Basics of Divorce in Granite Bay, California

Understanding Your Rights During This Pivotal Time

The process of divorce involves many important legal issues, including property division, child custody, and child support. It is important that you understand the basic process of divorce in California, which will ensure that you can get through the major issues by making informed decisions that will impact your life.   

File a Petition for Divorce

The first formal step of the divorce process is filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. This petition states your legal grounds for divorce and what type of relief you are asking the court to provide, such as joint custody, child support, or certain property. The petition is important because it establishes your positions on issues related to your divorce, which may be the first time that your spouse hears of them.

Response to Petition

After filing your petition for divorce, you must ensure that your spouse is properly served according to California law. After your spouse is served with your petition, he or she must prepare a Response to a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, which formally responds to each statement made in your petition. Your spouse will be able to assert his or her position in the response. Your spouse has 30 days from the date of service to prepare and file the response.

Temporary Orders

Because the process of divorce in California can last for several months or even years in particularly complex cases, it is common for one or both spouses to file motions with the court for temporary orders.

These orders usually involve child custody, child support, spousal support, control over community property, and even requests for attorney fees. These orders are often imperative to ensure that a supported spouse has sufficient financial resources to maintain some semblance of their standard of living after the date of separation. Consultation with an attorney regarding what temporary orders you might be entitled to at the beginning of your case is often extremely important, as certain types of support can only begin after a motion has been filed.

Preparation of Financial Disclosures

It is very common for one spouse to have more control over a couple’s finances. He or she may have had the responsibility of managing the couple’s money. The other spouse may be denied access to financial information after the divorce is initiated. Understanding these dynamics, the legislature passed laws that require spouses to share the financial information that they need about their marital estate.

These laws provide specific timeframes within which the spouses must disclose their income, assets, and liabilities to the other party. The Petitioner, or spouse who started the case, must serve their disclosure documents within 60 days of service of their Petition on their spouse. The Respondent, or spouse who was served with the Petition, must complete their disclosure within 60 days of filing and service of their response. These disclosures may be extensive and complex, depending on the type and value of the community property.

Settlement Negotiations

After the spouses share financial disclosures, they may start to engage in settlement negotiations. Even if the parties do not reach an agreement on all issues related to their divorce, they may be able to agree on some of the issues in order to narrow the scope of any litigation. It is important to have an experienced lawyer on your side during this time to help you evaluate proposed settlement terms or to draft a settlement proposal.

Your attorney can explain the advantages and disadvantages of any proposals. Not having an attorney during this time can have a significant impact on the terms of your divorce and your life for years to come. It is often much more expensive to fix errors in settlement agreements than it is to ensure that agreements were properly drafted. Having a Herrig, Vogt & Hensley, LLP attorney at your side at this stage in the process can have a significant impact on the outcome of your divorce.

Divorce FAQS

Our legal team has answered some of the most frequently asked questions that we receive. After reading the information below to understand the basics involved in a divorce, contact the Law Firm of Herrig, Vogt & Hensley, LLP. We can provide the personal attention and vigorous advocacy that you need for any divorce or family law matter.

Call us today for a no-obligation, no-cost consultation.

Why Is Family Law Important?

Family law resolves disputes that exist in families such as divorce, division of assets, child custody, child support, paternity rights, and others. If these disputes cannot be resolved outside of court, then the issue may be raised in family court so that a judge can decide the best course of action.

How Long Will My Divorce Take?

The timeframe for resolving a divorce depends on the number of issues involved and how many the spouses can reach a mutual agreement on. If issues are contested, the spouses may have to wait for the next available date on the court’s calendar. Additionally, there is a six-month waiting period before the court considers granting a petition for divorce. Having an experienced divorce lawyer on your side can help minimize the time to get divorced because he or she is familiar with the proper procedures that must be followed and can help you avoid mistakes during the divorce process.

How Much Does Divorce Cost?

The cost of divorce also depends on a number of factors and how quickly the parties settle. The more issues that are contested in divorce, the more expensive the process tends to be. However, your divorce attorney may be able to get a temporary order put in place to help pay for these expenses while your divorce is pending.

What Happens if A Divorce Is Contested?

In some cases, the parties do not agree about one or more material issues involved in the divorce. One party may have unreasonable demands or the parties may have negative feelings toward each other that prevent them from making the best decisions during this emotional time. When it is impossible to resolve crucial issues through negotiations, the spouses may have to ask the court to decide the issue. Our Roseville divorce attorneys can assist with an uncontested divorce or can present a compelling and well-researched case in court when this is the best option for our client.

How Does Divorce Impact Children?

Divorce can have a significant impact on children. Even though divorcing spouses are making a significant change in their lives by legally ending their marital relationship, the rights of children must also be protected. Child custody determinations affect with whom the child will live, how much time the child has with each parent, and who will make decisions regarding the child. Child support determinations dictate how much financial support one parent will pay to the other for the benefit of the child. The quality of your attorney and their commitment to pursuing your objectives for your children is a crucial consideration.

How Do I Choose a Divorce Lawyer?

When you need an attorney to represent your interests in divorce, it is important that you select an attorney with experience in this practice area. At our firm, we have more than 100 years of combined legal experience and have served the community in uncontested divorces, high-net-worth divorces, and divorce litigation. We are well-respected in the legal community for our commitment to our clients and our zealous representation. The outcome of a divorce case will affect both you and your children for years into the future, and ensuring that you have a professional, trusted firm representing your interests and protecting your rights can make the difference with regard to the outcome in spousal support, child custody, visitation, division of assets and other matters related to your divorce.

How Can Herrig, Vogt & Hensley, LLP Help Me in My Divorce Case?

Herrig, Vogt & Hensley, LLP was established more than 30 years ago, providing superior legal services to our clients throughout El Dorado, Placer, and Sacramento Counties. Our firm prides itself on our high level of focus, legal skill, and dedication to our clients, and we have seen consistent victories in court as a result.

If you are contemplating divorce, contact us to receive a free case evaluation.