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Family Law

Child Visitation & Custody

There are two types of child custody:

The first is Legal Custody, which means who makes important decisions for your children, such as Healthcare and education.
The Second is Physical Custody, which means who your children live with.

Legal custody can be:
Joint: This is where both parents share the right and responsibility to make important decisions about education and the health of the children.
Sole: This is where only one parent has the right and responsibility to make important Decisions about education and the health of the children.
Just like legal custody, physical custody can be joint, which means the children live with both parents, or sole, which means the children live with one parent most of the time and visit the other parent.

In most cases, parents can make their own arrangements for custody and visitation, without a court order. If arrangements cannot be made then that is where we step in.

Visitation Disputes

Mediation (intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it) is necessary for California when there is a dispute over the custody of children.

Domestic Violence Restraining Orders

A Domestic Violence Restraining Order is against someone you've dated or had an intimate relationship with, including a spouse or domestic partner. It can also be against a relative if they are your child, parent, sibling or grandparent. This includes in-laws.
A domestic violence restraining order can be granted against someone who has abused you or your children. Abuse can be emotional or physical. It can happen anywhere, including online. Abuse can happen in different ways, including someone stopping you from accessing money or basic needs, or isolating you from friends or family.

What can a restraining order do?

A judge can grant a restraining order to protect someone, their children, their property, or their pets. Once a judge grants a restraining order, the police can be called to enforce the order.

A domestic violence restraining order can include these types of orders:

  No contact

  Not harass,stalk, threaten or harm people protected by the order

  Stay away by a certain distance

  Move out from a home that is shared with the protected person

  Not have guns, firearms, or amunition

  Pay spousal support, if you are married

  Pay child support, if you have children together

The judge can also make orders about child custody if you have children together. There are many other ways a domestic violence restraining order can protect someone.

Spousal & Child Support

Short Term, or, Temporary Spousal Support is designed to help ensure that the lower earning/lower asset spouse is able to live in a manner which closely comports with the other spouses standard of living, usually lasting for one-half of the length of the marriage (i.e., date of marriage to the date of separation, often concurrent with the filing of the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage). Typically, Short Term or Temporary Spousal Support is awarded pending a Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage (i.e., Judgement of Divorce).

Long Term, or, "Permanent" Spousal Support, is usually awarded in marriages which last longer than 10 years. It is calculated based on the marital standard of living, i.e., the manner and lifestyle in which you and your spouse lived during the last five years of your marriage.

Child Support is typically calculated according to the state guidelines for Child Support, although for good cause it may vary from the guideline amounts. In high net worth cases, it takes a great deal of expertise to know all of the ways to interpret and input the right data into the DissoMaster Program, which is an authorized computer program the Courts use to determine the appropriate level of both Child and Spousal Support. In fact, knowing what to fight to include, or, what to exclude from DissoMaster is of such great importance that it can make a huge difference in the amount of both Child Support, and, Spousal Support, awarded by the Court. It is of paramount importance for both you and your children to ensure that support calculations occur with inputs which are most advantageous for you. Accordingly, we employ both the best expert analysis and legal arguments necessary to ensure that the correct inputs are used to ensure you optimal results when Support is at issue.

A factor in calculating Child Support, as well as Short Term and Long Term Support, is the paying Spouse's income available for support. This can include a reasonable rate of return on investments, even when no other income source is available. In order to ensure that you are not overburdened if you are the paying spouse, or, that you receive less than you are entitled to at law if you are the supported spouse, we often call on Forensic Accountants with the highest level of expertise and experience in Family Court Cases to ensure you obtain the greatest degree of relief you are entitled to under the law.

Pre & Post Marital Contracts

It's not very romantic, but marriage is a business partnership. Pre and post nuptial agreements can define what each spouse will retain in the event the marriage is unsuccessful. Do you have a plan in place to protect your assets if your best laid plans go awry? We do.

Asset Tracing

Unfortunately, high-asset divorces often involve a less than forthright disclosure of income and assets related information. This is especially true for the "out-spouse", i.e., the one who has less management and control over the Family's Assets. This problem is geometrically expanded where individuals involved with Multi-National Corporations or Business Concerns are involved, and, where the in spouse has dual citizenship. In such cases, assets and income will often be concealed overseas, or, beneath a surface accounting process.
In addition to this, persons who claim that their separate assets compromise a significant portion of the Martial Estate will also often co-mingle their monies in a community account. Here, at The Law Offices of J Michael Sean Onderick & Associates we have the right team of Forensic Accountants and other experts immediately available to ensure that you do not unknowingly give up your right to assets and income when you don’t have to, and, to help restore those assets to their rightful owner...you.

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