Marijuana Related Laws

https://www.canorml.org/california-laws/california-cannabis-laws/

*Note--we are showing the link because this group typically is up to date
on MJ laws which change rapidly.  Always check for your local jurisdiction
laws as they may be far different than other areas.  If you get into criminal trouble
it is suggested that you contact a criminal law attorney who is up to date on
marijuana laws and cases, or a criminal law specialist that focuses regularly on
current MJ laws/cases.

Child Support-- Do you Need to Increase or Decrease It??

California Child Support Guidelines

After the determination of a parent–child relationship, the next step is to calculate the appropriate    amount of child support. The formula used to calculate the appropriate amount of support is known          as the child support guidelines. California law provides guidelines to courts for setting the child        support payment amount. 

Child Support guidelines are based on each parent’s net disposable monthly income and the amount of time the child is cared for by each parent. For the purpose of deciding child support payment amounts,    the court considers income from all sources, whether or not it is reported or taxed under federal law.      The guidelines came into effect as part of an effort to make the calculation less of a judgment call and more of a mathematical equation.  Examples of circumstances that can affect the calculated child support      amount include a child’s educational expenses, special needs expenses, or travel expenses for a distant parent.

The income can be in the form of money, property or services, and includes:

• Wages from a job
• Tips
• Commissions
• Bonuses
• Self-employment earnings
• Unemployment benefits
• Disability and workers' compensation
• Interest
• Dividends
• Rental Income
• Social Security or pensions
• Any payments or credit due or becoming due, regardless of the source, including lottery and prize winnings
• Usually, a new spouse's income is not considered in setting support, however, we have seen judges consider      the effect that such income has on the net disposable income; therefore, it's probably worth a shot to mention    it if you are the receiving party, or where the difference in incomes between the two parents is vastly different.

The court determines net disposable income for each parent by considering certain items from his or her income, including:

• Taxes
• Ordinary union dues
• Ordinary retirement contributions
• Health premiums
• Child or spousal support actually being paid
• Costs of raising children from another relationship

The court uses the net disposable income for each parent

 and the percentage of time each parent spends with kids:

child support calculator

**If you are self employed, or have other children (not of this relationship), or have

tried to start your own business and borrowed money to do so, or if you had to quit your job

for varying reasons, or if you are re-married and the spouse loaned you separate money, or if you inherited money or won money via lotto or gambling; if you are actually married and won a large amount

in the state lotto; if you owe huge taxes and cannot pay them; if you owe real estate taxes and may lose your house; if you have credit card debt that you cannot keep up with and are losing 50% of your

pay before you even get your check; any of these situations , you should call attorney herein FIRST---before you make a big error or mistake.  Attorney has seen nearly all of the mentioned situations and some of them are quite workable if you don't do it wrong.

   

The DCSS calculator for California, is online at no cost; it will not be "exactly" the same as the one in Court, but it will be very close. https://gc.cse.ca.gov/ChildSupport/cse/guidelineCalculator

Losing Your Case in Family Law Court??

You may not be alone.

We are noticing that many of the Domestic violence TRO cases, especially if the kids or custody is involved-- are being completely tossed aside, and thrown into mediation.
Mediation is unpredictable if you get what we believe is a bad mediator, and believe us, there is at least one of those there..........you can file a complaint with the court, not saying it would work, but if enough people do it, there might be some changes.  There is definitely a good mediator there also, and we are not sure exactly how cases are assigned.

Domestic violence can either be overlooked, or handled inappropriately by judges, at least in our
experience. Considering that counsel has practiced in larger jurisdictions such as San Diego, Sacramento, etc. it basically means we know that not all mediators are created equal.

It is true that some domestic violence cases are not actually valid. 

 But there are many that are absolutely valid, and if (for example)

 -- you have EVER obtained a criminal protective order, 

be advised that when an order comes out involving CUSTODY-- 

it is required that the Judge state on the order or 

modification--that there

 IS a current Criminal Protective Order  (CPO)!!  

This is the law in California.

WELL-- guess what?  We have seen a case where the Criminal Protective Order was mentioned at least over 100 (yes-- one hundred times) in the case file, and NONE of the orders EVER mentioned that there even WAS a CPO??  Only when attorney herein became involved, did any judge even seem to notice the CPO at all ---this is a travesty of justice, people !!!!

There are different types of CPOs  that can be issued...CPO--Domestic Violence; PC Section 136.2, PC Section 136.2(i)(1), PC Section 273.5(j), PC Section 646.9(k), see Judicial Council form CR-160 for example...Even if the CPO had expired--- we would mention it anyway for the background of the case.

Domestic violence cases can be very tricky and even dangerous legally. There is always new case law being published on the subject, because it tends to overwhelm the case, AND children are often the losers because of bad rulings. Don't let this happen to you. Get legal help ASAP especially if your truth is being smothered by improper rulings!! See family code section 3044, which the court usually hands out prior to mediation.

DV TRO Links-- Without An Attorney

The CA Courts website has plenty of instructions on how to do it yourself, which many litigants do.

The forms themselves are a little confusing but nonetheless we have seen many litigants file these cases and obtain relief.

Ask for a Restraining Order

To ask for a domestic violence restraining order there are several steps you have to take. But first make sure that:

A restraining order is right for you....... Read Can a Domestic Violence Restraining Order Help Me? (Form DV-500-INFOPDF )
You qualify for a domestic violence restraining order.You and the person you want to restrain must be:
married or registered domestic partners,
divorced or separated,
dating or used to date,
living together or used to live together,
parents together of a child, OR
closely related (parent, child, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, in-law).

You can get legal help from a local domestic violence agency in your county/or consult the Self Help
Center in your county.
Once you are sure you qualify for a domestic violence restraining order, you are ready to fill out the forms (or have a lawyer or domestic violence clinic help you with the forms). If you are not sure you qualify, ask your local domestic violence agency (such as Catalyst in Chico) Your court’s family law facilitator or self-help center may also be able to help you with the restraining order.

---To see the entire directions you will need to click the link here:

https://www.courts.ca.gov/1264.htm?rdeLocaleAttr=en


Note, this is NOT for a criminal protective order which is very different and usually used for cases that violate criminal laws.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------  How can a DVTRO help me?

A Domestic Violence Restraining Order may:

Order the abuser not to assault, threaten, abuse, follow, harass, or interfere with you, your children, or people you live with in person, at work, on the telephone, or by other means;

Order the abuser to stay away from any place you request including your school, your children's school, your work place, your friends' homes, or any place where you are seeking shelter;

Prohibit the abuser from possessing or purchasing a firearm;

Tell the police to remove the abuser from the home and help you to return to the home;

Grant you temporary full control over things that you own together such as a car, a truck, a boat, a computer, tolls, electronic equipment, bank accounts, or household appliances;

Order the abuser to continue to make the loan payments (be sure to specifically ask for this if you need it);

Order the abuser to return your personal belongings;

Order the abuser to pay certain bills, pay back money you lost for missing work or other expenses (such as ambulance, medical, dental, shelter, counseling and/or legal fees);


Order the abuser to pay your attorney fees; program or other counseling service;

Anything else you ask for any the judge agrees to.

If you and your abuser have children together, you may also ask the judge to grant additional things such as:

Child custody and visitation - If you and your abuser have children together, the judge can decide where the children will live, which parent will make decisions affecting the children, and how the children will spend time with each parent (where, when, and whether supervised).

Removal of child - You may ask the judge to keep either or both parents from traveling or moving outside the city, county, area, or state with the children.


Child support payments - You may ask the judge to order your abuser to pay child support according to California’s guidelines.
Whether a judge orders any or all of the above depends on the facts of your case.
           **On this particular issue, while it is possible that support can be ordered, usually parents can work with DCSS at no cost, and if DCSS is collecting support for you, there are certain rules
that apply when using DCSS to collect support for you. https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/family-law/child-support/child-support-and-public-assistance.html

It is too complicated to explain here, but generally, if you have a high wage earner ex spouse or parentage parent, you have to decide whether using DCSS is in your favor.

In some cases it is and in others it might not be. You would have to consult an attorney that does child support cases. (In general, attorney herein does not work on child support cases, and most definitely does not attend DCSS cases which uses a Commissioner, and not a Judge.) Parents that get help from the government (medi-cal or food stamps,etc) but use DCSS to get child support will find that the money collected from the parent will be impacted, and usually most of the money collected will go to DCSS and not the parent.

Save Money on Setting Child Support?

Most people realize that if they utilize the Dept. of Child Support Services (DCSS), obtaining support
may take awhile, but the Department does not charge the client in order to obtain the support from the paying parent.
In many cases where the paying parent has a job where the employer is a business
that is medium-large, or will clearly issue business checks or direct deposit, there may not be many issues.  However, if there is an employee working for a family owned business, or the worker is self employed on a cash basis, or the worker does odd jobs and doesn't have a checking account or pay taxes, or (just an example) is engaged in illegal sales of whatever (drugs, illegal goods, etc.) then
using the DCSS may not work.

Attorney will routinely see cases where clients go to court for child support, and will pay attorneys to carry out the process. Although some of these clients may do well to utilize attorneys, many cases can actually be handled with DCSS (as it does not cost anything).... Whether a client may be treated better by family law judge using the Dissomaster v the DCSS using the same Dissomaster is debatable. However some clients do not care to go to DCSS support hearings and simply would rather pay their attorney. DCSS essentially has a very wide basis of enforcement and tracking ability throughout the United States. DCSS can routinely work with other states for enforcement. It may take awhile, but it is done. This also applies to potential contempt issues.