Domestic Relations: If you are contemplating or are involved in a divorce action (in California, referred to as a “Dissolution”), you may wish to visit the pages involving division of marital property and spousal support.  If you have children you will find the pages concerning child custody and child support important. The child support sections contains a link to calculate guideline child support. Before hiring an attorney you may wish to visit the “First Steps” page, or learn about divorce mediation, which is a lower cost alternative to litigation. In addition to dissolution actions, “Domestic Relations” also includes actions related to paternity where the rights and liabilities of parents who are not married are decided. We have also compiled many common questions I have been asked over the years. I recommend you browse the FAQs section.

Adoptions/Guardianships:  In addition to Domestic Relations actions, our office handles cases of adoption and guardianship. This includes Independent Adoptions, in which the prospective parent or parents wish to adopt a child and Stepparent Adoptions, in which the prospective parent is a stepparent of the child already the natural or adopted child of the other parent. The third category is the Agency Adoption in which an agency acts to bring the prospective parents and child together. Each category has its own procedures, costs, and requirements.  “Adoptions” also includes a relatively new and growing area of the law, Surrogacy, in which a child is conceived, not by the intended parents, but by a woman who acts by agreement, as the biological mother with the intent that the child will be given over to other parents who will attain parental rights to the child. In the near future, this web site will contain additional information and links relevant to adoptions and guadianships.

Additional Information: It is my hope that these resources answer most of your questions concerning your areas of interest. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us by E-mail or telephone (contact info: click here).