Court of Law. This results again from the seriousness of the child custody litigants who are foaming at the mouth to deface the other parent at any cost. They will do whatever it takes to take down the sanctity of parenthood and any good the other parent might offer the children. It just doesnt matter anymore the gloves are off and the boxing match starts.

April 26, 2019

Adele’s divorce and the consequence of no prenuptial agreement

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

adele-parenting-trick-t-300x180 News of Adele’s impending divorce from her husband Simon Konecki was a surprise to many, and many more were surprised that the star and her husband had not signed a pre-nuptial agreement. Under California law, Konecki may be entitled to up to half of the singer’s earnings from the time they were married. If they choose to file in California, where they own significant property and Konecki has an office for his company, the pair might have to split everything evenly. Adele has already gifted Konecki a property worth over $600,000, which some see as an indication that the split may be amicable. Adele herself said in a Vanity Fair interview that money is “not that important a part of my life.”

The lack of a pre-nup may seem unusual in the cynical climate of Hollywood’s almost contractual atmosphere surrounding relationships and even marriage. There is a perception that pre-nups are a fact of life, and that all wealthy people have them. In fact, only around 5% of married couples have pre-nups, and only 15% of divorcees say they regret not having had one. There are obvious caveats – Steven Spielberg found out the hard way that pre-nuptial agreements need to be an actual legal document, a literal back-of-the-napkin mistake that cost him a $100 million settlement. Both sides need appropriate counsel and a thorough accounting of their assets, which can make the cost of a pre-nup financially impractical for some.

The other side of the debate over pre-nups is emotional, grounded in a perception that such a document, or even the desire to sign one, is inviting the relationship to fail, tempting fate, or making it easier to get out of. It can even be seen as an indication that there is no trust in the relationship. The reality is, a pre-nup is an important legal tool, one which can be used to protect family assets, ease transitions, and hold individuals accountable. In a climate where up to 50% of marriages end in divorce, a pre-nup can be invaluable.

October 15, 2017

Domestic violence used as a defense to move away order

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

The question must be asked as in all move away cases is the reason for the move away a motive separate than other reasons given for the move away request. Often the move away if fought with anterior motives and seems to be almost always done so based on my experience. Although parties in the move away process claim, family, jobs, friends are the sole motivating forces generating the move. But are they? I truly believe in most case the move away is done to alienate the other parent from their children. I have not had a case where it did not come up that the moving party was in a very contentious custody dispute and the other party just got up and left the state. Dont tell me this was to find a better job and to go live with mommy and daddy in another state because things were better there. I dont believe it at all. This is where I really disagree with most court rulings with move away orders given by superior court judges who always seem to side the with he primary custodian of the children. Although the argument that child needs stability and has bonded with one parent already and the courts do not want to disrupt this stable status quo relationship they in effect has left behind a parent without any connnection to their child so that one parent can go on with their life and leave the other parent helpless and without child. This cannot happen anymore and needs to be addressed seriously by the superior court family law bench of all united states.

In one case in particuar case Bruce v Jennifer an Alaskan superior court case involving Domestic violence and child custody move away issues brings to a forefront the anterior motives of a party while trying to hoodwink the court to get what they want which is full custody of the child and to escape dodge with the kid and tearing the bond from the other parent in half as a result of Courts blessings.

The appellant in the Michigan move away case alleged on appeal that Jennifer had committed domestic violence in a prior relationship which would assist Bruce the father in alleging giving her sole physical custody was not in the best interest of the child. The court stated, in full:Regarding the accusation that [Jennifer] hit her boyfriend, there is no time frame associated with this alleged incident

October 8, 2017

Keshia Cole may be paying spousal support in her latest custody battle

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Earlier this week, we reported that Daniel “Booby” Gibson, was requesting full custody and spousal support from his estranged wife Keshia Cole. As you can imagine the internet did not approve of the request. Not only because the two seemed to have a healthy co-parenting relationship but also because as a former NBA player, Gibson doesn’t need any of Keshia’s money…or he shouldn’t, anyway. This idea that a spouse that earns more money should not in any way ask the other spouse to pay their share of spousal support is very interesting. As an ex NBA player he should not be banned from requesting from Keshi Cole that she pay Spousal support. The law is gender neutral and in order to respect the law The Court must take into all accounts the income and need of both parties as part of the divorce proceedings.

When the news hit the internet, folks felt a way.

Later, Gibson’s lawyer released a statement saying that making requests for the worst case scenario was common practice in family law.

July 10, 2017

Lisa Marie Presley and her juvenile dependency case

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Priscilla Presley was spotted out for the first time with her daughter Lisa Marie’s twins with Michael lockwood after admitting that the girls were in her car amid a bitter custody battle. Lisa Marie is in the process of separating from ex Michael Lockwood after she reportedly found disturbing footage of their 8-year-old girls leading to her allegations of child abuse. “Let me put this to rest … the girls have not been in foster care and never will be. The girls have been with me and will be until all this is sorted out,” Priscilla wrote in a post. It is curious to know if juvenile dependency proceedings have opened up if the child were found in foster care. Often once your children are taken from you often find yourself in a juvenile court and welfare and institution code section 300 being used to start a juvenile case.

Priscilla Presley has confirmed that she’s caring for her young grandchildren as the twins’ father faces shocking abuse allegations sparking questions about why Lisa Marie wasn’t given custody of the girls. Often it is not uncommon for children to be removed from both parents if a juvenile case has opened up. Removal of all the children is also a common practice in juvenile dependency court.

“In situations where you know that a parent is doing something that’s threatening to children, you as the other parent have an affirmative obligation to act to protect those children – if you don’t, those children can be detained from both parents,” Greg Girvan, an L.A.-based attorney and certified family law specialist who is not involved in the Presley case, tells PEOPLE.

Lisa Marie the daughter of Priscilla and Elvis Presley made the abuse allegations against her estranged husband, Michael Lockwood, in court papers filed earlier this month. She claimed that Lockwood is the subject of criminal investigations involving hundreds of inappropriate photos of children that authorities found on his electronic devices.

July 9, 2017

Jessie Williams custody battle continues

by Law Offices of David P. Schwarz

Jessie Williams’ hoped for an amicable divorce but it has disappeard sooner that he wanted it to. Now he finds himself in a nasty custody fight with his estranged wife.

The “Grey’s Anatomy” star filed docs saying he went above and beyond to informally handle custody issues with Aryn Drake-Lee. Often celebrity divorces can be very difficult to resolve so that the celebrity can be an equal participant in the raising of their child with the ex. Because of the schedule of acting and filming they cannot enter into a normal custody arrangement. But they need a schedule that fitsl their career. Jesse filed for divorce back in April and we were told things were civil. But Jesse says it’s now turned into a legal war. Often one parent can feel entitlted to be the primary parent and doesnt want to give up control of the children. However, it is important to give frequent and continuing contact with the children.

Jesse is asking to get more time with 3-year-old Sadie and 2-year-old Maceo, claiming Aryn only lets him see them shy of 3 hours a day and she refuses to allow sleepovers. This type of behavior often befits an alienator parent who seeks to brain wash the children away from the other parent. It can be a significant impairment toward a normal healthy parental time with the other parent. A mental health professional often can help if it is in time and the children have not grown to old. A child custody evaluation would be the correct use of a expert.