Roseville Contested Divorce Attorney
Helping Clients With Contested Divorce Matters in California
If you and your spouse are discussing divorce but you are having a difficult time arriving at agreements on a variety of important issues, yours is a contested divorce, at least to begin with. This does not mean that your divorce can't eventually become uncontested, but for the time being, it is handled differently than uncontested divorces.
What are the causes of dispute leading to a contested divorce? When children are involved, for example, there will likely be heavy issues that have to be properly dealt with, such as child custody, child support, and visitation. These are issues that can lead to substantial disagreements and fights. They may be issues that have to be decided in a courtroom. If that is the case, my firm can help you through each phase of the contested divorce.
Understanding the Contested Divorce Process
For those who are going through a contested divorce, it is important to understand the process. By having an experienced lawyer from the Law Offices of Evan Samuelson by your side, you can have a clear understanding of this situation and have the confidence to walk through it without substantial trouble.
I can protect your rights throughout the situation and provide you with the tools needed. There are different stages of a contested divorce that you should be aware of as you go through this legal process. Typically, at the outset of the divorce case, spouses will seek temporary orders regarding child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, and property control.
Discovery is the next phase of the process during which spouses seek information regarding their assets, income and all other documentation that will influence the case. The parties are free to discuss settlement throughout the process, however, if the spouses have not settled after discovery is completed, a trial is usually scheduled.
When scheduling the trial, the Court will also schedule a settlement conference a few weeks prior to the trial date. At the settlement conference, the spouses and their attorneys will meet with a settlement conference judge who will offer an unbiased opinion as to how he thinks the divorce should be settled. If the parties don't settle their case, they proceed to trial.
Securing Temporary Orders During Your Divorce
Depending on your specific case, you and your attorney may decide that while you wait for the divorce process to go through that you want to file for a temporary order in the meantime. The purpose of this option is to give you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse guidelines under the official divorce once the settlement is finalized by the court.
These are considered useful because of contentious divorces are often a longer process than one that is settled out of court or through mediation. This order will act as an agreement for important life matters that can simply not be put on hold while the divorce pans out. This will include the custody of your children, how the bills will be paid off, and how your current joint property will be dealt with. Once the court agrees on this order, then it will remain in place until either the couple is officially divorced, or one of the party members seek to modify it and have the judge approve said changes.
There are a few reasons for why a spouse will seek to have a temporary order established during a contested divorce:
- To establish custody and visiting arrangements for your children
- To provide or receive alimony or child support payments while the divorce process is pending
- To prevent one of the spouses from selling valuable assets without permission
- To give permission to either spouse for possession of certain assets such as a car or house
- To protect one spouse from the other (in cases of domestic violence)
Contact Us Today
If you are about to file for a divorce and are concerned that the waters may be a little rougher than you would like, it is possible that your divorce will be classified as "contested" or one that is challenging. If this is the case, utilizing the skill of an experienced lawyer is absolutely essential. When hiring this firm, you can rest assured that the utmost care and dedication will be placed into your case, because we understand how hard times already are for you. You can trust your family in the hands of this firm.
Please call us today to speak with an attorney you can rely on!
