What is a Family Law contempt action?

A Family Law contempt action can be Civil or Criminal. In a civil contempt the goal is to have corrective measures take place, whereas in a criminal contempt matter the Citee maybe sentenced to five (5) days in jail for each count. The jail sentence is imposed for the willful disobedience of a valid court order, the Citee must have knowledge of the valid court order. If a Contempt action has been filed against you call the Law Offices of Bettina L. Yanez & Associates, for a free thirty (30) minute consultation.

For example in a Child Support Contempt action, your ability to pay Child Support was determined when the original child support order was made. Thus, your inability to pay your child support is an affirmative defense that must be proved by the Citee.

A Family Law Contempt action is begun by filing the charging document form FL-410, Order To Show Cause, on the seventh floor Family Law Clerks Office. Facts that constitute the contempt are alleged in the affidavit of facts indicating the kind of order that was violated, the date the order was entered and how the violation occurred. [California Code of Civil Procedure § 1211(a)]

A family law contempt action must be personally served on the Citee at least 21 days before the hearing. You or you attorney must appear at the arraignment hearing. If you do not appear in person or by counsel, a bench warrant can be issued. At the Arraignment you will enter a plea of guilt or not guilty and a pre trial date will be set.

At the pre trial a plea may be offered by County Counsel and if a plea is taken, your sentenced will be suspended and you will be placed an three (3) years probation. If you do not accept the plea your case will be set for a hearing. If you do not comply with the terms of your Plea the Department of Child Support Services can file a Petition to Revoke your Probation and the court can impose all or a portion of the suspended sentence.

Divorce and Who (Not) To Bring With You When You Meet Your Divorce Lawyer

In this blog about divorce and divorce law in Georgia, we attempt to give you some helpful tips about divorce and practical ideas for you to discuss with your own divorce lawyer.

So, here is another practical tip about who you should, and perhaps who you should NOT, take with you when you go to see your divorce attorney!

Is it okay to bring your kids when you meet with your divorce lawyer?

First of all, let's talk about your kids. Is it okay to take them? Ideally, you will be able to find a baby sitter, or family member, to watch your children, so that you can openly discuss your divorce with your divorce lawyer, without a lot of interruptions. But as a practical matter, we, at the Goolsby Law Firm, recognize that you may be unable to find a baby sitter. So, at our law firm, we keep some toys and coloring books handy, to keep the kids busy, in case you must bring them, too!

What about other family members or friends?

But let's talk about other family members. Should you bring your parents, siblings, or best friend, when you meet with your divorce lawyer? There is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer to this question. In some cases, for example, your mother may be your trusted advisor who can also help explain your situation to your divorce attorney. However, in other situations, your mom may be the type who will dominate the conversation, or make it difficult for you to confide completely in your divorce lawyer. In the latter situation, you should probably consider leaving sweet mom at home! After all, I don't believe toys or coloring books will sufficiently distract her!

Ultimately, you will have to decide who you should bring and who you should leave at home when you see your divorce attorney. But I hope this post will at least help you to carefully consider this issue, and make arrangements, prior to your own appointment with your divorce lawyer.

Child Custody: A Goolsby "War Story" About Summer Smith

"Mr. Goolsby, if you will take our child custody case, I promise you I will get a second job and I promise I will do whatever it takes to pay you for your help!"

I will never forget this plea from a little girl's mother and maternal grandmother. At the time, I was right out of law school and still wet behind the ears. I was practicing family law in a small south Georgia law firm. The custody case involved Summer Smith, (not her real name*), a precious two year old girl, who was caught in the middle of a bitter custody battle between the little girl's mother and the little girl's paternal grandmother.

I had serious doubts about taking the case. First of all, the child's mother and (maternal) grandmother had no money and I realized this custody case would be very demanding. Also, at the beginning, the facts and the law didn't look too good for our side. For instance, I learned that the child's (paternal) grandmother had adopted the child in another state, albeit without serving or providing notice to our client, the child's mother. In addition, the child's mother had shown questionable judgment by going to the other state, where she had "snatched" her child and brought her back to Georgia.

The (paternal) grandmother had immediately come to Georgia, retained another attorney, and was seeking the return of her "adopted" child (and grandchild). Again, things didn't look good for the home team!

But I took the case and learned several lessons from it! For instance, we won the child custody battle! I was able to convince the judge that the adoption was bogus, and should be set aside, because our client had not been properly served or given notice. I also convinced the judge that it would be in the child's best interests for her mother to have custody. It was a resounding victory! We were totally successful in re-uniting the little girl, Summer, with her mom! I had learned that, generally, you don't always know what the courts will do!

However, I also learned another important lesson! In this case, even though we won, we never got paid a dime for our legal services! So, I learned that, sometimes, as a family lawyer, your only reward may be a job well done! And at least, looking back, I can be proud that I helped re-unite a little girl with her mother!

[* Facts and names have been changed in this illustration.]

Facebook and Divorce: Airing the Dirty Laundry

Not long after Patrick told his wife Tammie he wanted a divorce, she posted an angry, hurt note on "the wall," or public-comments section, of his Facebook page. Embarrassed that his colleagues, clients, church friends and family could see evidence of his marital woes, he deleted it and blocked his wife from seeing his page. A couple of days later, the IT worker in Florida--who asked that his last name not be used in this story — found alarmed messages from two Facebook friends in his inbox. Tammie had used a mutual friend's account to view Patrick's wall and e-mailed several women he had had exchanges with. He says her e-mails were borderline defamatory. She says they merely noted that he was married with children, a fact he had left off his Facebook profile. Either way: Ouch.

For those who want to connect or reconnect with others, social-networking sites are a huge, glorious honeypot. But for those who are disconnecting, they can make things quite sticky. And as the age of online-social-network users creeps up, it overlaps more with the age of divorce-lawyer users, resulting in the kind of semipublic laundry-airing that can turn aggrieved spouses into enraged ones and friends into embarrassed spectators.

Lawyers, however, love these sites, which can be evidentiary gold mines. Did your husband's new girlfriend Twitter about getting a piece of jewelry? The court might regard that as marital assets being disbursed to a third party. Did your wife tell the court she's incapable of getting a job? Then your lawyer should ask why she's pursuing job interviews through LinkedIn.

Battles over finances and custody remain the Iwo Jima and Stalingrad of divorce cases. Opposing lawyers will press any advantage they have, and personal information on sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn is like decoded bulletins from enemy territory. "It's now just routine for us to go over with clients whether they have an active presence on the Web and if they Twitter or have a MySpace page," says Joseph Cordell of Cordell & Cordell, a domestic-relations law firm with offices in 10 states. He advises his mostly male clients to scour their page — and their girlfriend's — for anything that could be used by their ex's legal team. Then Cordell studies the page of the soon-to-be ex-wife.

There's little the besmirched can do legally, unless there are children involved. Family-law courts routinely issue restraining orders to prevent one parent from disparaging another to a child. "The question is, If it's on the Internet, can that speech be blocked?" says Stephen Mindel, a managing partner at Feinberg, Mindel, Brandt & Klein in Los Angeles. "The First Amendment is going to come into conflict with the family-law courts."

Issuing an order to remove children's access to Facebook is pointless, says Chicago-based lawyer Jennifer Smetters. "The kids just go on a fishing expedition to find out what's so secret. And no child needs to see their parent being publicly humiliated." Smetters has seen cases where messages on a social-networking site were part of a harassment campaign that led to the court's issuing a civil order of protection.

It seems everybody — except perhaps some lawyers — would be better off if divorcing spouses gave each other some space on MySpace. But when confused, anguished people look for ways to work through their feelings, a social-networking site can be an almost irresistible venue.

Patrick and Tammie are still active on Facebook. So are decoupled East Coast residents Andrea and Adrian, even after "he told me he didn't have any money and then posted pictures of his new BMW bike," Andrea says. He says Facebook helped her stalk him. "It's had a very negative impact on our communication," he adds.

But there can be some positives. Tammie's friends post supportive messages on her Facebook page. And Patrick says he understands online social networks better now. "It's like putting everybody you know in the same room. I'm using it, but I'm much more careful."

"We had a custody case where a mom assured the court that she hadn't been drinking," recalls the Missouri-based attorney. "But her MySpace page had actual dated photos of her drinking — and smoking, which is also of interest." In another case, a mom had listed herself on a dating site as single with no kids, which Cordell's firm used to cast doubt on her truthfulness.

And that's just the courtroom stuff.

Half the fun of social-networking sites is the posting of personal news. The other half is the posting of personal opinion, something spurned spouses typically have in spades. MySpace and its ilk offer the giddying cocktail of being able to say something in the privacy of your home that will be publicly accessible, along with a chaser of instant gratification. All this at a time when people are often less than their best selves. On the walls of two Facebook groups — I Hate My Ex-Husband and I Hate My Ex-Wife, which together had been joined by 236 Facebook users as of early June — posts include all manner of (often misspelled) vitriol, including some colorful British slang: "my husband is ... a dirty smelly chavvy theivin alcoholic drug addict selfish scum bag" and "my ex wife is a no good lieing slag," each of which was posted alongside a smiling photograph of the commenter.

by time.com

What is a Dissolution of marriage or Divorce

Dissolution of marriage or Divorce is the termination of a marriage, canceling legal responsibilities and duties of marriage and melting away the bonds of matrimony between couples. In most nations, divorce necessitates the authorization of a judge or other authority in a legal process to finalize a divorce. A divorce does not affirm a marriage null and void, as in annulments, but divorce ends the marital status of a couple, permitting them to marry once again.

Divorce laws fluctuate significantly around the globe. Divorce is not allowed in some nations, such as in Malta and in the Philippines; however, an annulment is allowed.

The legal procedure for dissolution of marriage or divorce may also involve matters of child custody, spousal support, distribution of property, child support and division of debt, though these issues are usually only secondary or resulting from the divorce.

Some jurisdictions do not require a party to claim fault of their partner that leads to the divorce. Even in areas, which have adopted the "no fault" rule in divorce proceedings, a court may still take into account the actions of the parties when dividing the debts, property, evaluating custody, and support of children and spouse.

In most areas, a divorce must be granted by a court of law to become effective. The conditions of the divorce are usually decided by the court, though they may consider prenuptial agreements or postnuptial agreements, or approve agreements that the couple may have agreed to in private. In the nonexistence of understanding, a disputed divorce may be hectic to the spouses and lead to expensive legal action. Other methods to divorce resolutions have recently come into view, such as mediation and collaborative divorce, which settles jointly agreeable solutions to disagreements. In some other nations, like Portugal, when a couple agrees to divorce and to the conditions of the divorce, a non-judiciary administrative being can approve it. The effect of a divorce is that both parties are free to marry again.

In the United States, all states now expect parents to file a parenting plan when they divorce or legally separate.