Rizio and Nelson California Law Blog

Legal Guardianship

There are many reasons for becoming a legal guardian of a child. Perhaps the child was neglected, or the parents have been arrested or hospitalized for a long term stay. Whatever the reason, a social worker has advised the courts of the problem, and a judge has decided that it is no longer safe or appropriate for the child to live with the parents. Often, the new legal guardian is a relative of...

Child Custody Laws

One of the things that makes divorce so very difficult is when there are children who will be affected by it for the rest of their lives. Deciding who has custody of the children is up to the judge if the parents cannot agree or are unable to make the decision. If the parents are able to agree on scheduled visitations and who has custody, then the judge will abide by their decision, but not until...

Process of Divorce

The process of Divorce or Dissolution of Marriage California’s “no fault divorce” policy basically means that a person can be granted a divorce by the state if one of the spouses finds that the marriage has broken down due to “irreconcilable differences”. Only one spouse has to initiate the process, even if the other spouse does not agree. There is a residency requirement. One of the...

Community Property

California is a state that applies “community property”, sometimes called “marital property”, laws. This means that any property acquired during the marriage belongs to both spouses. It does not matter if one spouse worked and one did not. The state divides the property equally between both parties if the marriage ends in divorce because it is assumed that they both contribute to the marriage...