WHAT’S THE POINT?
Divorce is one of the most emotionally draining events that can happen to someone. It also can be a financially devastating period in a person’s life.
Frequently, when people first decide to get divorced they reach out to a lawyer, and the lawyer will request anywhere from a $2,500 to $20,000 retainer. If you are in a cash-strapped position, which most people who are getting divorced are, you might be out of luck in getting the legal help you need. But there is a way, if you own a home, to access the legal system, and get the help you need.
A homeowner can place a family law attorneys lien on their community property interest in a community property home. While this does not create cash today, it does provide a measure of security for an attorney, who is then more likely to be willing to take on the case.
This is a procedure that any family law attorney should be familiar with, and if you need to get a lawyer, this is one way that might provide you with representation.
California is a community property state, which means that everything you’ve been earning, buying and accumulating is 50 percent your-soon-to-be ex-spouse’s. As a soon-to-be-divorced person, you need to know how to protect yourself through a divorce, and even more so, after the divorce.
The government likes people to be married. It promotes stability in our economy and that is good for taxes, the government’s main interest. It also means that the government is going to make it harder to get divorced than to get married. It also is more costly to get divorced than it is to get married.
If you are considering a divorce, you need to be aware of the following laws and general guidelines in California. A married person has the right to be maintained in the custom to which they have become accustomed to living, even after they are no longer married. This translates into one thing — spousal support. As a wage earner, if you make more than your spouse, you can expect to pay something in spousal support. If you make less than them, you can expect to get spousal support.
Spousal support and child support are based on guidelines, which can be overcome by agreement, but in general the guidelines are a starting place. The state guidelines are determined by a complex formula which requires a computer program to determine the amounts. The purpose of spousal support is to help the party receiving it get back on their feet and start taking care of themselves.
If you have children, you will be paying child support. It will be between 20 percent and 33 percent of your net disposable income.
As a parent who is ordered to pay child support, you must maintain your records that you have actually paid the child support due. Judgments for child support do not expire, and they do earn interest.
If you do not keep your records, at any time in the future, your ex-spouse can come into court, say you haven’t paid your support, and you will be liable unless you can prove otherwise. If you can’t prove that you have paid your child support, you will be subject to having your driver’s license suspended, your professional credentials suspended, your bank account seized, your tax refunds garnished, your lottery winnings taken and your life destroyed.
Property division is a hard area for people, but generally men get through it easier than women since they tend to take a few items and are generally willing to walk away from items that women feel are necessities. It should go easier for people, since it is a less emotionally charged area of the relationship. Although, I have had cases where people decided they wanted to fight over the smallest of items.
When you first meet with a lawyer you should make sure you have a separate set of bank statements, credit card statements, household bills, and stock portfolios to give your attorney. It’s much easier to make copies before one of you has moved out.
The credit card statements can give you a great view of where the money is going, and how much of it there is. Phone bills also are important to find out if there is a second business, or home.
If your spouse runs his or her own business, you need to know how much money it really makes. Business owners have excellent ways of hiding their income and you need to know where they are going to hide the money.
Understand that your lifestyle is going to go down. It has to. You will change friends and acquaintances, you might live somewhere different, eat in new restaurants and shop in new stores. This could be a good thing if you take this opportunity to grow and change for the better. Talk to your friends and find a good counselor who can relieve your hurt. (David Pisarra is a partner in the Santa Monica law firm of Pisarra & Grist. He (310) 664-9969 or by e-mail at)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.