Child custody is often an issue of paramount importance in Bay Area divorce proceedings. While each parent may already have secured stability in terms of career, health, and future plans, a child, especially if young, is still developing intellectually, physically, and emotionally. When parents divorce, the impact on these areas of a child’s development can have both short-term and long-term effects. For this, courts in California do not rely on a default framework with regard to child custody.

In other words, rather than automatically awarding custody of a child to the mother or father based on a single reason, the court considers what is in the best interests of the child. In this consideration, courts evaluate several primary factors related to the child’s wellbeing and environment. A skilled Los Gatos child custody attorney is well acquainted with these factors and how California courts weigh them.

Age, Health, Emotional Ties, and Parental Ability Are Among the Relevant Child Custody Factors in California

Television and film are rich with depictions of litigation, courtrooms, and righteous legal prose. In film, there are the many adaptations of novels written by author John Grisham, including The Firm, The Client, and The Pelican Brief, among others. On television, there are How to Get Away With Murder, Suits, and, perhaps the all-time most well-known show, Law and Order. A common thread among all these many narratives is the element of confrontation.

The reason for this commonality is the adversarial nature of litigation. Whether between a state prosecutor and a local criminal defense attorney or between a tort litigator and the defense counsel in a civil court, the parties are fighting for the outcome that best serves their interests. As human beings, we are wired to be interested in competition and conflict in the social world, as these activities have much to with power – a resource central to so many of the activities of society, whether in the U.S. or abroad. An experienced Los Gatos mediation attorney, however, knows that mediation and compromise may succeed where competition and conflict fail.

Bay Area Wealth and Property Values Bear on Matters of Mediation

If you are going through a divorce in the Santa Clara County and have signed a prenuptial agreement, you may wonder how it will affect your proceedings. In many cases, prenups simplify the divorce process, as these agreements dictate how property will be divided. Property division can be one of the most contentious aspects of divorces.

However, there are many requirements a prenup agreement must meet in order for the court to enforce it in full, as written and signed by the parties. If you seek to invalidate a prenup agreement, it is important to be aware of common mistakes that can be made. If you seek to enforce a prenup agreement, it is critical to identify weaknesses in the agreement and formulate a defense as to why the contract should be enforced.

In general, California follows the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPAA), which is a set of recommended laws adopted individually, in whole or in part, by states across the country. Some of the requirements and prohibitions found in UPAA include:

Many people seek a divorce because they are tired of fighting with their spouse. Once they begin the divorce process, which typically includes property division, child custody, and setting support, they see that many more fights may be in store.

Perhaps it is the case that the other spouse is taking a tense situation and adding fuel to the fire. These spouses are considered to be high-conflict, and it can feel like there is no way out but to put up a fight.

With the help of a skilled divorce attorney, you will be able to deal with difficult situations and minimize the fighting. Here are some tips on how to manage a high-conflict ex:

Gray divorce - those involving spouses over age 50 - are on the rise in the U.S. Among this group, the divorce rate has roughly doubled since the 1990s, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Among spouses 65 and older, the divorce rate has tripled in the same period of time.

Experts say that baby boomers, who as a group experienced marital instability earlier in life, are contributing to the rising divorce rate in this age group as subsequent marriages tend to be less stable than first marriages.

Divorces among these population groups often focus on certain types of issues due to the station in life that the spouses find themselves in. Mediation with a qualified Saratoga divorce attorney can be a great fit for those going through a gray divorce for several reasons.