Janus Friis, the co-founder of Skype, gave his Danish pop star girlfriend Aura Dione (real name Maria Louise Joenson) a $471,942 engagement ring when he popped the question in July of 2013. Among the platinum ring’s many diamonds are a 1.76 carat center diamond, two pear-shaped blue diamonds weighing in…
In my last blog I talked about how a custody evaluation is ordered, what it costs, and how long it takes. If you have not read that blog, it may be helpful to go back and take a look before you continue. If you prefer to get right into the…
Full, honest, and complete disclosure is a critical part of divorce in California. Family Code section 2100 explicitly calls for “full and accurate disclosure of all assets and liabilities” because doing so furthers the sound public policy of “the reduction of the adversarial nature of marital dissolution and the attendant…
In earlier blogs I discussed what a parent can expect during child custody mediation, both private mediation and court connected mediation. Both scenarios, while nuanced, are quite straight forward. What happens if you are involved in a high-conflict child custody case and the court orders a custody evaluation? What does…
When the marriages of most couples become irretrievably broken, the most common way to end these marriages is to file for divorce. However, certain extenuating circumstances call for annulling the marriage rather than dissolving it. There are two distinct categories of marriages in the context of nullities. There are marriages…
On October 7, 2015 news broke that the richest man in Illinois, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, came to a settlement in his divorce from Anne Dias Griffin. The two had entered into a prenuptial agreement (also referred to as a “prenup” or “premarital agreement”) prior to their marriage in…
It is no secret that hiring an attorney can be costly. A spouse may be hesitant to seek legal counsel in their divorce or related family law matter, thinking that they would be unable to afford it. However, it is extremely important to have legal representation in certain matters, and…
In an earlier blog I discussed what to expect from court connected child custody mediation (Family Court Services – “FCS”). If you have not read that blog yet, go back and take a look since I give a background on child custody mediation generally. In today’s blog, I am going…
It happens all the time. One spouse buys a home before the date of marriage, but during the marriage, community money is used to pay down the mortgage. How does the Court typically deal with these situations? This question was largely resolved in the Supreme Court of California case, In…
Megan Fox may pay “manimony”…shows us alimony isn’t just for the ladies anymore! After a 5 year marriage, Megan Fox filed for divorce from Brian Austin Green in August. While there has been much speculation since then as to whether Fox would be on the hook for spousal support, it…