Monterey County Divorce Lawyers

Monterey County Divorce Lawyers

Divorce is a complicated legal matter, and its outcome will guide your post-divorce future, which makes it critical to put in the time to obtain well-considered divorce terms. One of the most important first moves you can make if you are headed toward divorce is consulting with an experienced Monterey County divorce lawyer from the outset. 

Your Parental Rights

If you and your divorcing spouse share children, your parental rights and child custody arrangements are likely a primary concern. In California, child custody is addressed in two ways – legal custody and physical custody. 

Legal custody determines how you and your ex will go about making important decisions related to your children’s upbringing. This includes decisions such as:

• Healthcare, including mental healthcare
• Where children will attend school or daycare
• Extracurricular activities, sports, summer activities, vacations, and travel
• Religious education and upbringing

Both parents can continue making these decisions by consensus (known as joint legal custody), or you can adopt one of the following approaches:

• One parent can take on tie-breaking authority for those times when no amount of negotiating between the two of you will suffice.
• One parent can take on sole decision-making authority (known as sole legal custody). 
• You can divide the decision-making between you according to the kind of decision that needs to be made.

Parenting Time

Parenting time refers to the schedule by which parents divide time with their shared children. Sometimes, one parent takes on a primary custodial role while the other has a parenting time (or visitation) schedule. Other times, parents divide their time more evenly. If you and your ex are able to negotiate a parenting time schedule between yourselves, you will face few limitations from the court, but if you need the court’s intervention, you can expect one of its standard schedules. A skilled Monterey County divorce lawyer can help you determine the best choice for your family.

Child Support

Child support is a payment system that helps to balance each parent’s financial responsibilities to support their children, and it is determined using a wide range of factors. Ultimately, the parent with higher earnings typically has the child support obligation – even when parenting time is split evenly. 

Division of Community Property  

The division of marital property refers to the process of dividing all the assets and debts that you and your spouse acquired while you were married. These shared assets are also known as the community estate. Some property may be considered separate property and will be excluded from division, such as an inheritance or property that one spouse owned before the marriage and kept separate. 

Once your community assets are offset by your community debts, the remaining value must be divided between you both, and this division is typically equal, regardless of who did the purchasing or who has current possession of an asset.

Alimony

Alimony, also known as spousal support, only comes into play when divorce leaves one spouse unable to support themself while the other has the financial means to help provide support. Alimony is generally only set for an amount of time that allows the recipient to gain financial independence. 

Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Monterey County Divorce Lawyer Today

The formidable Monterey County divorce lawyers at Miranda, Magden & Miranda, LLP, are proud of their proven track record for fiercely protecting the parental and financial rights of all our clients, and we look forward to also helping you. To learn more, please do not put off contacting us today.