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California is a community property state, meaning any debt acquired during a marriage must be equally divided between the spouses upon a divorce. So regardless of any agreement you may have made in your divorce decree, there is always the possibility that your ex won't pay their fair share of your joint debt—and that can be a big problem.

So, what do you do?

I have seen the dilemma that parents face all the time. They need to hire a lawyer to navigate the complicated legal system to file for custody, but they lack the funds or resources to get it going. Unfortunately, it happens all too often – thousands of people make too much money to qualify for legal aid, yet not enough money to hire an attorney to help them file for custody.

Luckily, there is an attractive option.

As more people invest in cryptocurrency, I often get asked about how to handle this digital currency during a divorce. As with anything of value, cryptocurrency has a specific set of rules according to the court.

Many people think they have a general idea of how custody and visitation work. For example, it's a common misconception that grandparents are entitled to visitation. From the point of view of California law, they are not.

However, there are certain circumstances when grandparents can petition the court for visitation.

I often need to clear up misconceptions from many people about how divorce actually works. Often, these mistaken beliefs are gleaned from television and films or from stories people have heard through the grapevine. Below, are some common misunderstandings about divorce.

In the eyes of their owners, the family pet is practically like a child. So if a marriage falls apart, who gets the right to keep the beloved animal? And if one ex-spouse keeps the pet, may the other get visitation rights? Though the law governing pets in a divorce is quite different than it is for children, recent developments are changing how courts decide cases.

People always ask me: “What’s the main reason people get divorced?”

There is no easy answer here because people get divorced for MANY different reasons. For as many clients I have, that's how many various reasons there are. The commonality is not why people get divorced but rather what they fight about after deciding to divorce.

In that, it seems, the commonalities are nearly universal.

The end of a marriage can be particularly hard on the children in the family. Of course, any child involved will be emotionally invested in the outcome of the custody and visitation terms. Many parents wonder—how much say should their child get in the custody outcome? And is the court required to listen to the child's wishes?