Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. 2026-06-19T10:34:59Z https://www.rojasnickelson.com/feed/atom/ WordPress /wp-content/uploads/sites/1503286/2024/04/cropped-fav-i-32x32.png On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47619 2025-06-06T19:07:55Z 2025-06-06T19:07:55Z

Married for five years or less;

Lived in California for at least 6 months and in the county of filing for at least 3 months;

No minor children and neither party is pregnant;

No real property;

Debt is less than $7,000;

FMV of community property and separate property assets is less than $57,000 each;

Irreconcilable differences have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage;

Forever waive the right to spousal support;

Waive the right to appeal and move for a new trial; and

Exchange information regarding finances, assets, and debts.

Effective January 1, 2026, Senate Bill No. 1427 will expand the ability to file a joint petition and proceed without involving the court. Family Code § 2330 will be amended to include that a proceeding for dissolution can be commenced by filing either a petition or joint petition. If filing a joint petition, the parties must set forth the following facts:

1. Date of marriage;
2. If there are minor children: the number of children and age/date of birth of each child;
3. If no minor children: a statement of that fact; and
4. A list of issues which the parties intend to resolve by agreement.

Parties filing a joint petition may seek discovery pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure. Additionally, parties may file an amended joint petition which does not affect their ability to proceed with the dissolution pursuant to a joint petition. Although the joint petition does simplify the dissolution process, it does not reduce the filing fees required under a regular dissolution, as the parties are still required to pay the filing fees for a regular petition and response. Like a regular divorce, there is a six month waiting period for the dissolution to finalize. Senate Bill No. 1427 also adds Family Code § 2342.5, which provides that if either party file an amended petition or response, the joint petition for dissolution is deemed revoked and the proceeding shall proceed as a regular dissolution. If either party files a Request for Order, that party must file an amended petition or response, meaning that the joint petition will be revoked, and the case shall proceed in normal course.]]> On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47416 2023-08-09T19:26:17Z 2023-07-28T09:56:20Z

it is not in the best interest of the children for the parent who committed the abuse to have sole physical or legal custody. This means that a judge would have to issue an order that the non-abusive parent have custody of the child unless the abusive parent can rebut the presumption and provide evidence that it is actually in the child’s best interest to grant them custody rights. What about the abusive parent’s rights to visitation, (more commonly referred to as parenting time)? Is there a presumption against awarding parenting time to an abusive parent? Generally, the answer is no, and a parent who has been found to have committed domestic abuse against the other parent can still have access to some parenting time. But it is important to note that in light of Celia S. v. Hugo H., 3 Cal.App.5th 655 (2016), California judges cannot simply order a 50-50 visitation schedule without first rebutting the Cal. Fam. Code § 3044 presumption because otherwise this would amount to the functional equivalent of a joint physical custody agreement, which can be detrimental to the child’s best interest if one of the parents has an ascribable finding of abuse on the books. Furthermore, in Celia S., the trial court emphasized that if a noncustodial parent successfully overcomes the § 3044 presumption, the court must state the reasons for its ruling in writing or on the record. The health, safety, and well-being of any children involved are heavily considered and prioritized.  California trial courts carefully assess any history of domestic violence against the other parent or children, the severity, frequency, and recency of the domestic violence, and any protective measures (such as restraining orders, protective orders, etc.) in place when making decisions regarding parenting time with the noncustodial parent. Courts have the authority to order supervised parenting time with the noncustodial parent. In such circumstances, parenting time with the noncustodial parent may occur in a controlled setting or under the supervision of a neutral third party. Ultimately, our family courts must grapple with the fundamental question: Would granting parenting time to an abuser be detrimental to the child? Therefore, it is crucial that courts continue to measure the impact of domestic violence on the children as paramount when deciding whether to grant parenting time to a noncustodial parent who has perpetrated domestic violence.]]> On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47113 2020-08-19T18:56:36Z 2020-08-19T18:56:36Z

On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47111 2020-08-19T18:54:14Z 2020-08-19T18:54:14Z

pendent lite” support.  This is the kind of spousal support that will generally be ordered by the court very early in a divorce case, usually soon after the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage has been filed.  Temporary spousal support can only be ordered after one of the spouses actually files a motion requesting it, though – the court cannot simply order it because someone checked the right box on the Petition for Dissolution form. Assuming that a proper motion for temporary support is filed, the court will evaluate the respective incomes of the spouses, including tax-related factors like mortgage interest deductions, property tax deductions, health insurance payments, or a handful of other specific financial considerations, and will plug all of those numbers into a computer program, which will then spit out the proper support amount.  The purpose of temporary spousal support is to make sure that both parties have relatively equal access to income during the divorce action so that neither party has a financial advantage over the other while the case works its way through the system.  Temporary support will generally go away when a Judgment is entered in the case (either by trial or by agreement). This does not mean, though, that spousal support goes away after Judgment.  But it does change, becoming “post-Judgment” support – often called “permanent” support.  Post-Judgment support is rarely truly permanent.  The purpose of post-Judgment support is to enable both parties to maintain the “marital standard of living” after divorce.  The marital standard of living is a fact sensitive determination, but usually involves looking at the financial health of the marriage over a much longer term than simply evaluating present incomes (as in temporary support).  The court is required to evaluate a laundry list of factors that will impact the determination of post-Judgment support, and cannot simply plug numbers into a computer program.  As a result, post-Judgment support is often less than temporary support – mostly because the court considers a much wider array of factors than in a temporary support situation.  Post-Judgment support in a marriage of less than 10 years in duration will usually be paid for a period of one-half the duration of the marriage.  In  marriages of over 10 years (a presumptively “long term” marriage), support will not likely be automatically terminated on a particular date – it will continue until the spouse receiving the support is self-sufficient or the court determines that the spouse receiving it has had plenty of time to become self-sufficient.  Both spouses have an obligation to become self-supporting under California law, even if only one spouse worked during the marriage.]]> On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47107 2020-08-19T18:52:21Z 2020-08-19T18:45:23Z

On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47105 2020-08-19T18:44:04Z 2020-08-19T18:44:04Z

On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47102 2020-08-19T18:42:15Z 2020-08-19T18:41:56Z

On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47059 2020-08-19T17:10:36Z 2020-08-19T16:48:16Z

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On Behalf of Rojas and Nickelson Family Law, Inc. https://www.rojasnickelson.com/?p=47054 2020-08-19T16:44:36Z 2020-08-19T16:44:36Z

do charge for their time, much like attorneys do, but if the issues are complicated or difficult, the money invested in private mediation is money well spent. The private mediators do not have the same limitations that FCS mediators do in terms of caseload and time commitment, so have the resources to fully investigate the issues involved in each case and arrive at agreements or recommendations that carefully consider all of those issues. Given the importance to the lives of the children involved in the case, and the potential impact to the children years down the road, the Private Mediation option is what my office most often recommends.  And because the mediation process is so important to the eventual outcome in the custody case, my office can fully prepare any client for FCS or Private Mediation in advance of the first mediation appointment to ensure that the client understands what mediation is, how to approach each issue in the case, and generally normalize the client’s expectations regarding this important and potentially life altering process.]]>