California Divorce Law and Tips

Divorce is the second most painful moment for any married couple, the first being the death of the spouse. Divorce comes with some permanent changes in life style, address and brings big changes in your family and children's life. Because of the legalities involved in divorce, it makes it a complicated and a long lasting procedure. Every state in the United States has their laws on divorce. If you are planning for a divorce or you have been served with the divorce papers, then before you initiate the divorce process, it is better to understand the laws of divorce and the legal proceeding involved in divorce. Another important thing to keep in mind is that to get a divorce in California, one of the divorcing parties must be a resident of the state for not less than six months before filling the divorce papers.

In California, divorce is also known as dissolution of marriage. After filling the required California divorce forms and papers, the dissolution proceeding initiates. This divorce paper includes all the details including the financial details, basic family details and the reason for divorce. If you are going for an uncontested divorce, then you do not require the services of an attorney for the most of the process. You will require the services of the attorney while going on the court for the final divorce settlement and the child custody agreement. If you are filling a contested divorce, then you need the services of an attorney. Once the divorce papers are filled in the court, it is served to your spouse, and your spouse gets thirty days to file a reply.

When it comes to child custody, according to the divorce laws, both the parent have an equal responsibility to support their children in their best interest. This duty of providing support continues till the time child has attained an age of 19 years or have completed the 12 grade' whichever occurs first. Other than this both the parents have equal responsibilities to give support to the children till they are able of.

California is one of the community property states. This means what ever property is acquired during the tenure of marriage while living in the state in a community property and an equal distribution of the property is done by the court. Any separate property is not included in the division of community estate.

Separate property that does not come under the hammer of settlement is:

All property owned by the person before marriage.

All the property obtained by the person through gifts.

Any income generated from above-given property.

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