Atty. Kenneth Reyes

Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail [email protected] or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

Grounds for annulling a marriage

Most couples that want out of a marriage in California usually file for Divorce.  There are circumstances though that allow a couple to have their marriage “voided” rather than “dissolved.”  There is a big difference between the two concepts.  With a voided marriage, it restores the couple to status of unmarried person as if they…

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Do I have community property interest in a house which my spouse acquired before our marriage?

GENERALLY, in California, property acquired by a spouse prior to marriage is considered separate property under family code section 770 while those acquired after marriage are considered community assets under family code section 760.  How do you characterize real property purchased prior to marriage but with the mortgage principal paid down using community income or…

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Do I have community property interest in a house which my spouse acquired before our marriage?

GENERALLY, in California, property acquired by a spouse prior to marriage is considered separate property under family code section 770 while those acquired after marriage are considered community assets under family code section 760.  How do you characterize real property purchased prior to marriage but with the mortgage principal paid down using community income or…

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Does the creation of a revocable living trust, during the marriage, transmute separate property to community property?

DIVORCING couples may have established revocable living trust for estate planning pusposes during their marriage which was funded primarily with assets acquired by one spouse prior to the marriage.  The issue is what is the characterization of those property when the couple gets the divorce.  Transmutation is the changing of the characterization of a property…

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How courts determine child custody in california

ONE of the most emotional aspect of a marital dissolution case is dealing with Child custody issues.  Sadly enough, this is an area where most parents play games with each other trying their best to deprive the other parents of their right to maintain relationship with their child.  Child custody comes in two parts, 1)…

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The presumption of “undue influence” in transactions between spouses during the marriage

California law on the nature of spouses’ rights and obligations with respect to management and control of community property has evolved over the last thirty years from less stringent “good faith” standards to heightened “confidential duty” and “fiduciary duty’ standards.  Under current law, the duties owed between spouses in transactions between themselves are the same…

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Do I need a premarital agreement before getting married?

”This becomes a problem if you are the spouse that has the substantially higher income or the one who accumulates the majority of the assets during the marriage.”   IN the absence of a premarital agreement, the general community property presumption under California family code section 760 controls which provides “ ….all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired…

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K-1 visa: Fiance visa to marry US citizen

IN previous editions of this article, the process of obtaining permanent residence through marriage was explored.  Discussion of that procedure began with the supposition that the couple was married, and continued with the various steps to ultimately gain permanent residence.  In many cases, however, a problem exists in even getting to the point at which…

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I filed my own divorce but I can’t finish it

MANY people try to file and open their own divorce case without an attorney in an effort to save on legal fees.   Often, the self-represented divorce litigant would seek the assistance of the court facilitator’s office in preparing the papers to open their own divorce case.  However once the divoqqqqqqrce case is opened, many…

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Dealing with assets omitted from a divorce case

YOU and your spouse may have gone through a lengthy and contentious divorce proceeding.  This is usually the most difficult period of a person’s life.  Finally, time heals all pain.  You and your spouse get tired of bickering and being mean to one another that you both decide to compromise each other positions and resolve…

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Can the family court deny a custodial mom’s enforcement of a child support order against dad? In this case, grandparents were actually taking care of child

IN the case of In re Marriage of Wilson, the Mother was attempting to enforce child support arrears against the Father for the period in which the child was not living with the Mother but instead was living with the Grandparents.  The Father filed a request for an order in court, seeking a stay of enforcement…

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Can the family court deny a custodial mom’s enforcement of a child support order against dad? In this case, grandparents were actually taking care of child

IN the case of In re Marriage of Wilson, the Mother was attempting to enforce child support arrears against the Father for the period in which the child was not living with the Mother but instead was living with the Grandparents.  The Father filed a request for an order in court, seeking a stay of enforcement…

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2018 tax changes that affect divorcing couples

THE Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was recently enacted into law, impact various issues in a divorce case.  These changes are effective beginning 2018 through 2025. Spousal upport.  pousal Support will no longer be deductible by the paying spouse and will not be taxable income to the supported spouse for post 2017 divorce judgments and support…

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