Under a new California law, pets are considered to be possessions that the court can divide. Governor Jerry Brown has signed a law which will take effect Jan.1, 2018.

Divorce cases, under California law, often involve finances.  In order to sort out finances, documentation is necessary.  Virtually every divorce case in California requires disclosure of finances to the other side, and depending upon how complex they are, the disclosure can be quite onerous.  This is, without question, the most frustrating portion of my job.  [...]

When you want to ask the court to do something in your case, you usually file a Request for Order (FL300) and it can be heard in around a month or two. But what if you need to do it sooner? The first step is to prepare an FL300 form (Your whole motion) and check [...]

"With the noble sentiment of 'levelling the playing field' so that no party has an undue information advantage, the writers of the discovery rules created a multilevel playing field where the information-rich can kick the information-poor in the head and escape unscathed. "Discovery" is anything but ... Hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain the [...]

People are often dismayed upon finding out that their conception as to what transpires in family court crashes upon the shoals of reality.  As I repeat as  often as possible, the reality is that California Judges are hard-working, intelligent people who deserve our admiration, not our scorn, and do not deserve to be constantly the [...]

There are a great many fallacies regarding how PAS plays out within therapy.   The common course of action is for the court to punt: we will hand this over to a therapist, the therapist will give us a recommendation, and we will probably follow it.  That has a lot to do with the dysfunctional [...]

1. Don't interrupt excessively and argue with the Judge too much. Some Judges are okay with it. Others won't tolerate it. 2. Make claims you have supporting evidence for. Do not speculate. If your ex really does worship Satan, you better have video of him doing it. 3. Remain calm. Some emotion is to be [...]

Family law cases involving child custody usually have any number of therapists playing different roles in the case.  One can be a therapist to the child, another can see each parent, a third can see both parents.  One of the important features of using therapists is that it can provide opportunities for normal, well-adjusted people [...]

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a condition characterized by difficulties in regulating emotion. This difficulty leads to severe, unstable mood swings, impulsivity and instability, poor self-image and stormy personal relationships. People may make repeated attempts to avoid real or imagined situations of abandonment. The combined result of living with BPD can manifest into destructive behavior, [...]

  MERCUTIO: I am hurt. A plague o' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone, and hath nothing? -Romeo and Juliet The houses, in this case, are those of the feuding Montague and Capulet families, which caused Juliet so much grief and was the source of her 'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou [...]