Irvine Family Law Blog

Taking your case to mediation rather than to court does not mean that it should be taken nonchalantly.You should always enter mediation with respect and a professional aire. Be respectful and listen intently to what the other party is saying about your case. Also speak clearly when you are giving your views. Mediation can be much easier when both parties treat each other with basic courtesies and respect.

Mediation is about calmly discussing each other’s point of view on a situation and coming together to make a fair and honest settlement that will satisfy both parties. Always keep an open mind during the mediation process so that you can input your opinions but also understand the other person’s view as well. You may not have thought about how the dispute has affected the other person, but mediation is about trying to understand how the incident has impacted both parties and by doing so, you can easily reach a suitable resolution.

Take into consideration the other party’s settle solution and clearly state what you were hoping the dispute would settle with. If all goes well with your mediation and you come to an agreement, you will be more satisfied with this path rather than going in front of a judge. Going to court in front of a judge is very often lengthy and expensive. You also have no say on your verdict because it is the judge who makes the decision, not you.

Presenting your case to a judge is something that will be required in most court cases, even small claims court. It is often a very tiresome and slow procedure which can become very pricey as well. Choosing to go to mediation instead might be a superior option for you depending on the type of dispute you have.

In mediation, you will assemble in a indifferent area and confer the disagreement with a mediator there. Mediators are trained to help in legal disputes without getting emotionally involved. With this option you will not have to going infront of a judge and the mediator will not force your to a decision nor make any choices for you.

If mediation works for you, then you can rest easy knowing that it was a just result that both you and the other party have come together to agree upon. In court, the judge would have made the decisions for both of the parties.

If you are unable to come to an understanding in mediation, you can still opt to go to court and have a judge decide on the outcome of your case, but there is nothing to lose in choosing to go to mediation first.

Filing all your finished paperwork is the next step in processing your divorce request. The court clerk will look over all your forms, both the copies and the originals. Here, any discrepancies will be caught and if all is well with the completion of your forms then the copies will be stamped ‘Filed’ and given back to you and the originals will be kept.

Along with all the other forms you’ve filed, you should have included forms requesting items like child support orders, domestic violence protection orders etc. These are temporary orders that a judge will make. These types of cases can get difficult and it’s in your best interest to seek the advice of a lawyer or family law facilitator.

These 1st forms are petitions for your divorce and when you file them it is regularly called the ‘first appearance’. Registering the forms will call for a filing fee and the clerk will let you know how much it will be. If you cannot afford to pay the fee you can request that it be waived.

1. The requester is the one who begins the divorce petition. To commence the divorce procedure, you must complete the forms below:

-The Marriage Petition: requires you to give fundamental notes about your marriage. It can also be used to ask for court orders.

-Summons Form: It’s a very good idea to read this form thoroughly because it contains a mass of data that will be useful to you for the duration of your divorce case. It also holds some information about some restraints that will limit what you can do with your assets and belongings as well as your children.

-Property Declaration: Complete this form by listing all your property and debts which you and your spouse have gathered unitedly during your marriage.

-Declaration Under Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act: You need to complete this form if you and your spouse have minors under the age of 18.

-Child Custody and Visitation Application Attachment: Must be completed if you desire to ask the court for custody and visitation orders. Though the Child Custody and Visitation Application Attachment is optional, it’s best to use this form because it contains more detailed information about schedules etc.

2. Make sure you have all your paperwork reviewed by an attorney or family law facilitator to guarantee that all the facts are present so that there is no holdup in your case.

3. You will need to find out if there are any further forms to complete with your court clerk. Ask your court clerk or attorney.

4. Make more copies of all your forms, one for yourself, one for your partner and the originals will be filed with the court.

The definition of ‘community property’ is everything that a married couple or domestic partners own together, meaning everything that they have earned, bought, or gotten while you were married or in a registered domestic partnership. This includes the debt you have collected while together as well but does not include gifts that were only given to one spouse/partner (ie: inheritance).

When discussing earnings, community property extends to encompass the things you’ve bought with your earnings and to determine whether an item is community property or not, you must simple look at the source of the money that the item was purchased with. If the money use to obtain the item was earned during your marriage or domestic partnership, then the item is considered community property. An example would be: If you purchased a stereo with money that you’ve been saving yourself, but that money was earned during your marriage, then the stereo is therefore considered community property.

Debt collected during your marriage or domestic partnership is also community property and must be divided once you are separated. Even if the debt was made by one spouse/partner, if it was accumulated during your union, then it belongs to both of you and will be divided equally between you.

Even pension plans and retirement benefits are community property and it is best to seek professional legal help to find out about all your community property.