From The blog

“Should I Live In A Home Owner’s Association?” Neighborhoods that are governed by a Home Owners Association (HOA for short) are often very attractive; they are often cleaner, neater, and visually better looking than other neighborhoods. They can offer communal amenities such as pools and game rooms, or even golf courses. These are all solid upsides to living in an HOA. There are a few downsides...

Today I've asked Anselmo Moreno, the owner of Innovative Credit Solutions, to provide some information on protecting credit during a divorce. Protecting Your Credit: During and After a Divorce CREDIT REPAIR, DIVORCE, LOANS ▸ APRIL 14, 2017 By Anselmo Moreno Debts that are commonly divided in divorce proceedings are typical consumer debts such as mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. These...

“Debt Division During Divorce” In a divorce, the judge will not only divide up assets, but also debts. Generally speaking (with some exceptions) any debt incurred during the marriage is community debt. This means that it is split evenly, or else is balanced against other assets. For instance, one party could take a car worth $10,000, and also $10,000 in credit card debt, for a net asset value of...

“The Family House In Divorce: To Sell Or Not To Sell?” One of the main assets in a divorce is often the family residence. There are two possible scenarios, depending on whether or not the house has any equity in it. If the house does not have any equity, the decision is to either let the house go in foreclosure (this can be financially advantageous, but has negative credit consequences) or for...

“What Really Causes Divorce?” Sometimes the cause of divorce is quite obvious: cheating, substance abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence. These cases are easy to understand. Many other times, however, none of these factors are present, and yet a marriage has broken down, and papers are filed. Why does this happen? I have a few personal observations based on years of talking to clients, and here...

“Why Small Business Owners Have No Retirement Savings” As a family law attorney, I see the inner workings of the financial lives of a lot of different people. Government workers, law enforcement, oil-field workers, health care workers---and lots of small business owners. Over the years, one thing that has really stuck out to me is how seldom small business owners have any kind of a retirement...

“Abusive and Traumatizing Statements to Children and Restraining Orders” One of the hardest things for a judge to control in a family law case is statements from one parent to the children that are inappropriate. It is very hard to police on a daily level, and oftentimes the only way to know what is being said is through the children themselves, which means minor’s counsel is necessary. The...

“Why Social Media Is So Dangerous In Family Law Cases” Video link: https://youtu.be/T5z3bgoy7gE Social media is a major part of people’s lives these days—it can even be hard to stay connected to family and friends without it. It can also be very dangerous to you in a family law case. How can something that is so useful and connecting so bad in family law cases? THE KIND OF POSTS MADE: The first...

“Is Mental Abuse Enough For A Restraining Order?” What conduct is sufficient to support the issuance of a restraining order is a matter that has been discussed, over and over, and which is subject to continual changes in the law of many states, including California. The California Court of Appeals took up the issue in the case of Rodriguez v. Menjivar (2015) 243 Cal.App.4th 816. In this case,...

“What Is A Putative Marriage?” A putative marriage is a term used in California to refer to people where at least one person thought they were married, but the marriage is legally void for some reason. It most commonly occurs where two people get married, but one person was not legally divorced from a first spouse. This is actually more common than you might think. When the person who is not at...