Title to Property Only in One Spouse's Name?

Title to property in only one spouse’s name?

Something that comes up more than we would expect is where one spouse is on title to the property  but the other party is not. Property was acquired during the marriage, but when a piece of property is purchased during the marriage and at some point refinanced and one spouse is removed from title because of some bank or loan requirement, this can create an issue. This can also occur due to agreements between spouses during the marriage and a whole host of other reasons. Would the spouse whose name is taken off title (or was never on title) going to lose an ownership interest in the house?

 Title to property definitely will matter in family law cases, especially if one spouse is attempting to take an interest that was not intended. A presumption in California in the CA Evidence Code Section 662 states, “The owner of the legal title to property is presumed to be the owner of the full beneficial title. This presumption may be rebutted only by clear and convincing proof.”

Title presumption can conflict with other family law statutes and California case law that has come down over the years. For example, in some situations, there may be a presumption by California law that if a spouse is removed from title during the marriage, there was undue influence ( the transaction was not knowing, voluntary and consensual). This presumption would need to be overcome by the person who wants to claim the property should be divided according to its title.

Due to the volatile real estate market and the foreclosure issues that resulted, many people may have obtained second mortgages, refinanced multiple times, traded up or down and lost money, switched properties to leverage cash, rented out property to gain cash, and basically may have been forced to spend money when they didn't have it, or to have lost income due to the market conditions.  Further, many underwater mortgages suffered further harm because banks and servicers were not tightly controlled. Under the Home Owners Bill of Rights, (HBOR) which took effect January 1, 2013, servicers in particular, are now held to a much higher standard, and must do much more than they ever had to do in order to push the notice of default.  In many instances the owners do not even know who owns their loan, and if a servicer is not the lender, it starts to become fuzzy when things go wrong. Some clients are told to NOT pay for their mortgage, and some clients are told if they pay their mortgage, they cannot get a modification. There are now many different programs that might work for distressed owners, but generally it is not required to miss payments in order to obtain a modification. Errant treatment by lenders has created a large amount of foreclosure cases, and the cases that fall under HBOR will have in most cases, the best chances of recovery due to the more stringent regulations.

New Chico Courthouse to Open March 23, 2015

 1775 Concord Avenue
Chico, CA
(530) 532-7002
NEW BUTTE NORTH COUNTY COURTHOUSE IN CHICO

http://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/new-chico-courthouse-to-open-march-23/

New Chico Courthouse to open March 23

Update: the new courthouse is beautiful inside and appears to be to the Federal Courthouse standard, even if it was not; we don't know.

Feb 26, 2015 5:15 PM by News Staff

The new Butte County Courthouse in Chico is less than a month away from opening.

The new courthouse, located in southeast Chico off Bruce Road and East 20th Street, will handle civil and north county traffic cases. Family and juvenile dependency cases will also be transferred over from Oroville.

The 65 million dollar courthouse is the only project in California that fell under Senate Bill 1407, a bill which funds courthouse projects, in part, from fines and fees. "This project is not paid for locally by Butte County," Butte Superior Court Executive Officer Kimberly Flener said. "It is not part of our general fund, it comes from those funds specifically dedicated for courthouse construction.

The courthouse broke ground in May 2013 and will replace the Chico Courthouse on Oleander Avenue and the closed Paradise Courthouse. The courthouse on Oleander will close on Friday, March 20 and operations will transition to the new facility on Monday, March 23.











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Chico Family Law Attorney 530.359.8810 Affordable

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6 days ago - Affordable Family Law Attorney Chico Oroville ... The new Butte CountyCourthouse in Chico is scheduled to open 3/23/15. The new ...

Butte County Family Law Attorney C. Chan, Esq. 530.359 ...

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Feb 26, 2015 - Affordable divorce focuses on several factors; if the parties are determined to get their way no matter what, if the parties have unlimited money, ...

Are You Paying Too Much Support?

California child support is basically calculated by computer, using a court approved mathematical program. However, there are situations which can vastly affect the calculation of support if a person is self employed or may have circumstances where some income is not to be used in the calculation.

Attorney has seen cases with DCSS (Dept. Child Support Services) where one party gave incorrect information, or one party failed to object to financial data which was wrong, or one party failed to modify the support even while not employed, and the support arrears over 3 years, can double due to the calculation and interest used. Support does not usually ever go away unless one party (the receiving party) agrees to dismiss arrears, or there could be a violation of due process where one never got notice, or the correct paternity was never established, etc.

Because calculation of support is tied to percentage of custody, we tend to see many parents fighting about how much parenting time each has. Unfortunately due to economic conditions, this has only worsened in past 10 years.

If you need legal help with your arrears, custody modification, support modification or other family related issue, contact Attorney at 530.359.8810.

Are You Married 10 years or Longer When Divorcing?

Married 10 years or Longer?

Generally, spouses married for 10 years and longer entitle the spouse who earns less money, to keep the right to get support for as long as the other spouse can pay, for as long as one might actually need.  This is easier said than done, but in many cases, it is the ex husband paying the wife.

In many cases, most attorneys insist that spousal support NOT be waived. Because if you give it up, you likely will not be able to get it down the road. If one designates that such support is not modifiable, such as in a settlement agreement, normally the court will not extend support past the time specified even if you were or were not married over 10 years.  Because Social Security uses the 10 year mark as the "long term" marriage, you could possibly be eligible for SS benefits depending on your ex spouse's earnings when you reach age of retirement; but-- if remarried, the benefits are not usually applicable.  If ex spouse is a military member and you were also married 10 years or longer while spouse was on active duty, you might be eligible for retirement pay--if so, you may qualify for direct enforcement.   For women nearing retirement themselves, but without sufficient income or social security, this could greatly affect their ability to live.

Here is a link to general spousal support calc:  http://www.cadivorce.com/tools-resources/child-spousal-support-calculator/

You can also look at others, or the support calc for child support:
http://www.childsup.ca.gov/resources/calculatechildsupport.aspx

//see terms of use:
This calculator does not constitute legal advice and is limited to estimation of spousal support (SS) and child support (CS) based on limited input. You should consult a qualified attorney to obtain accurate legal advice regarding your specific SS and CS rights and obligations. The courts use certified software programs to determine support, and these programs are the only support calculations admissible in court. This calculator is not certified or admissible for court use.   However, this calculator does not consider certain factors including, but not limited to, itemized deductions, the alternative minimum tax, or the earned income credit. Therefore, the computations of net income (after income taxes) may not be accurate, especially if your tax affairs are complex. The calculations in this program are not guaranteed and no warranty as to its accuracy or matching to other programs is made, either express or implied. To obtain more detailed information, you should contact a qualified attorney in your geographic area.

The purpose of support after a final divorce is to assist a supported spouse in maintaining a standard of living close to the marital standard; however the goal is for the spouse to become self-supporting to the greatest extent possible..temporary support is not "ongoing" support. Most temporary support is done by predetermined calculation, and the factors below are not usually used. 

Before ordering ongoing support,  a court will consider the extent to which each spouse’s earning capacity is sufficient to maintain the marital standard of living, taking into account:

• the marketable skills of the supported spouse,
• the job market for those skills,
• any time or expense the supported spouse requires to acquire education or training for employment or enhanced employability, and
• the extent to which periods of unemployment due to domestic duties during the marriage have impaired the supported spouse's present or future earning capacity.

The court will also consider any other factors that may be relevant to the fairness of an award, including:

• the extent to which the supported spouse contributed to the other spouse’s attainment of education, training, professional licensing or career advancement,
• the ability of the supporting spouse to pay support, taking into account earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living,
• the needs of each party based on the marital standard of living,
• each spouse’s obligations and assets, including separate property,
• the duration of the marriage,
• the ability of a spouse who is also a custodial parent to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent children,
• each spouse’s age and health,
• any documented history of domestic violence by either spouse,
• the immediate and specific tax consequences to each spouse,
• the balance of the hardships to each spouse, and
• the goal that the supported spouse will be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time—presumed to be one-half the length of a marriage unless the marriage was longer than 10 years.

"California courts don’t ordinarily consider conduct in determining support, but a court won’t usually award support to a spouse who has acted extremely violently toward the other spouse."

It has been this Attorney's experience that in fact, the Judge will consider past actions which reflect in inherent bad conduct, illegal conduct, illegal anything just about; one sided debt, gambling and a host of other unfavorable bad habits. If this was not the case, and Judge ignored everything the person did, we would not really get a sense of the relationship. Further, a person could have good health and be young, but have no experience in the workplace, could have separate property inherited that he/she should not have to live off of, especially if saving for children's education; and if the former spouse had been convicted of white collar crime, Attorney believes it's fair game to use those facts in client's favor. None of these things involve violence.

Results in Family Law Litigation

Results in Family law cases:  Attorney represented all prevailing clients....

Father accused of molestation, after police investigation, stress test/more, obtained 40% custody time for Father

Father accused of molestation/inappropriate behavior, representing Mother, obtained no custody or visitation by Father (case published in newspaper using fictitious names)

Mother in divorce for 7 years, had several attorneys but could never obtain support (spousal or child), Father had obtained custody and would not agree to a final judgment; Mother hired attorney and went to trial and apparently Father (kids now grown and long gone) filed bankruptcy and in middle of trial, stopped it to make offer (cash) and combined property; 23k combined award accepted by Mother. Attorney fees were paid via the bankruptcy trustee to attorney.

Mother and Father fighting over child support, Father refused to pay and hired attorney at $3,000; Mother had no money so Attorney did law and motion for support, got agreement to be paid $1,300 on motion, and settled case in 90 minutes for Mother.

Mother and Father arguing over custody, father living in different county, attorney was to appear at a hearing, with only 1-2 days notice, but was not informed that the hearing was in fact, a long cause hearing. Mother was present with her witnesses, and Judge would not allow continuance, regardless of new attorney,  nor time for father to attend. Attorney went forward without a witness or even a client, and cross examined all witnesses. In the end, Judge ruled for custody of attorney's client (the husband) even though he was not there to testify. This goes to show that cross examination can make one's case in certain instances. In reality, even the mother's attorney was shocked.

Husband and wife married over 16 years, husband had city pension, and before getting divorced, quit his job. Wife used an online legal service where one fills in the blanks, and the parties executed an agreement giving husband the entire pension. The pension (retirement) was not joined as a party, and the wife, 2.5 years after the judgment, wanted to set it aside because she was entitled to about 45% of the pension. She could not find an attorney to work on the case, and Attorney was referred the case by the law library employee. Attorney managed to set aside the judgment, even though the statute for setting aside such problems is 1 year.

Husband owed ex wife over $95,000 on an out of state judgment, and was far behind in payments, although with a decent high profile job. Attorney got ex wife to take payments at about 1/3 of what the payments called for, and to string out length of time in paying. Husband's income was too high to qualify for wage earner's payback plan via bankruptcy.

These cases are examples of different types of scenarios in family law. There can be many variations in different situations, and over time, Attorney has experienced very good results for clients at affordable cost. Because each fact pattern is different, Attorney will listen to your facts and then make an assessment, giving an opinion. Although the law is controlling in most instances, family law has a high degree of subjective interpretation in many instances. Due to this, it is possible that not every attorney will voice the same opinion on your case and Attorney makes no representation that your case would be resulting in exactly the same findings.

Chico Family Law Attorney | Family Law Lawyer Chico CA

www.chico-familylawattorney.

Experienced Family Law Attorneys in Chico, California. Chico Divorce lawyers representing clients in custody, spousal & child support. ... We know that we are the best family law attorneys in Butte County. We know that we can provide the ..

Modifiction of Custody? Maybe yes, maybe not...........

The smart way to modify custody

| Uncategorized https://la-family-law.com/the-smart-way-to-modify-custody/

Regardless of whether you have to show best interest of the child or a change of circumstance to modify a particular custody order, what I have found to be most effective and successful  way to modify custody is to use, what I call, the incremental approach.   Rather then request a significant change in the child sharing arrangement(i.e. alt. weekends and every Wednesday overnight to alt. weeks) you  request something  that is a natural outgrowth  from the existing order—using the above example, you would request moving the every Wednesday overnights to Thursday and a Monday overnight tacked on to your weekend. 

As such, on your weekend you would have the child Thursday to Tuesday morning and every Thursday.  This request is child focused in that the change is not that different from the schedule the child is used to and doesn’t require the Court to make a radical change/modification.  Plus, it gives you the added benefit of having a success in court— so that in the future, when  you want to get more time the other side will recall how the court viewed your past request as reasonable, and they may approach your new request  with more openness.

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Attorney blogger note: this may be the case if you don't do it too many times. However, I have seen clients do this routinely as often as possible with the obvious intention of moving away or some other drastic eventual goal. The key is to know why the spouse is really doing it rather than what it LOOKS like they claim they are doing. I have often seen (in my experience) that attorneys who bill high fees tend to engage in this type of strategy.

In some high conflict cases, every single visitation requires interference with the other attorney because the other attorney writes a letter for every visitation (I call that bill padding myself, but whatever)... I personally discourage constant interference by attorneys because it perpetuates the inability of the parents to function normally.  I also note that the article above calls it modify incrementally--and it IS CUSTODY--not visitation. 

In the above example, one parent is trying to gain far more than 50% custody, or already has it. VISITATION, on the other hand, is more likely to try and be increased by one parent, and custody change usually requires something more [than plain visitation would], as visitation is normally encouraged, but change of custody not necessarily. I don't believe in a strategy of sneaking up to do something in most cases, but every attorney may have his own method.

Affordable Divorce: Is There Such a Thing?

Affordable divorce focuses on several factors; if the parties are determined to get their way no matter what, if the parties have unlimited money, and if there is adequate law/facts supporting each side. In most cases, the parties do not have unlimited money but there will be  law/facts for each side.
In many cases, one party may be far more determined to ruin the other party. Divorce issues can be rather subjective, especially when it comes to children.

Difficult cases ultimately cost more money, especially if clients can't or don't  want to settle the case. This means concession and many parties do not want to give up certain things. This is understandable but in most cases, we usually do some type of trade off. This is normally better than losing money on something that is not winnable. However, attorney is certainly willing to go to trial if that is the best solution and the client is willing to financially cover it.  Attorney has seen cases won without spending huge amounts of money- so if you desire to pursue a divorce related issue and don't want to lose everything, contact attorney. Additionally, attorney is familiar with Bankruptcy and is signed into most of the Federal District Courts in CA, including Northern District, Southern District, Eastern District, and the Bankruptcy Courts, and is also signed into the Colorado Federal District Court.