|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Anaheim Divorce Lawyer, Family Law Attorney; Personal Injury Lawyer
|
We serve our clients in Anaheim,
Corona, Orange County, Placentia, Riverside
County, Riverside, Fullerton, Brea, Yorba Linda, Orange, Santa
Ana, Norwalk, Buena Park, Chino, La Habra, La Mirada, Diamond
Bar, La
Habra, Tustin,
Irvin and more...
Our family law, immigration; personal injury practice areas
include: Divorce | Spousal
Support |Personal Injury| Annulment | Legal
Separation | Property Settlement |Permarital
Agreements | Restraining Orders | Child
Custody | Visitation
Rights | Paternity | Grandparent's
Rights | Adoptions | Modifications |Child
Support | Wills, Trusts & Estates | Guardianships |
Conservatorships | Estate
Administration | Business Entites | Immigration & Naturalization
|
|
Family
Law Issues:
- Divorce - "Uncontested
vs. Contested" - one where the spouses can reach a decision
as to the terms of
the divorce without going to trial. Uncontested
divorces move much faster through the court system and are therefore
less expensive.
- Spousal
Support (Alimony) - in the past
been known as "alimony".
Spousal support is not mandatory
in most states. However, if
the circumstances are such that a spouse will face hardships
if he or she does
not receive financial support after the divorce,
than spousal support should be considered.
- Annulment -
is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void.
Annulment differs from divorce
where the court ends an otherwise
legal marriage on a specific date.
- Legal
Separation - is a possible step towards divorce under
United States law. A couple are legally
separated if they have
successfully
petitioned a court to recognize their separation; simply living
apart
does not constitute separation for these purposes. A period
of legal separation constitutes grounds for
divorce; the length
of that period varies from state to state.
Legal separation does not automatically lead to divorce. The
couple may reconcile, in which case they
need do nothing in order
to remain married. If they do not reconcile, and wish to divorce
after the statutory
time period, they must file for divorce explicitly.
- Property
Settlement - Community
Property and Separate Property - California, is a community
property
state. This means that both the husband and wife are
deemed to equally own all money earned by either
one of them
from the beginning of the marriage until the date of separation.
- Premarital
Agreements -
Pre-Marital Agreements (also called "pre-nuptial" or "ante-nuptial
agreements")
are binding legal contracts between you and
the one you intend to marry.
Among the purposes people have in wanting such written agreements
is to try to ensure that their
assets remain theirs if the marriage
fails, to provide that their assets, or at least a large portion
of
them, go to their children in the event of death, and to work
out arrangements for matters that may
become problems after the
marriage. For some, it is a smart and practical way to acknowledge
the
fact that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.
- Restraining
Orders - An order from a court directing one person not to
do something, such as make
contact with another person, enter
the family home or remove a child from the state. Restraining
orders
are typically issued in cases in which spousal abuse or
stalking is feared -- or has occurred -- in an attempt
to ensure
the victim's safety. Restraining orders are also commonly issued
to cool down ugly disputes
between neighbors.
Personal Injury - It can be rough to establish a dollar amount on injuries you endured in an accident.
There are so many issues to consider, the time lost from work, medical costs for ongoing injuries, doctor's
bills, your pain and suffering … etc. Insurance companies consider all these issues when determining on how much to offer in order to settle your case.
|
|
Children's
Issues:
|
|
- Sole Physical Custody: Sole physical custody means the children shall
reside with and under the supervision of one parent, subject to the
power of the court to approve the parent's plan for visitation rights
granted to the other parent.
|
- Joint
Physical Custody: Joint physical custody means that each of
the parents shall have significant periods of physical custody. In
other words, the physical custody of the children shall be such that
both parents have more or less continuing contact with the children.
|
- Sole Legal Custody: Sole legal custody means that one parent shall
have the right and the
responsibility to make decisions relating to
the health, education and welfare of the children,
subject of course
to the visitation rights of the other parent. Although courts favor
joint legal
custody, sole legal custody continues to be the leading
type of custody for most children when
there is a marital breakup.
|
- Joint Legal Custody: Joint
legal custody means that both parents share the right and the responsibility
to
make decisions relating to the health,
education and welfare of the children. The law presumes
that joint
legal custody is in the best interest of the minor children when
the parents
have agreed
to jointlegal custody and submitted a workable "parenting
plan." However, joint legal custody is
not for everyone. It requires
the parents to cooperate and lay aside all differences for the benefit
and
interest of the children.
|
- Visitation
Rights
- right to see a child regularly, typically awarded by the court to the parent
who does
not have physical custody of the child. The court will deny visitation
rights only if it decides that visitation
would hurt the child so much that the
parent should be kept away.
- Paternity -
the social and legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship
between a father and
his child.
At
common law, a child born to the wife during the marriage is presumed
to be the husband's child,
as determined by law. This
well-settled concept is the "presumption of lawful paternity",
and assigns
to the husband complete rights, duties and obligations
as
to the child, regardless of whether he is
the biological parent
or not. The presumption, however, can be rebutted by evidence
to the contrary,
at least before a court issues a formal adjudication
of paternity in the husband's favor, or a duty of
support is
established by a decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation. Jurisdictions
differ widely
on whether, when, and under what circumstances
a judgment establishing paternity or a support
obligation founded
on the presumption
can be set aside on the grounds that the husband was not
in fact
the father.
In the case of an unwed mother a man may come forward and accept
the paternity of the child, the mother
may petition the court for
a determination if she can identify the likely candidate(s) or paternity
can be determined by estoppel over time.
- Grandparent's
Right -
All states have some type of "grandparent
visitation" statute through which
grandparents and sometimes
others can ask
a court to grant them the legal right to maintain their
relationships with loved children. But state laws vary greatly when it comes
to the crucial details, such
as who can visit and under what
circumstances.
- Adoptions -
the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or
parents other than the birth
parents. Adoption results in the
severing of the parental responsibilities and rights of the biological
parents
and the placing
of those responsibilities and rights
onto the adoptive parents. After the finalization of an adoption,
there
is little or no legal difference between biological and
adopted children.
Different jurisdictions have varying laws on adoption and post-adoption.
Some practice confidential or
closed adoption, preventing further
contact between the adopted person and the biological parents,
while others have varying degrees of open adoption, which may
allow such contact. However, an
underreported fact is that open
adoptions are not legally enforceable agreements in many jurisdictions[1].
I.e., an open adoption may be closed at any time for any reason.
- Modifications -
Visitation may be modified at any time in which a drastic change
in conduct or
circumstances involving the parents can be demonstrated.
Permanent modifications may be implemented, however, temporary
suspension is also an option. In order to modify visitation arrangements,
the party
in favor of such must file an order with the court
presenting clear evidence of the change in conduct or circumstances.
Typically, this evidence must be completely new to the court.
Any issues addressed
previously in any prior proceedings are
not grounds for modification. The following are some of the
most
common factors that are generally the cause for successful modification
of visitation arrangements:
- Chronic non-obedience with the visitation schedule.
- Repeated failure to return the child at the designated time.
- The teaching of immoral and/or illegal acts to the child.
- The parent's conviction of a crime.
|
- Child
Support - Child support is mandatory in all actions involving minor
children. Petitioners with
minor children must include an order for
child support, even if the other parent is unemployed or
cannot be found.
|
|
Probate
litigation:
- Wills, Trusts and Estates - "living
trust"- A trust created for the trustor and administered
by another
party while the trustor is still alive. A living trust
can be either revocable or irrevocable. A living trust avoids
probate and therefore gets assets distributed significantly more
quickly than a will does. It also offers a
higher level of confidentiality,
as probate proceedings are a matter of public record. Additionally,
trusts are usually harder to contest than wills. On the downside,
a living trust takes longer to put
together than a will, and
requires more ongoing maintenance. Although both a will and a
living trust can be modified or revoked at any time before death,
such changes are slightly more time-consuming for a
living trust. Additionally, assets that a person wants to move to a living
trust, such as real estate and
bank or brokerage accounts, have
to be retitled.
-
Guardianships -
Guardianship is established by a court order. The court grants
the guardian
authority and responsibility to act
on behalf of another person. The relationship is FIDUCIARY,
which means
that the guardian is obliged to act in the
best interests of the ward. The court supervises the guardian
to assure proper
actions on behalf of the ward. An individual
may
serve as guardian of a minor or of an incapacitated
person.
|
- Conservatorships -
Unlike a guardian, a conservator has no power or responsibility over
the
individual.
Only the money and property falls within the conservator's
jurisdiction.
A conservator has power to invest
funds of the estate and to distribute
sums reasonably necessary for the support, care, education or benefit
of the protected
person and any legal dependents of the protected person.
|
|
- Estate
Adminsitration Matters - The court-supervised
distribution of the probate estate of a
deceased person. If there is
a will that names an executor, that person manages the distribution.
If not, the court appoints someone, who is generally known as the administrator.
In some states,
the person is called the "personal representative" in
either instance.
|
|
Small
Business Entities:
- Partnerships - the control, responsibility and finances; this could be one
other or several people, thus
reducing the overall input one individual
will give to the business.
|
|
Formation
Corporations
|
| |
- A. A corporation organized primarily for charitable
purposes and which plans to obtain state tax
exempt status under Section
23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code and/or federal tax exempt
status
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or organized to act
as a civic league or
a social welfare organization and which plans to obtain
state tax exempt status under Section 23701f
of the Revenue and Taxation
Code and/or federal tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(4)
of the Internal
Revenue Code is a nonprofit PUBLIC BENEFIT corporation. 5
|
- B. A corporation for other than religious, charitable,
civic league or social welfare purposes and
planning to obtain tax exempt
status under provisions other than Sections 23701d, 23701f,
501(c)(4) or
not planning to be tax exempt at all is a nonprofit MUTUAL BENEFIT corporation.
|
- C. A corporation organized to operate a church or
to be otherwise structured for primarily religious purposes is a nonprofit
RELIGIOUS corporation.
|
| |
- The Corporations Section is responsible for examining,
processing, filing and maintaining
documents related to the existence
and structure of California domestic corporations and
foreign (out of
state
or country) corporations qualified to transact business in California.
|
- C corporations get taxed on profits at corporate
rates, and dividends
are taxed to the shareholders. S corporations and LLCs (when approved
by IRS, which approval is generally not hard to get) are taxed at
personal rates, form 1040, Schedule C.
|
|
- subject to formal requirements,
e.g., annual reports,
board of director meetings, etc. S corporations also, possibly to a
lesser extent. LLCs are exempt from these requirements, at least in
many states.
|
|
- S corporations are limited to 35 shareholders, and
to domestic
capitalization. LLCs are not so limited, at least in many states.
|
|
- Limited
liability companies (LLC)- generally
provide more accounting flexibility than
either C or S corporations.
|
|
Immigration
and Naturalization:
|
- Lawful
Permanent - A "green card" gives you official immigration
status (Lawful Permanent Residency)
in the United states.
A lawful
permanent resident is a foreign national who has been granted the privilege
of permanently
living and working in the United States. If you want
to become a lawful permanent resident based on the fact that you have
a relative who is a citizen of the United States or a relative who
is a lawful permanent resident, you must go through a multi-step process.
|
- Residency - If you want to become a lawful permanent resident based on the
fact that you have a relative
who is a citizen of the United States
or a relative who is a lawful permanent resident, you must go through
a multi-step process.
|
1. the USCIS must approve an immigrant visa petition
|
2. the Department of State must determine if an immigrant
visa number is immediately available to you, the foreign
national, even if you are already in the United States. When an immigrant
visa
number becomes
immediately available to you, it means that you can apply
to have one of the immigrant visa numbers assigned to you.
|
3. if you are already in the United States, you may
apply to change your status to that of a lawful permanent resident after
a visa number becomes available for you. This is one way you can apply
to secure an immigrant visa number.
|
- Visas - A nonresident alien is issued a visa allowing entry into the
U.S. However, Canadian and Mexican
visitors may be allowed entry
without a visa. A nonresident alien is a non-U.S. citizen who does
not hold a Resident Alien Card.
|
- I-90 -
Replace Permanent Resident
|
- Adjustment
of Status - I am in the United States and would like to adjust
status. How do I do that?
|
- Cuban
Adjustment Act - provides for a special procedure under which Cuban
nationals or citizens, and their accompanying spouses and children,
may obtain a haven in the United States as lawful permanent residents.
|
|
Disclaimer
|
| |
© 2000
www.yanezlaw.com- All Rights Reserved
webmaster:link.website.master@gmail.com |
| |