There seems to be a misconception in the general public that you can only obtain a divorce in California if your spouse will sign the divorce papers.  I get this…

An action for dissolution of marriage often involves the division of community property.  Typically, this involves property that is in the control and possession of either spouse.  However, community property…

The family court’s could grant initial restraining orders, protecting victims of domestic violence, for a period of up to 5 years under family code §6345(a).  This includes personal conduct orders,…

Couples have different spending habits and different philosophy in handling marital finances. Some spouses are conservative in managing their finances and stick with a budget while other spouses do not…

THE family court’s could grant initial restraining orders, protecting victims of domestic violence, for a period of up to 5 years under family code §6345(a). This includes personal conduct orders,…

Whenever the support of a minor child, or an adult child for whom support is authorized under §3901 or §3910 of the family code, is at issue, the court may…

Beginning August 2013, the visa availability for F2A category of family based petitions will be current.  Historically, the wait for this category was 3-4 years.  The F2A category consists of…

Parents that are going through divorce and legal separation sometimes have to make a decision to move out of state for various reasons. It may be because their family network…

The Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments of 1986 (IMFA) requires an alien obtaining a green card through a marriage less than two years old to come back at the end of…

The decision to terminate one’s marriage typically brings to the forefront many issues all at once. Issues pertaining to property, support, and child custody need to be addressed in a…

The decision to terminate one’s marriage typically brings to the forefront many issues all at once.  Issues pertaining to property, support, and child custody need to be addressed in a…

It is a common situation specially within the Filipino community in California to listen to paralegal marketing about “Quick” Nevada divorces.  Since there is no divorce in the Philippines, many Filipinos come…

Consider the common divorce scenario where the divorce judgment provides  primary custody of the children  to one spouse while the other spouse only gets visitation. The parties begin to file…

ON January 2, 2013, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the time US citizens are separated…

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…

The duties owed between spouses in the management and control of community property are the same with regard to those in a fiduciary relationship.  The marital entity is one with…

One of the major assets a divorcing couple usually has, other than real estate property, are retirement benefits such as company pensions, 401k, and other deferred compensation. The problem in…

The economic crisis and changes in immigration legislation has made it more difficult to pursue certain traditional paths to obtaining permanent residency in the United States. Employment based immigration has…

WHEN the marital relationship sours to the point where one or both spouses believe that the marriage cannot be salvaged, three remedies are available to terminate or alter the marital…

It is typical, if not natural, for Parties to a divorce case to start hiding assets and income from each other as soon as divorce is anticipated.  Spouse’s are thinking…

The wait time for  immigrant petitions to become “current” under most family based preference categories often takes a long time.  During this long waiting period, it is common for derivative…

DHS current policy is to focus its enforcement resources on the removal of individuals who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety, including individuals convicted…

Thinking about one’s demise is not something people want to spend time thinking about. However reality is that we all have to face this one day. It is just a…

THE purpose of spousal support is not defined by the legislature in that its purpose varies according to the facts and circumstances of each case. The facts and circumstances of…

DHS current policy is to focus its enforcement resources on the removal of individuals who pose a danger to national security or a risk to public safety, including individuals convicted…

It is very common for beneficiaries of family based petition to wait many years before their petition’s priority date becomes current. This is usually the case with US Citizen parent…

A petition for nullity of a marriage is based on an allegation that an impediment existed at the time of the marriage that prevented the marriage from ever existing. Whereas…

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…

It is very disheartening to witness children of immigrants work so hard to obtain good grades in school, achieve honor roll standing in high school, get accepted to top universities,…

Since 1938, US immigration regulations have provided for the automatic revocation of the approved visa petition upon the death of the Petitioner. However, immigration regulations since 2006 provided that automatic…