QDRO’s take time, as plan administrators are notoriously slow. Add to the normal court processing time, it could be more than six months for a QDRO to weave its way through the plan administrator, through the court and then back to the plan administrator for the actual transfer. QDRO do not result in quick money.

QDRO’s are for private pension plans only as ERISA does not apply to any city, state or federal plans.

Putative marriages are tricky marriages which require the courts to clarify the relationship between the spouses. For example, the spouse that is ignorant of the impediment to the marriage has claims to spousal support, and property division. If the court does not proceed to void the marriage, there are issues that arise later when the spouses to a putative marriage attempt to remarry, and laws allowing the putative spouse to come in and lay claim to spousal benefits in probate court. It is best for you and your present and future families to clarify clearly with a decree the status of this relationship.

QDRO’s take time, as plan administrators are notoriously slow. Add to the normal court processing time, it could be more than six months for a QDRO to weave its way through the plan administrator, through the court and then back to the plan administrator for the actual transfer. QDRO do not result in quick money.

Why is a nullity so hard to obtain? Well the State’s public policy is to promote marriage. The State makes it very easy to get into a marriage and extremely difficult to terminate a marriage.

So what does this mean to you. Simply checking the box in a Petition to obtain a Nullity does not mean that the Court will grant your request. The Judge has to listen to your “evidence” and decide if your evidence is consistent with grounds that have claimed for a nullity. The grounds can not be that you want one or that you both agree to a nullity or annulment. Be prepared to hire an attorney to assist you to “prove up” your nullity and help you examine whether your grounds are adequate in a Judge’s eye. If not you may find that after several months of effort and trying to figure out what the Judge is talking about, you have to start over with a garden variety divorce.

Often times, you will hear your attorney speaking a short hand. “Husband has a 2640 claim” The attorney is referring to Family Law Code Section 2640 meaning that Husband has a separate property claim to an asset for which he needs to be reimbursed.

California’s Family Law Code also governs the statutes relating to Registered Domestic Partnerships.

First, contempt goes down in you family history, and do you really want your grandchildren sitting around a dinner table thinking what a crazy old person Grandma or Grandpa was for throwing the other in jail? For what at a later date may look like $1.00. Second, because contempt is quasi criminal in nature, your spouse is entitled to all kinds of criminal protections such as the right to a court appointed attorney (free of charge sometimes). I have never seen a self represented litigant properly try a contempt as the pleadings are thrown out at the arraignment level, leaving the self represented litigant frustrated and disappointed with the court system.

Side note: unless your family law attorney has previous criminal experience, such as a former prosecutor or defense attorney. Hire an attorney with a criminal background more so than a family law background to prosecute or defend a contempt. Most family law attorneys cannot properly put on a contempt case. With all this being said, contempt sometimes is necessary. It should be used carefully, and sparingly. If you really need to have a previous court order enforced, you cannot afford to lose a contempt because the message sent to the opposing party who violated or continues to violate a court order when you loose is that they can get by with anything. You have just opened the door to further bad behavior. So be smart, hire an attorney for a contempt.

Originally only one Summons per defendant was issued in a case. The original Summons had the court’s seal which was an embossed portion of the Summons. The filing party (Plaintiff or Petitioner) would retain the original Summons and had to return the original Summons to the Court with a Proof of Services Summons. This is no longer required in California, but I do miss the original embossed seals, the embossing although old fashioned for authentication purposes, but nevertheless denoted the importance of the initial divorce pleadings.

While it is no longer necessary to return an original Summons to the court, a Summons alone is insufficient for the court. In order to have your divorce started, you must return a Proof of Service Summons to the court showing that you spouse has been served with the initial divorce pleadings.

However, sometimes attorneys will carve out a contingent issue, such as the date of valuation of a professional practice to save the parties time and money. For instance, due to court availability, lengthy discovery or other issues; a case may take years. So when should an asset such as a business or professional practice be valued? At the time that the parties separated two years ago or today? Depending on who is buying the other out of the practice, the argument is for the lower vs. the higher price. If there is a perceived (real or not) difference between the value of the business today vs. the value of the business two years ago, it is prudent to have the court determine the date of valuation prior to the performance of a business valuation, so that the professional appraiser, usually a forensic accountant, does not have to conduct two appraisals which would be costly. So the court would enter a Judgment that the business or professional practice would be valued two years ago when the parties separated.

Sometimes termination of marital status will occur so that another party has plans to remarry, and needs the termination of marital status by a date certain, so that their new marriage is valid.

Effect: Support Arrears are the darling of the legislature on both sides of the aisle and many laws abound on this subject.  In California, post judgment interest on support arrears accumulates at 10 percent per annum and child support arrears have additional penalties on top of the post judgment interest.  Do not rely on oral agreements with your spouse regarding support reductions or support suspension, the oral agreements are only as good as your former spouse is happy with you.  Once the working relationship sours, and you have no evidence of your agreement, you will find yourself facing the dreaded arrears.

All information displayed in this blog posting is the property of Sullivan & Guzman APC, and cannot be re-used without prior approval of the author.

www.sullivanandguzman.com