Author Archives: Jay Butchko
5 Things To Know About Prenuptial Agreements In California
Are you planning to get married in California? It is important to plan ahead and to consider the benefits of a prenuptial agreement. While many people assume that prenuptial agreements are only for very wealthy people or for people who are getting married later in life after acquiring assets, prenuptial agreements can be beneficial… Read More »
What Is Community Property In A San Jose Divorce?
If you are getting divorced in California, you may already know that California is one of only nine community property states in the country. States that are not community property states are known as equitable distribution states, and in those states, property from the marriage is divided in an equitable manner between the spouses,… Read More »
Can I Keep Our Pet After The Divorce?
When most people think about issues of custody in a California divorce, they are considering the ways in which courts will need to make determinations about child custody because the spouses share minor children from the marriage. Yet pet custody can also become an issue in a California divorce, especially when the spouses share… Read More »
Interspousal Transfer Deeds And California Divorce
Even though California is a community property state where each spouse is entitled to receive 50 percent of the marital property in a divorce, this does not mean that dividing property in a divorce is simple. At times, parties disagree about whether a certain asset is community or separate. The reason for disagreement is… Read More »
Life Insurance And California Divorce
California’s community property laws state that all assets acquired by either spouse during the marriage are the property of both spouses. These laws have been in place for decades, going back to a time when very few marriages ended in divorce, and they were originally meant to protect people who brought less wealth into… Read More »
Stimulus Checks: Great For Kids, Not So Great For Parents Who Owe Child Support
The purpose of the stimulus checks issued during the COVID-19 pandemic was to help people survive the worst of the economic shutdowns intended to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Even before the pandemic, everyone was in debt, so if there had been a rule that creditors get first dibs on the money… Read More »
In California, Business Debts Are Community Property
In theory, California’s community property laws should make divorce simple. According to California law, when a couple gets a divorce, each spouse gets one half of the marital property. There is still plenty of room for disagreement over the value of marital assets, whether a certain asset is marital or separate, and whether one… Read More »
Is It Fair For The Court To Make You Go From Multiple Mansions To Zero Alimony In Four Years?
Unless the recipient spouse is elderly and infirm, the purpose of alimony awards is to enable the financially disadvantaged spouse to become financially self-sufficient. The courts often award amounts low enough that they will require the recipient spouse to return to the workforce after the divorce. Case law even tells of grannies who downsized… Read More »
Jet Set Divorce: Does Your Spouse Have The Right To Change The Forum Of Your Divorce Case To A Place That Is More Likely To Award Them Alimony?
If you and your spouse both reside in California at the time of your divorce, then it is obvious that the California courts will have jurisdiction in your divorce case, but things get more complicated if only one spouse resides there, and even more complicated if both parties travel so frequently that there is… Read More »
Prenuptial Agreements And The Duty Of Spouses To Support Each Other
You can agree to almost anything, but that does not always mean that the court will enforce it. Numerous court decisions in California case law assert that the state is a party in divorce cases, and therefore the court, as a representative of the state, has the right to protect its own interests. Couples… Read More »
