Latest News | Claery & Hammond, LLP

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 3-Feb-2020

Are You Ready to Be a Single Parent?

So, you’re getting a divorce. Up until now, surely, you’ve been sharing parenting responsibilities with your spouse. Whether you are the parent who has been spending more or less time with the children based on your work circumstances, ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 20-Jan-2020

Child Custody: Reasons Not to Move Away

When it comes to the subject of divorce, there’s one thing that is a constant and it is change. If you’re a parent who is on the road to divorce, you may not realize it but your life will probably look very different five years from now, ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 8-Jan-2020

Can a Mother Get Child Support Without Establishing Paternity?

These days, more (and more) children are being born out of wedlock or to unmarried parents, and there are reasons for this. For one, having a child outside of marriage has gone from being frowned upon to socially acceptable, even “normal” ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 23-Dec-2019

Grandparents' Visitation Rights in California

If you’re a grandparent, you may be wondering if you can have any type of visitation rights in California. Since the laws vary from state to state, this is a reasonable question to ask indeed. As a grandparent in California, you are in luck. It ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 9-Dec-2019

Handling Child Custody Over the Holidays

Now that it’s December, we are deep in the holiday season. Starbucks is selling its holiday beverages, outdoor shopping centers have put up their big trees, the Christmas lights have gone up on homes, fires have started crackling, and hot cocoa ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 18-Nov-2019

Are You Committing Parental Alienation?

Let’s face it, divorce is extremely emotional for most people. When you get a divorce, your whole life is turned upside-down. You have to change all of your passwords, go over all of your assets and debts with a fine-toothed comb, possibly find ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 4-Nov-2019

Can I Include Child Support Arrears in Bankruptcy?

In the United States, when debtors get too far behind on their debts, they have the option of filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 is known as the “debt liquidation bankruptcy,” and it’s basically reserved for ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 21-Oct-2019

How Domestic Violence Can Impact Spousal Support

Each state views marital misconduct differently. For example, in one state, adultery may impact spousal support (alimony) and property division, but in another state, it may not matter at all. In California for example, if a lower-earning spouse ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 7-Oct-2019

Will My Spouse Get Any of My Inheritance if I Divorce?

If you’re contemplating divorce and you expect to receive an inheritance in the near future, you may be wondering if your spouse will be entitled to any, if not half of your inheritance. This is not only a logical question, but it comes up ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 24-Sep-2019

Should the Richer Parent Win Custody?

Let’s say you earn a modest middle-class salary, and your soon-to-be-ex earns a six-figure salary, or they don’t have to work because they have family money. You can only afford an apartment or a condo in San Diego, and your spouse can ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 10-Sep-2019

Can I Avoid Child Support if I'm Disabled?

If you are a noncustodial parent who pays child support and you become disabled as a result of an accident, an illness, or a workplace accident, you may find yourself physically incapable of working. If you are disabled and unable to work, how does ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 20-Aug-2019

How a Restraining Order Impacts a Divorce Case

Are you in a marriage with someone who is abusing you, your children, or your family pets? Or, are you being accused of committing domestic violence against your spouse or children? Either way, you’ll be interested in learning about domestic ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 6-Aug-2019

Does Spousal Support End with Cohabitation in California?

Will spousal support (often called “alimony” in other states) be awarded in your divorce case? It depends because contrary to popular belief, spousal support is not automatically awarded in a California divorce. Spousal support is often ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 15-Jul-2019

Default Divorce in San Diego

Have you been served divorce papers? If so, you may be in shock right now or perhaps you have been mentally preparing for this moment because you knew it was coming. So, what do you do next? What happens if you ignore the divorce petition? If you do ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 1-Jul-2019

Should I Stay Off Social Media During Divorce?

If you’re like most people, you have at least a Facebook account. But the chances are high that you also have an Instagram account. You may even have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat account among others. It’s no ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 17-Jun-2019

When a Spouse is Wasting Marital Assets

Ideally, a divorcing couple will manage to have an amicable, collaborative divorce. The divorce will move forward relatively problem-free and both parties will walk away satisfied with the divorce settlement. But, we don’t live in a perfect ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 3-Jun-2019

Adult Child Support for Special Needs Children in California

Under California law, child support ends when a child reaches the age of majority (18-years-of-age), or when the child graduates high school, whichever happens later. But what if that child is disabled? What if the child has down syndrome, autism, ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 20-May-2019

When You Suspect Your Spouse is Hiding Marital Assets

In anticipation of a divorce, it is not uncommon for spouses to begin moving money, transferring and hiding assets – all with the goal of depriving their spouse of their fair share under California’s divorce laws. If you suspect your ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 6-May-2019

Should I Consider a Trial Separation?

A trial separation can go one of two ways: It can give a couple the space and time apart they need to realize that they truly do want to save their marriage. Or, it can cement the fact that a divorce is inevitable. If you’re considering a trial ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 15-Apr-2019

Do Unwed Fathers Have Rights Over Child Custody?

In today’s society, it’s becoming more common and socially acceptable for couples (and non-couples) to have children outside the institution of marriage. Why is this? There are many reasons...A couple may be children of divorce and they ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 1-Apr-2019

Divorce When You're the 'Out Spouse'

It is not unusual for spouses to have very different financial roles in a marriage, especially if one spouse is the breadwinner or earns significantly more than the other spouse. One spouse may have a much greater earning power and the “out ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 18-Mar-2019

Why Would I Want a Postnuptial Agreement?

Prenuptial agreements are the ones that get the most press. We hear about them frequently in the media, especially when someone famous drafted one before marriage. Now postnuptial agreements...we don’t hear about them so much, but they’re ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 4-Mar-2019

Disinheriting a Spouse in San Diego

Ask any estate planning attorney and he or she will openly admit that sometimes their clients ask about disinheriting their spouses – it’s not uncommon. Why would someone want to do that? Usually, it’s because their spouse ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 18-Feb-2019

Don't Waive Your Father's Rights!

If you are a child of divorce or if you grew up with a lot of friends whose parents were divorced, you may remember the way things were: Usually the mothers had custody of their children and their ex-husbands paid child support and rarely got to see ...

Posted By Claery & Hammond, LLP 4-Feb-2019

Can Child Support Be Avoided with Joint Custody?

As recent as the late 1990s, family courts across the nation were in the practice of showing preferential treatment to mothers in child custody cases, but that’s the past and things are handled quite differently now. In the past 30 years, women ...