Family Law Section

Recent dependency law cases, current through 5/22/2023. Written by John Nieman. Read more

Recent family law cases, current through 5/22/2023. Written by Andrew Botros, CFLS Read more

This comprehensive course on Family Law Evidence Issues provides a deep dive into the intricacies of hearsay, authentication, and exceptions as they pertain to family law cases. Read more

Recent dependency law cases, current through 4/23/2023. Written by John Nieman. Read more

Recent family law cases, current through 4/23/2023. Written by Andrew Botros, CFLS Read more

Join our distinguished panelists for an in-depth presentation and discussion of unique issues in family law matters when there is a child with special needs. Read more

This presentation will begin with a brief overview of the QDRO process, and then continue with a discussion of the various ways family law attorneys can avoid problem arising from retirement plan divisions. Topics covered will include bifurcating marital status (including joinders and provisional QDROs), drafting MSAs and other written agreements to divide retirement plans, and the use of models provided by retirement plan administrators when drafting QDROs in-house. Materials will include sample language to help attorneys avoid the issues covered in the presentation.  Read more

DEPENDENCY (current through 3/20/2023)By:  John Nieman The precise holdings in a given case are bolded. A.H. v. Superior Court A.H. v. Superior Court03/17/2023, CA 4/3: G061648https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/G061648.PDF See summary under FAMILY LAW In re N.M. et al. In re N.M. et al.3/2/23, CA 2/1 B315559https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B315559.PDF Father appealed the granting of sole physical custody upon dismissal. Jurisdiction was originally based upon mother’s driving under the influence of alcohol with a child in the car. Father and mother lived apart then, mother lived… Read more

FAMILY LAW (current through 3/20/2023)By:  Andrew Botros, CFLS The precise holdings in a given case are bolded. In re Marriage of Cohen In re Marriage of Cohen2/16/2023, certified for publication on 3/20/2023, CA 4/3: G060697https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/G060697.PDF The Motion to Dismiss in the Trial Court In this case, Husband’s request to modify child support and spousal support was dismissed under the disentitlement doctrine. This part of the order was affirmed. The Court of Appeal first addressed the fact that the trial court… Read more

In this case, the trial court erred in two respects when it signed husband’s QDRO. First, it erroneously used husband’s rank and salary at the time of the parties’ separation to calculate the community interest in his pension instead of his final rank and salary at the time of his retirement, as required by the time rule. This was error because “[u]nder the traditional time rule, the fraction of service during marriage divided by total service must be ‘multiplied by the final plan benefit to determine the community interest.’” and “because the community property interest at issue—the right to retirement benefits—'is a right to draw from a stream of income Read more