Family Law Attorneys Orange County California

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, Irvine 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 Entities | Immigration & Naturalization

Yanez & Associates Areas of Practice

Yanez & Associates Areas of Practice

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.

• Child Custody - Custody of Minor Children

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 joint legal 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. 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 Administration 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.

 

Nonprofit

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.

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.

• Profit

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: California Family Law Attorney Disclaimer