Best Divorce Lawyers in Livermore, CA

If you were personally served, meaning the paperwork was given to you or left in your presence, then you have 30 days to file a response. If you do not file a response by the deadline, then the filing party may request that the Court enter your default, which means decisions could be made in your matter without your knowledge or participation.

California is a no-fault state which means that in a divorce proceeding, the court will not assign blame for whatever caused the marriage to end nor will it penalize either party for cheating. While it may have caused the breakdown of the marriage, a cheating spouse will not have to pay more or receive less because of having an affair.

Child support is calculated based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, the financial situation of each parent and the amount of time each parent has the children in their custody. The courts will often rely on the Dissomaster (a program used to calculate the amount of support) in order to determine the appropriate amount of guideline child support.

Losing your job when you have children to support can cause a tremendous amount of stress and worry. It is important to point out that your obligation to pay support continues even if you cannot afford to pay it. This means that if you fail to notify the court that you cannot pay support, you will accrue arrearages of back child support if you fail to make payments. Back support accrues interest and in some cases penalties. These amounts add up quickly. Child Support is a preferred debt, meaning that you cannot discharge it in bankruptcy. And the court has no authority to change the amount of your support unless you take action and seek a modification of your child support.

The length of time a party can be ordered to pay their spouse support depends, in part, on how long they were married. In California, if a couple is married for more than ten years, their marriage is deemed to be of long duration, which means that support can be awarded until the supported party remarries, either party dies, or an order modifying the support is made. or until the party receiving support remarries, dies. Some orders for long-term spousal support have no specific end-date while others set a limit on the length of time a spouse can collect spousal support. In some cases, the court will create a step-down system of support where the amount paid to a spouse automatically decreases over timeIf a marriage dissolves in less than ten years, it is considered to be a marriage of short duration. In these cases, the court typically awards spousal support for a term of one-half of the length of the marriage. That is, if you and your spouse were married for 8 years, the court may award support to your spouse for up to 4 years. This example is only meant to provide a benchmark and is not intended as a clear rule. The judge has broad discretion to fashion an order for spousal support, which makes it difficult to predict the outcome of a spousal support case.