Visalia, CA Family Law Attorney

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Family law issues are always challenging. From divorce and child custody disputes to property division and marital agreements, these situations demand more than just legal knowledge. At Griswold LaSalle Cobb Dowd & Gin LLP, we understand the emotional challenges associated with these types of cases and are here to provide experienced representation. 

Our family law attorneys have a rich history of representing clients in the Central Valley since 1945. We offer experienced advocacy with a focus on protecting your privacy and best interests. Discover how we can help your family move forward.

Understanding Family Law in California

Family law is a specialized and often deeply personal area of legal practice. It governs a wide range of issues arising from the formation, breakdown, and restructuring of family units. This includes matters related to marriage, divorce, separation, child custody and support, adoption, domestic violence, and the division of assets and debts. Fundamentally, family law seeks to resolve disputes and establish clear legal frameworks that safeguard the rights and well-being of everyone involved, especially children.

At Griswold LaSalle Cobb Dowd & Gin LLP, our family law attorneys strive to provide clear legal guidance to empower you to make the best choices for your family’s future. We believe that every client has the right to understand their legal options, and we work to ensure they have a comprehensive grasp of their situation before any steps are made. At our firm, your California family lawyer proactively identifies potential legal hurdles and focuses on the core issues that truly matter to your case.

While we deeply respect your emotional experience, our focus is on providing clear, practical solutions tailored to your long-term well-being. With over 20 years of experience, our team is well-versed in key areas of family law, including:

  • High-Net-Worth Divorce: Navigating the complexities of dividing significant, high-value assets.
  • Divorce for Technology Professionals: Addressing the specific financial intricacies and equity considerations common in the tech industry.
  • Child Custody and Visitation: Crafting parenting plans that ensure the best interests of your children are always the priority, with clear custody and visitation terms.
  • Child Support: Establishing fair, legally sound child support payments in accordance with California’s guidelines.
  • Marital Agreements (Prenuptial & Postnuptial): Drafting and reviewing agreements that outline property rights and responsibilities prior to or during a marriage.

We understand that family law matters often bring a mix of emotions that can cloud judgment. Our mission is to help you work through those feelings, offering guidance that leads you to well-considered decisions focused on securing a positive future.

Community Property and Dividing Assets in a California Divorce

Under California’s community property law, any assets acquired while in a marriage are typically divided equally between divorcing spouses. Property owned prior to the marriage or obtained after the legal separation is generally not subject to this equal division, as it is considered separate property. Couples that have significant assets may benefit from a collaborative approach to streamline the process. This may look like mutually agreeing to sell off high-value community property to simplify the division of assets during the divorce process.

Defining High-Value Assets

If you are trying to determine if your assets are considered high-value, the separation is usually if a single line item is valued at over $250,000. Or, if you and your spouse’s combined assets

surpass $1 million, the divorce will be considered a high-net-worth case. Handling divisions such as these demands a family law attorney who understands the intricate financial and legal challenges they are up against. If you are dealing with multiple high-value assets or a high-net-worth divorce, be sure to find a lawyer who will meticulously investigate and provide accurate valuations of your assets so nothing is overlooked.

Often, divorce lawyers will call in specialized experts to assist with the valuation process. These professionals will bring in knowledge in such areas as fine art, rare collectibles, antiques, and property value, offering precise valuations to help make sure there is a fair distribution of these high-value items or, if sold, their value. While all marital assets hold value, high-value items can present unique challenges when dividing them. These may include:

  • Real Estate: The family home, second residences, and vacation properties.
  • Investment Properties: Rental properties, commercial real estate, and other investment holdings.
  • Business Ownership: Interests in privately owned businesses or partnerships.
  • Luxury Assets: High-end cars, yachts, boats, and other luxury vehicles.
  • Financial Assets: Investments, retirement accounts, stocks, and substantial cash savings.
  • Personal Collections: Valuable items like art, antiques, rare books, and collectibles.
  • Exclusive Memberships: Access to clubs or organizations that carry significant value.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

If you enter marriage with significant individual assets, you should consider writing a prenuptial agreement. This can provide critical protection of your finances by clearly outlining the ownership of those assets and specifying how they would be divided in the event of divorce. This agreement allows both parties to establish expectations upfront, reducing the likelihood of conflicts or uncertainty should the marriage end. A well-crafted prenuptial agreement can also protect future earnings, inheritances, and even business interests, ensuring that your hard-earned assets remain secure.

If already married, a postnuptial agreement can be crafted to address the division of assets acquired together. This type of agreement can be particularly beneficial when one or both spouses experience a significant change in wealth, such as through business ownership, investments, or the accumulation of valuable assets. A postnuptial agreement can offer clarity on how these jointly accumulated assets will be divided, ensuring both spouses are on the same page about financial matters.

Both prenuptial and postnuptial agreements safeguard financial interests, reduce ambiguity, and prevent costly disputes in the future. These agreements are especially important when significant assets or complex financial structures are involved, such as family businesses, real estate portfolios, or investment accounts. By defining clear terms for asset division before or during the marriage, these agreements provide a strong foundation of trust and clarity, allowing both partners to focus on building a lasting and secure future together.

Spousal Support in Tulare County

In California, spousal support or alimony is a court-ordered payment made by one spouse to the other after a divorce or legal separation. Unlike child support, which has specific guidelines, spousal support is determined through a more subjective process, considering a range of factors unique to each couple. The primary objective of spousal support is to help the lower-earning spouse maintain a standard of living similar to what they enjoyed during the marriage, while also encouraging them to become financially independent within a reasonable timeframe.

California law recognizes two distinct types of spousal support: temporary spousal support and permanent spousal support. Temporary spousal support is awarded while the divorce or legal separation proceedings are ongoing. The purpose of temporary support is to ensure that both spouses can maintain their financial well-being during the case, preserving the status quo while the divorce process unfolds. Long-term spousal support is ordered as part of the final divorce decree. Despite being referred to as permanent, this type of support is rarely designed to last indefinitely, particularly in short-term marriages. The duration and amount of long-term spousal support are based on a number of factors that reflect both spouses’ financial situations and their ability to support themselves.

When deciding on long-term spousal support, the court considers various factors, including:

  • The length of the marriage
  • The standard of living during the marriage
  • The recipient spouse’s financial needs and ability to support themselves
  • The paying spouse’s ability to support themselves
  • Age and health of both spouses
  • Contributions to the marriage include homemaking, child-rearing, and supporting the other spouse’s career

The goal of long-term spousal support is not necessarily to provide lifelong payments, but rather to offer the supported spouse enough time to become self-sufficient through employment or acquiring additional skills or education. In some cases, support may be awarded for a set period, while in others, the court may specify that it will continue until certain conditions are met, such as the supported spouse securing employment or remarrying.

Determining Child Custody in Visalia, CA

When parents begin seeking a divorce, the division of property and assets is important, but for most, nothing takes precedence over the well-being and future of their children. Deciding on child custody can be an emotionally charged and complex process, especially when parents have different perspectives on what will be best for their kids.

Courts generally prioritize creating custody arrangements that offer stability, continuity, and emotional security for children after the divorce. More often than not, this involves joint custody, where both parents share responsibility for the child’s upbringing. But custody is rarely one-size-fits-all. Each family’s circumstances are unique, and courts are open to flexible and creative solutions that cater to the specific needs of each child and family dynamic.

Common Custody Arrangements

Custody arrangements can take several forms depending on the family’s situation and what the court determines to be the most beneficial for the child’s well-being. Some of the more common arrangements include:

  • Shared Physical Custody: This involves a balanced arrangement where the child spends roughly equal time living with each parent. The goal is to ensure that both parents remain deeply involved in the child’s daily life and provide an equally nurturing environment in separate homes.
  • Nesting: In this arrangement, the children stay in the family home, and the parents alternate living in the residence during their designated parenting time. This can be especially beneficial for younger children, as it provides them with the comfort and stability of a familiar environment while their parents share the responsibility of maintaining separate living spaces.
  • Sole Physical Custody with Visitation: In cases where the child should live primarily with one parent, the other parent typically has scheduled visitation rights. This arrangement is often used when one parent has a more stable living situation or has been the primary caregiver during the marriage.
  • Sole Physical and Legal Custody: In more extreme cases, such as when one parent is abusive, incarcerated, or otherwise unable to provide a safe environment for the child, one parent may be awarded both physical and legal custody. This means the child will primarily live with that parent, who will also have the exclusive right to make significant decisions regarding the child’s education, health, and overall upbringing.

Child custody decisions have lasting effects on both the parents and the children involved. Our team is committed to guiding you through this process with empathy, patience, and a focus on the long-term well-being of your children. Whether negotiating directly with the other parent or presenting a custody proposal to the court, we are here to help you develop solutions that truly reflect the needs of your family.

Negotiating Child Support Payments

Under California law, both parents are legally obligated to support their children after a divorce, with the amount of support based on factors unique to each case. In general, if one parent has primary physical custody, the other parent will be required to provide financial support to contribute to essential living expenses such as housing, food, clothing, medical care, and education. 

While California uses a child support calculator to estimate support, the formula does not always capture the nuances of complex financial situations. In such cases, our family law attorneys work with financial experts to ensure that the support amount is fair and accurately reflects the children’s needs while also considering each parent’s ability to pay. Child support decisions should always be centered around the children’s well-being. Our family lawyers are dedicated to helping you navigate these conversations in a way that prioritizes the long-term financial security of your children, rather than allowing emotions or disputes with your ex-spouse to dictate the outcome.

Life circumstances can change, and in many cases, modifications to existing child support orders may be necessary. If there has been a significant change in either parent’s financial situation, such as a change in income, job loss, or the acquisition of additional assets, it may be possible to seek a modification to the original child support agreement. Our team can help guide you through this process, ensuring that the child support order remains fair and reflective of current circumstances.

What Do I Do When My Ex Will Not Pay Child Support?

If your former spouse fails to meet their child support obligations after the divorce, we can help you take legal action to enforce the support order and ensure that your children receive the financial resources they need. California offers legal avenues for holding non-paying parents accountable, and our team is experienced in pursuing these actions to ensure compliance with court-ordered support.

Child support discussions are rarely simple, especially when emotions are high between a divorcing couple. Working with a knowledgeable and experienced family lawyer on your side. Our team is committed to protecting your children’s financial future by ensuring fair and accurate child support arrangements, whether you are negotiating a new agreement or seeking to enforce or modify an existing one. We take a strategic, focused approach that keeps your children’s best interests at the heart of every conversation.

Domestic Violence and Restraining Orders

Domestic violence is one of the most serious issues within family law, having lasting and devastating effects on families and survivors. Domestic violence can include a wide range of harmful behaviors, including physical violence, emotional abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, and stalking. In the context of family law, domestic violence typically refers to abusive actions perpetrated by one family member against another, with the intent to control, harm, or manipulate the victim. The law acknowledges the profound impact that domestic violence has on victims, often including children, and prioritizes their safety and well-being throughout family law proceedings.

California takes domestic violence allegations very seriously and integrates them into various aspects of family law cases. Whether dealing with child custody, spousal support, or property division, the courts work to ensure that victims are protected and that abusers are held accountable for their actions.

Seeking Restraining Orders in the Central Valley

In California, a restraining order, also known as a protective order, is a legal tool designed to protect individuals from harm by legally preventing an abuser from engaging in certain behaviors, such as contacting, harassing, or coming within a specific distance of the person seeking protection. Restraining orders are particularly important in family law cases involving domestic violence, as they help ensure the safety of victims and their children. 

There are three main types of restraining orders available in California: Emergency Protective Orders (EPOs), Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs), and Permanent Restraining Orders (PROs). Each type of restraining order serves a distinct purpose and is used at different stages of the legal process to offer various levels of protection. If you are in immediate danger, first call 911 for emergency assistance, as they can intervene quickly and may help assist in obtaining an EPO.

Working with an experienced family law attorney can help you through this process as well, ensuring that you present a compelling case and advocating for the protection you need. Our lawyers will help you every step of the way, from filing the necessary paperwork to representing you in court. We are committed to making sure your voice is heard and that you are safeguarded from further abuse.

Secure Your Family’s Future with Visalia, CA Family Lawyers

Whether you are expecting a smooth resolution or bracing for a challenging legal battle, Griswold LaSalle Cobb Dowd & Gin LLP is here to help you through the process. Our dedicated team of family lawyers in Tulare County is here to provide the support and knowledge you need to get peace of mind.

With our firm, you will receive clear, practical advice and strong, confident representation, whether negotiating a settlement or advocating for you in court. We are committed to standing by you every step of the way, offering collaborative, strategic solutions to help you achieve the best outcome possible. Reach out today to schedule a confidential consultation online or by phone.