What to Tell Your Children During the Divorce:

• Tell them they are not responsible for the divorce!
• Tell them both parents love them although one parent will no longer live in the home.
• Be prepared with an age appropriate answer when your child asks, “Why are you getting divorced?”
• Explain to them in as much detail as possible all the changes that might take place due to the divorce. Give your child as much time as possible to assimilate to the idea of their entire world changing. If possible, do not make huge changes overnight!
• Tell your child to come to you with any questions, concerns or fears they may have. Be a source of security for your child during this time.

What You Should Never Do During the Divorce:

• Never allow your emotions to get in the way of doing and saying what is in your child’s best interest.
• Never speak unkindly of, or degrade the other parent in front of the child. Allow your child to maintain a high level of respect for the other parent so they never feel as though they are stuck in the middle.
• Do not allow your issues with your ex-spouse to interfere with your relationship with your children. Your child deserves you to be the best parent possible, regardless of what issues you are going through with the other parent.

Parents owe it to their children to minimize the long lasting effects that divorce can have on a child. Divorcing parents need to commit to establishing a solid co-parenting relationship with one another, where every decision is centered on what is in the best interest of the child. Although the parents are not together as a couple, a child will ultimately benefit from seeing their parents remain unified in raising and making decisions for their life. This will allow the child to regain stability and security in knowing that their parents remain committed to their parental roles, even if the family unit has dissolved.

Hoang-Anh Zapien is an Associate with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Inland Empire, CA offices. She can be contacted at (909) 941-3050 or azapien@kringandchung.com.

What does “move away” mean? Any move a parent makes, whether the move is 5 miles or 5000 miles away, that disrupts the current custodial schedule in any way that is detrimental to the relationship of either parent is considered a “move away.” This may warrant a new custodial schedule being implemented or even a change of custody. Either the parent wanting to move or the other parent who is opposed to the move must file a Request for Orders with the Court to get permission to move the child, or to get orders preventing the other parent from moving the child.

When dealing with “move away” orders, the Court’s priority is always to consider what is in the best interest of the children. The Court also considers the current timeshare and how each parent is exercising their time with the children. The Court’s analysis of the situation differs based on whether the parent requesting the move has sole custody, or whether the parties share joint custody of the children.

           Sole Custody. If the parent requesting the move has sole custody of the children, that parent has the presumptive right to move. The non-custodial parent has the burden of proving to the Court that the move will be detrimental to the child and/or detrimental to his or her relationship with the child. If the non-custodial parent is able to show that the move will be detrimental to the children, the Court will likely have an evidentiary hearing to reevaluate the current custody schedule to determine if a change in custody is necessary. Otherwise, if no detriment can be shown, the child will likely be allowed to move.

           Joint Custody. If the parent requesting the move shares joint custody with the other parent, the Court presumes the move will be detrimental to the children. The Court will then hold an evidentiary hearing to determine what would be in the best interests of the children. The Court will weigh the following factors:

• Distance of the move;
• Reason for the move;
• Children’s ages;
• The length of time the current custody order has existed;
• The children’s ties and relationships to the current community in which they are living;
• The children’s relationships with both parents;
• Whether or not the moving parent will allow the child to have frequent and continuing contact with the other parent; and
• What the child wants, if they are old enough to indicate a preference.

In weighing all of these factors, Courts are often faced with the difficult decision of determining whether or not the move would be in the best interest of the child. Upon a determination of what the Court feels is most beneficial to the children, the Court will either allow the requesting parent to move the child, or the Court will make a change in custody orders as is deemed necessary to protect the well-being of the children. The Court does not make a decision as to whether or not the parent can move, but rather whether or not the parent can move the children with him or her to the new location.

Hoang Anh- Zapien is an Associate at Kring & Chung, LLP’s Inland Empire, CA office. She can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or hzapien@kringandchung.com.

A1: Ask friends, family and/or co-workers for the name(s) of local family law attorneys that have been used in the past. A person-to-person referral is always better than a cold search for the right legal advisor when dealing with the important issues that must be addressed in a divorce proceeding-even a friendly divorce.

Q2. I plan to tell my spouse that I want a divorce. Is there anything I should do to prepare myself before I do so?

A2: Make sure before uttering those words that you are 100% convinced the relationship is so broken and damaged that neither the passage of time or any type of counseling will help restore it.

Q3. My spouse has just told me that she wants a divorce. What should I do first?

A3: Remain calm! Do not allow your emotions to take control. One bad decision at the beginning of the process could have a lifetime effect on your future. Take a day or so to process what your spouse said and then seek out a referral from a trusted friend, family member or co-worker.

Q4. My spouse and I are not getting along. I am planning to move out of the home we bought 10 years ago. Is moving out a wise thing to do?

A4: If one or both spouses are unable to respect the other while under the same roof, especially if children are witnessing disrespect, anxiety and acrimony, then by all means relocate. You are not “abandoning” the property. Your property rights do not follow you; they remain with the property. Remember, the spouse who has exclusive use of the home (i.e., “the in-spouse”) will generally be responsible for making the payment(s) on the home up to the property’s “fair rental value.”

Q5. My spouse and I have been married for 7 years. We have two children. He has a business and I have a dental practice, plus we own two properties. Do you think a do-it-yourself online divorce will work for us?

A5: Only if the two of you were able to obtain your law degrees in your spare time and you understand the complexities of valuing a self-employed business and a professional practice. You only get one opportunity to obtain an equal division of the marital assets and debts. The court does not allow “do-overs.”

Q6. Our house is an “under water” property and it is the main reason my spouse and I have not moved forward with a divorce. We just cannot stand living together any longer and we want to get on with our lives. Do you have any suggestions as to how we can do so?

A6: This is a common scenario. Generally, when the lender verifies that a divorce has been filed and realizes that each borrower intends to “walk away” from the home, it is much more willing to discuss alternatives like a “short sale.” If the mortgage was a “non-recourse, purchase money” loan, the lender’s only recourse in the event of a default is to foreclose. It will not be able to obtain a money judgment against the borrowers. A home equity line of credit is different and an attorney should be consulted on how to deal with that encumbrance.

Q7. My spouse wants to use the Collaborative process for our divorce. Is there any reason why we would not want to use this process?

A7: The Collaborative process is not appropriate where the marital dynamics and relationship have been unequal. In other words, if one spouse is highly educated and the other is not. Or, where one spouse “wore the pants” in the family and the other took on a more submissive role. The spouse wishing to use this process must be confident, assertive and knowledgeable if they are to receive what they are entitled to by law. The Collaborative process does not permit either spouse to have an “advocate” on their side looking out for them. They must do this for themselves.

David L. Miller is a Partner with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Irvine, CA office. He can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or dmiller@kringandchung.com.

Wage garnishment can either be voluntary or involuntary. For example, wage garnishment is a tool that can be used to collect support from a party who is willfully evading a court order. Likewise, a parent will often stipulate to have child support garnished from their paycheck to ensure the steady delivery of child support and a clear accounting. Nevada law allows for a maximum garnishment of 50% of one’s disposable earnings for a workweek if the person against whom support is sought is “supporting a spouse or child other than a spouse or child for whom the order of support was rendered.” NRS 31.295. Disposable earnings are “that part of the earnings…after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld.” Typically this will mean a person’s net income, not their gross income.

An employer who fails to comply with a lawful garnishment order or misrepresents the earnings of a garnishee can face civil penalties under Nevada law. NRS 31.297. Nevada law offers legal protections to employers who lawfully comply with a garnishment order against certain claims of the employee who is the subject of the garnishment order. Nevada law further forbids an employer from discharging or disciplining an employee for the mere fact that the employer had to deal with a garnishment issue. NRS 31.298.

Whether you are a party to a family court case, or just the employer of one of the parties, support orders and garnishment orders can have an effect on you. The knowledgeable and experienced family law attorneys at Kring & Chung, LLP are here to assist individuals and businesses in navigating what can be the tricky waters of the family court.

Evan D. Schwab is an Associate with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Las Vegas, NV office. He can be contacted at (702) 260-9500 or eschwab@kringandchung.com.

All child support cases in California use the same “guideline” calculation, which makes it easier for parties to determine what their child support obligation will likely be. Judges use a computer program to determine child support and these same programs are available on computers in family law courthouses and on several websites over the internet. The increased accessibility of computer programs that calculate child support has helped decrease the litigation associated with child support. In most cases, judges do not deviate from “guideline support”. Therefore, fighting about the amount of child support due is no longer an issue. Rather, the issues are now focused on each parent’s disposable income, how much time each parent spends with the children and the tax filing status and exemptions of each parent. Once this information is determined, judges enter the information into their child support calculator and the guideline formula will provide the amount of child support due. Therefore, disputes arising in child support cases are centered around how much a party makes or how much time they spend with the children, rather than disputing the amount of support itself.

California state law says that each parent has duty to financially support his or her child. Therefore, parents generally cannot avoid paying child support by not working. In calculating child support, courts may consider how much a parent could earn, thereby imputing income onto the parent even if they are not actually earning income at the time.

Determining a parent’s income and time share with a child can be very complicated when calculating child support, therefore an attorney can be of great assistance when reviewing these issues.

Hoang Anh- Zapien is an Associate at Kring & Chung, LLP’s Irvine, CA office. She can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or hzapien@kringandchung.com.

Witness can be useful to tell the court facts they know, things they see, or things they hear one of the parties say. The more objective a witness appears, the better. A party to a dissolution proceeding will not need a witness for every fact or allegation. A party can testify or “tell their story” about most of the facts, but a witness that has observed violence or other bad behavior can be helpful to the court in verifying and validating what a party is alleging.

If a party to a dissolution proceeding wants a witness to testify at a hearing or the trial, they will need to prepare and file a witness list. This legal document tells the court and other party who the witness is, how they can be contacted, and generally what that witness can testify to.

There may be other evidence beside witness testimony that may be helpful to a party’s case. Very often, physical evidence is used. Common types of physical evidence used in a dissolution or custody case consists of photographs, videotapes, voice records,and such other things like torn clothing, broken property, and documents.

To properly get a photograph or videotape into evidence, a party or witness must testify that the photograph or videotape accurately represents what is being shown at the time taken, and that the photograph or videotape has not been altered.

Voice recordings are a bit more tricky. In California, you cannot record another person without their consent. However,if someone leaves a voicemail message, that person understands by the nature of leaving a voicemail message that they are being recorded. A party or person will want to testify as to the voice being heard, how they know that to be the voice of that person, and general foundational information as to how the voicemail recording came to take place.

It is wise to collect and preserve potential evidence as early as possible. These are just some examples of common types of evidence, but realistically, almost any object can be an item of evidence depending upon what the item would prove.

Robin C. Huggins is a Partner with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Irvine, CA office. She can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or rhuggins@kringandchung.com.

There are many ways to save on costs during a divorce. But to be frank, if a client is only willing to put in a half-hearted effort, then it may be better to let the attorney’s office handle the issue completely.

A client can perform photocopying functions and possibly save some time and costs on photocopying charges. A client can sometimes act as a messenger or take documents to Court for filing. However, a client cannot act as a process server, because the laws of California require that process not be served by a party to the action.

In divorce, the parties can work together to figure out how to equitably or equally divide their personal property. Generally speaking, personal property will be the contents of their home. It can be as simple as rolling the dice. Whomever rolls the higher number chooses the first item. The next person chooses an item of similar value or emotional desirability, and so forth. Another method is to sit down together and assign values to items of property. As long as the parties feel that they are both receiving a similar dollar value of personal property, and as long as the parties are reasonably content with the division, this is sufficient. Keep in mind that in general, property a person brings into the marriage is already their separate property, and is not divided in a divorce. Property that a third person gives to a party during marriage is usually separate property, and property a party purchases using separate property is usually their separate property. If valuable collectibles, art, antiques, and jewelry are involved, then appraisers may be necessary in order to determine a fair market value. It rarely makes sense to pay an attorney their hourly rate just to argue over pots, pans and other replaceables. Personal property is normally valued at current fair market (re-sale) value. We have heard judges refer to this as “garage sale value”.

California is a community property state. This means that assets and debts are divided equally in a divorce. That is true regardless of any fault attributed, or the reasons for the divorce. Bearing that in mind during a divorce should enable the parties to accept the fact that they will be dividing these assets and debts regardless of who actually bought them or worked for them. Then, by committing to being reasonable and reasonably emotion-free, the parties can view their divorce in a business-like manner, rather than as a tool for exacting revenge or extracting emotional payment.

Another suggestion is to be organized in the presentation of documents to your attorney. If you tab documents and divide them into stacks of similar items, you are saving your attorney the time of having to do so. By keeping notes, inventories, copies of support payments, and such before, during and after divorce, you will save yourself the time of having to later recreate those items. You will also save yourself in attorney fees because the necessary information will be easily obtained when needed.

At Kring & Chung, LLP, we are pleased to offer a free initial consultation of your family law matter of up to 30 minutes. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to find out how the laws of California may affect your family law issue. With family law attorneys in Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita, Ontario, Chino, Sacramento and Las Vegas, we can consult with you in person or by phone – whichever is most convenient for you.

Robin C. Huggins is a Partner with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Irvine, CA office. She can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or rhuggins@kringandchung.com.

If you elect to resume using a previous name, you will need to change your driver’s license, vehicle title(s) and registration(s), passport and social security card.

• For information as to changing the name on your driver’s license: Click Here
• For information as to changing the name on a Certificate of Title: Click Here
• For information as to changing the name on a passport: Click Here
• For information as to changing the name on a social security card: Click Here

I suggest that client’s make an ongoing checklist as they remember other items that will need name changes. An example of some of these items are: auto or other insurances, bank accounts, schools, daycare facilities, credit cards, employers, health care providers, pension and retirement plans, utility bills, and so forth.

Once a divorce is final, you should take care to remove your former spouse from any insurance policies that you will be continuing with. Be sure to remove any automobiles that your former spouse has been awarded as well. Verify whether your former spouse is still listed as a beneficiary under any continuing life insurance policies.

Joint credit cards are often overlooked, so don’t make that mistake. Close all joint credit cards and open new accounts in your own name. Obtain a credit report about 6 months after doing so, to ensure that there are no outstanding joint credit cards.

Divide your assets right away, according to the terms of the judgment. Be fair and prompt with your former spouse as the court has continuing jurisdiction over the division of assets and can sanction a party for improper conduct.

Last, but certainly not least…you’d be surprised how many people forget to change their wills, trusts and health care directive after a divorce is final. Don’t be one of those knuckleheads!

If you have a specific question about enforcing a judgment in California, or would like to obtain a change of name after a divorce is final, please call Robin C. Huggins, Attorney/Partner of the Family Law department of Kring & Chung, LLP. She can be contacted at (949) 261-7700 or via email at rhuggins@kringandchung.com.

The first important thing to understand when it comes to experts is whom the expert serves. Some experts are appointed by the Court itself and are not beholding to any of the parties. These court appointed experts are, however, often paid for by the parties by order of the Court. Some experts are hired by individual litigants and are retained to provide a report/document or even testify at trial or evidentiary hearing as permitted by the Court. The two most common scenarios in which experts become involved in a family law matter is (1) where complex or large financial issues are involved and (2) where the best interest of the children is being considered.

In a divorce proceeding, there are a number of financial issues that require the services of or where an expert can be beneficial. For instance, it is not uncommon for the value of a business to be an issue before the Court. In many cases, the business is the largest financial asset in the divorce estate. Allegations such as claims that one party is hiding assets in a business are not at all uncommon in family law matters. Forensic accountants typically are both Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s) and Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE’s). They can be hired be a party or appointed by the Court to determine the value of a business and look for accounting impropriety, community waste or fraud. A major issue in Nevada divorce litigation is what property is community property and what property is the separate property of one of the parties. It is not uncommon for funds to become comingled to the point where a lay person or even the Court does not feel comfortable making legal determinations without the expertise of a forensic accountant. The situations above are some of the examples where an expert in forensic accounting can assist the parties and the Court in resolving property issues in a divorce.

Another scenario in which experts come into play is when the parties cannot agree on a custody or visitation arrangement that is in the best interest of the children and the Court has heard allegations or contentions serious enough that the Court does not feel comfortable making a determination as to custody or visitation without expert opinion. In situations such as these, the Court can order or the parties can agree to employ a child custody evaluator. A child custody evaluator is commonly a child psychologist who has been recognized by the Court as being able to assist the Court in determining appropriate custody and visitation arrangements. A child custody evaluator will often times meet with the parents both individually and together, observe the child playing with the individual parent, and interview the child privately. A child custody evaluator will then be asked to provide their insight, observations and recommendations to the Court to allow the Court to make a decision on custody and visitation issues.

These type of experts are frequently expensive and not necessary in every divorce and custody proceeding. In large divorce cases and extremely contentious custody cases, these experts can serve a useful purpose. The use of experts can help litigants save money on the long-run by cutting out months and years of litigation on complex issues and achieve quicker resolution. Understanding all the tools available will help a client make the best decisions in their individual case.

Evan D. Schwab is an Associate with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Las Vegas, NV office. He can be contacted at (702) 260-9500 or eschwab@kringandchung.com.

One big piece of success in family court is the individual litigant themselves. Every client invariably wants the best lawyer they can get, but the client should also focus on being the best client that they can be. By being the best client one can be, a person helps lower their attorney’s fees and costs, in addition to helping themselves be put in the best position to achieve success.

Being an all-star client begins with good preparation. A good client obtains the pertinent documents that he or she can obtain in advance of meetings and when requested by their attorney. When the client obtains a document this helps lower the costs of the representation. A good client prepares a list of questions and issues they may wish to discuss with their attorney prior to meetings. This will help the client make the best use of the time they spend with their attorney. A good client answers phone calls, emails and requests for information from their attorney. Less time fighting administrative battles means more time fighting for the client.

An all-star client comes in with reasonable expectations. The result your second cousin obtained in their divorce or custody proceeding is not indicative or binding as to the result that will occur in your case. An example of a reasonable expectation is that the child will have a relationship with both parents. Expecting to obtain everything and have your spouse or former spouse obtain nothing is neither realistic nor in the best interest of your children. At Kring & Chung, LLP, your attorney will help explain to you the range of possible outcomes in your case.

An all-star client focuses on the issues that are relevant in both their personal life and in the court room. When appearing in front of the court, the all-star client dresses in a professional manner and speaks to the judge in a polite and respectful manner. Much like in life, first impressions count. An all-star client does not attempt to raise issues that are not before the Court at the present hearing. The judge is not interested in everything that your spouse or ex-spouse did wrong and how he or she never truly appreciated you. The job of the judge is resolving the matter at hand in the best interest of the parties and the children. An all-star client maintains a cordial relationship with their spouse or ex-spouse and understands that the case at hand is about what’s best for the children and the parties and not sticking it to their spouse. Engaging in behavior such as interference with another party’s visitation or disparaging the other parent in front of the child only prolongs proceedings and can create a negative image of the party engaged in such behavior with the Court.

Family law matters can be heated. The all-star client realizes that they can control their legal costs, promote their own happiness, and are able to focus on their children by good preparation, holding reasonably expectations, and focusing on the issues that are relevant.

Merielle Enriquez is an Associate with Kring & Chung, LLP’s Las Vegas, NV office. She can be contacted at (702) 260-9500 or menriquez@kringandchung.com.