What matters are taken
care of in a divorce?
Generally there are five
areas of concern that are handled through a divorce proceeding:
child custody, child visitation, child support, spousal support, and
property division.
What is child custody?
For those couples who
have children, the divorced parents will need to make a custodial
arrangement for the care and custody of their children. There are
two types of custody: legal custody and physical custody. Legal
custody is the ability of the parents to share the rights and
responsibilities of making important decisions about their
children’s health, education and welfare. Such decisions might
include: where the children will attend school and what religion the
children shall be raised in. The other type of custody is physical
custody. Physical custody generally means which parent the children
will live with on a regular basis.
What is child
visitation?
Child visitation is
simply the visitation time given to the parent who is not the
primary physical custodian.
What is child support?
Child support is the
amount of money required to be paid by one parent to the other for
the needs of the children. Generally the primary wage-earner will be
paying child support to the other parent.
What is spousal support?
Spousal support is money
that one spouse pays to help support the other after the filing of a
divorce. The spouse receiving support will pay federal and state
income taxes on it, and the spouse making such payments will be
entitled to a tax deduction. To determine the amount of spousal
support, the Judge will consider such factors as standard of living
during the marriage, length of the marriage, age, health, earning
capacity, and job histories of both individuals.
How will our property be
divided?
California is considered
a community property state. All property acquired through labor or
skill during the marriage is considered community property. Each
spouse owns half of the community property. Any debts incurred
during the marriage are also considered community property.
Community property possessions and debts are divided equally unless
you and your spouse agree to an unequal division or unless there are
more debts than assets. |
